Viscon, based in ’s-Gravendeel in the Netherlands, develops automation and integrated production solutions for the food industry. In autumn 2021, the company began using Fabory Logic to support the management and availability of its fasteners.
Shortly afterwards, Viscon began introducing Lubrinox fasteners to simplify assembly work on the shop floor. The change addressed a specific challenge with stainless steel threaded connections: reducing the risk of seizing without having to apply assembly paste manually.
Results at a glance
No separate manual lubrication
Lubrinox arrives pre-coated, removing the need to apply assembly paste separately to the relevant stainless steel connections.
Less assembly handling
Viscon identifies time savings and improved efficiency as key benefits of moving away from manually applied lubricant.
Fewer supporting processes
Assembly paste no longer needs to be purchased, processed administratively or handled through incoming goods for these connections.
The challenge: stainless steel assembly without extra process steps
Viscon uses stainless steel fasteners within machinery designed for demanding production environments. Previously, assembly paste was applied to stainless steel threaded connections to help reduce the risk of the internal and external threads seizing together.
Although effective as an additional assembly step, the paste had to be purchased, stored, handled and manually applied. The application itself also introduced additional work on the shop floor, with the possibility of too much or too little lubricant being applied.
Viscon therefore looked for a solution that could simplify this part of the assembly process while still addressing stainless steel galling with Lubrinox.
The solution: pre-coated Lubrinox fasteners
Lubrinox stainless steel fasteners use a thin pre-applied coating designed to reduce friction between stainless steel mating surfaces and help prevent galling during assembly.
Because the coating is already present on the fastener, Viscon does not need to apply separate assembly paste to the relevant connections. This removes an additional manual step from the assembly process and reduces the handling associated with separate lubricants.
How the assembly process changes
1. Fastener arrives pre-coated
The Lubrinox coating is already applied before the fastener reaches Viscon's assembly process.
2. No separate paste application
Employees do not need to manually coat the relevant fasteners with assembly paste before installation.
3. Fastener is assembled
The coating reduces friction between the stainless steel mating surfaces during assembly.
4. Supporting steps are reduced
Purchasing, receiving and administratively processing separate assembly paste is reduced for these applications.
Looking beyond the fastener purchase price
For Viscon, the decision was not based on the purchase price of an individual fastener alone. The company also considered the labour and process costs associated with applying lubricant and dealing with a stainless steel connection if it were to seize during assembly.
This broader view helped Viscon identify the value of removing manual lubrication and the associated handling from several stages of its operation.
Performance in demanding operating conditions
Viscon also considered how Lubrinox would perform within the environments in which its machinery operates. The company questioned whether the coating would react with a cleaning agent used in the food industry.
According to Viscon's application experience, machines fitted with Lubrinox fasteners proved resistant in this situation and continued to function at temperatures comparable with those encountered in Saudi Arabia.
This reflects Viscon's specific application experience rather than a universal operating-temperature specification for Lubrinox.
Reducing work beyond the assembly station
The impact of the change extends beyond the physical act of fastening. Separate assembly paste no longer needs to move through the same purchasing, accounting and incoming-goods processes for the connections where Lubrinox is used.
This allows Viscon to remove supporting activities as well as an assembly step, helping simplify the overall process from purchasing through to machine construction.
“The main reasons for using Lubrinox are time savings and efficiency improvement.”
Juriaan van der Sluijs, Senior Tactical Buyer, Viscon
A small fastening change with wider process benefits
Viscon's experience shows how changing the specification of a fastener can affect more than the assembly operation itself. By moving to pre-coated Lubrinox fasteners, the company reduced manual lubrication work and the supporting processes associated with purchasing and handling assembly paste.
Combined with Viscon's existing use of Fabory Logic, the collaboration demonstrates how fastener selection and supply management can both contribute to simpler day-to-day production processes.
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Lubrinox stainless steel fasteners
Want to simplify stainless steel assembly?Talk to Fabory about your stainless steel fastening application and whether Lubrinox could help reduce manual lubrication and simplify your assembly process. Contact Fabory |