Nowadays, it’s impossible to imagine any industry without electronic systems – and companies like kolb are there to ensure these systems keep working perfectly. With its machines and cleaners, kolb covers all processes involved in the cleaning of electronic components – using innovative technologies and placing a high value on sustainability.

FROM PAPER TO A DIGITAL SOLUTION

kolb and Cideon have been working together successfully since 2011. Christian van der Stein, Head of Product Management at kolb, recalls: “Back then, we decided to design exclusively in 3D – and since then, I have been in regular contact with Cideon whenever we need something.” This was also the case when, over the last year, kolb received customer requests for a digital spare parts catalogue.

The company previously supplied printed lists of the relevant spare parts with its products. However, as van der Stein explains: “Needless to say, we kept an eye on what was happening on the market. For example, there is a VR headset that lets you look inside a machine and see what spare parts are available. That’s great at a trade fair, but not very practical for everyday use.” Instead, kolb wanted a pragmatic solution that would keep both workload and costs within reasonable limits.

Around the same time, Cideon came up with the idea of offering companies a digital spare parts catalogue as a standardised product.

A workshop was subsequently organised in 2022, with four Cideon customers – including kolb – invited to take part. Although it emerged during the workshop that customer requirements varied a great deal, there was one thing that stood out for Cideon Solution Manager Sebastian Cordes as a result of the workshop. “There is definitely a market there!” he declared. And that’s how the Cideon Sparify product was given the green light.

PROOF OF CONCEPT IN TIME FOR THE TRADE FAIR

“As the development of Cideon Sparify was progressing in mid-2023, we reached out again to all the customers who had attended the workshop. kolb immediately had the idea of using Sparify to build a service portal,” Cordes recalls. van der Stein adds: “Our expectation was that we would edit 3D models that had already been created for production so that customers could see at a glance what spare parts they could order.”

kolb had a specific goal – to set up a proof of concept with Cideon Sparify in time for Productronica, the leading international trade fair for the electronics manufacturing industry, due to take place in autumn 2023. The configuration of the solution showcased at the trade fair was almost identical to the one that is in use today. As van der Stein reports: “Customers really liked the concept. Many said that, at last, they would no longer have to search for images and mark them in order to select spare parts. Now all they need to do is click on the part they want and add it to their shopping cart.”

CREATING THE SOLUTION – STEP BY STEP

Cideon Sparify is implemented as a “basic solution” – the 3D CAD models come from Autodesk Inventor, and the spare part metadata from Autodesk Vault. Even though kolb also uses Autodesk Vault, the spare part metadata is taken directly from the ERP system. Cordes explains: “For this purpose, we’ve created a tool that extracts the metadata and converts it to the correct format. It can then simply be uploaded to Cideon Sparify.”

Moreover, kolb wanted to ensure that customers can also select available spare parts that aren’t visible in the CAD assembly. Now, cross-selling articles can be linked in the ERP system and selected during the ordering process. kolb also wanted to make a collective upload possible for all machines in Cideon Sparify – in the standard solution, only one upload per machine was envisaged. This means the spare parts catalogue can be updated with just a few clicks, even in the case of major changes.

SIMPLIFIED COMMUNICATION

The solution went online in April 2024. Denise Knorr, who is a designer at kolb, is very enthusiastic about its user-friendly operation. “It’s easy to use, and uploads are quick and straightforward. You simply upload the model and store the data – and you can even change things afterwards. The spare parts are displayed nice and clearly, too” she says.

At kolb, the spare parts shop is embedded on the website via iFrame, and customers receive the information they need when their products are delivered. “We provide our customers with QR codes that they can use to access spare parts and the manual for their machine online,” Knorr explains.

For Cideon, the work with kolb was useful, as it will enable the company to offer other customers more functions and enhanced usability in the future. kolb, meanwhile, continues to be impressed by Cideon. “Together, we found the most pragmatic approach,” van der Stein emphasises. “The channels of communication were always kept short. What’s more, our close collaboration had a very practical slant and we always reached a common denominator,” Knorr adds. It’s what you might call a clean solution.