Will-Mann Inc. (Fullerton, CA) manufactures precision sheet metal assemblies for the electronics, computer, medical and aerospace industries.
Historically, inserting hardware in these products was a source of production problems, as operators manually inserted various types and sizes of fasteners into each assembly using a pair of standard insertion machines. The process was time consuming and created production bottlenecks, so that parts would stack up, waiting for insertion. The company would sometimes have to pay expediting costs to try to catch up with production. In addition, there were problems with rejected parts, due to missing hardware and incorrectly installed fasteners.