IMS develops and builds production lines for the manufacturing of small, assembled products. These products are innovative, at an early stage in their life cycle and have significant growth potential. Examples of such products are micro-optics used in smart devices and sensors used in automobiles.
Scalable and flexible production
From its location in Almelo and with a workforce of over 100 professionals, IMS teams up with its worldwide customer base. Bringing their knowledge and broad experience in various manufacturing technologies to use in the best possible production lines.
IMS provides service and maintenance during the lifetime of the production lines, to make sure they continue to perform at the best possible level.
IMS helps customers by providing production lines that make the manufacturing of their innovative product better, faster and easier. Taking them steps ahead of their competitors.
For the integration of Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) in your products, excellent connectivity is required. This can be enabled by coupling high-end fibers or fiber arrays (or other optical structures) to PICs. IMS provides systems for manufacturing a large range of highly accurate fiber arrays. In addition, high-level quality control is an absolute must for guaranteed production of PICs. For this, IMS develops innovative metrology equipment for photonic chips at wafer and die level. Learn more about these two types of equipment that are key in the production and integration of PICs.
Een Nederlandse fabrikant van fotonische chips (ook wel Photonic Integrated Circuits, kortweg PIC’s genoemd) controleert handmatig en op zicht de geproduceerde wafers en gooit dan een ‘aanzienlijk deel, soms zelfs de helft’ van de PIC’s weg, weet Marcel van Veen, salesmanager van machinebouwer IMS in Almelo. De helft die overblijft wordt vervolgens verbonden met zijn omgeving – gepackaged in jargon – en vervolgens toegepast door de eindklant. Dan blijkt nóg eens een flink deel productiefouten te bevatten en verdwijnt ook dat in de afvalton. Lees verder [Bron: linkmagazine.nl]
As complexity and accuracy increase, so do manufacturing challenges. Our colleagues Wouter Spoorendonk (R&D Project Manager) and Marc Beusenberg (Director of R&D), will elaborated on how IMS brings this to the next precision level with Active Alignment in InnovatieNU. The must-read manufacturing innovation publication for industry leaders from the Fraunhofer Project Center at the University of Twente. Read more
IMS Holding is expanding by acquiring the mechanization division of Sonion Poland. This company will operate as an independent B.V. as of December 1, 2021 under the name Precision Systems Engineering, abbreviated as PSE. Read more
Henri Paus (Technical Director) gave an interview in cooperation with Beckhoff Automation BV, in which they talk about our newest xPx production line including a flexible XTS-transport system. Watch the video
Een meetnauwkeurigheid van 100 nanometer. Dat is wat de engineers van IMS met beeldsensoren willen bereiken. Een flinke uitdaging. Én een van de redenen om mee te doen aan het PRISMA-project. Lees verder [Bron: Perron038 op LinkedIn]
high quality assembly made easier and faster with lower total cost of ownership
The major advantage of active alignment is achieving very high product performance, while individual components do not need to be extremely geometrically accurate. With the help of active alignment, the optics are placed in the best position according to the image -quality, -projection, or coupling power. Read more
Small cameras can be found more and more in automobiles; in your rear view mirror, your head and tail lights and even in your dashboard. These cameras ensure the passengers’ safety. Micro-optics are the optical parts that the camera uses to grab an image. A high-quality image can only be obtained if these optical parts are clean and assembled with high accuracy. The following case describes how our customers are able to assemble their micro-optic products at very high accuracy and in high volumes. Read more
From Belgium via Hong Kong to Twente, the place where our colleague Clareyne de Vries (Mechanical Engineer) found her home. Clareyne gave an interview to Twente, in which she talks about her (study) background at the University of Twente and about her daily work at IMS. We’re proud to have such a passionate and talented team of technicians. Read more [Source: twente]
Our customer Vernay operates in a growing market. This growth is mainly caused by European laws and regulations for reducing exhaust emissions. The following case involves automating the assembly of a small automotive micro-dosing system for additives that support the reduction of exhaust emission. Read more
IMS presentation by Hans Velten (Business Development) at the ‘Online Meeting on Automotive Lighting’ hosted by EPIC – EUROPEAN PHOTONICS INDUSTRY CONSORTIUM (27-05-2020).
Studententeam Electric Superbike Twente onthulde eind vorige week zijn nieuwe motor: de Apex-RS. Ondanks de coronacrisis wist het team de derde generatie superbike – die lichter, wendbaarder en sneller is – op tijd af te krijgen. ‘We hopen in het najaar voor het eerst tegen andere teams te racen’, laat teammanager Anne Bulten weten. Lees verder [Bron: utoday]
When you are faced with increased market demands for several of your products, you want your investment in automated production to be reusable. This is exactly what Sensata Technologies, the world’s leading supplier of sensors and controls, wanted to achieve with production automation. We developed a flexible production line for them, that increased the production volume, enabled faster product changes and made it possible for Sensata to spread the investment over the number of product types manufactured on this production line. Read more
When considering automating the inspection process, roughly two types of inspection can be distinguished: first, the inspection of physical and measurable properties such as length and diameters, and second, the inspection of product quality that goes one step further than measurable properties. Read more
After months of preparations, dedication and passion, Solar Team Twente and their new solar car ‘RED E’ are ready for the start of the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2019, from 13 – 20 October (Australia). Already for the sixth year in a row IMS is supporting Solar Team Twente, from this year onwards for the first time as BIG partner. Read more
This project started with a feasibility study, the idea was to simplify the manufacturing process for expansion. The existing production equipment was highly specific, fully automated and combining all process in a very complex way. For some of these processes, an improvement in robustness was necessary. Read more
This month we’ll be celebrating our 20th anniversary, a special milestone we’re obviously very proud of! We’ll take you back in time, from where it all started to where we are today: an experienced partner in developing and building automated production lines for world’s leaders in small sensors and optical systems. Read more
In most of today’s production, manual inspection (inspection performed by operators) is still an indispensable part of the production process, even when other production steps are automated to a high extent. It is remarkable what a human mind can do in assessing the product surface quality. How can you add the intelligence of an operator’s assessment to the automated inspection process? Read more
From Jan 8th – 11th the CES (Consumer Electronics Show) took place in Las Vegas. With every year, the presence of car manufacturers and their supply chain increases. This year, the CES is the place where the automotive industry shows the future “computer on wheels” to the world. As the excited visitors we are, we want to share the trends and innovations we have seen at the CES. Read more
On the first of February we are opening a new office in Groningen, Netherlands. A next step to accommodate our growth! This new office is an addition to our headquarters in Almelo. Lees verder
On November 21st, we received the award for “Best Industrial Customer” during the DISCA’18 Award show. An award that is a recognition from our supply chain, and one that we are very proud of. Read more
Inspiro uit Arnhem en Van Egmond Groep met de hoofdvestiging in Doetinchem zijn uitgeroepen tot de beste industriële toeleveranciers 2018 van Nederland. Dat gebeurde gisteravond tijdens een drukbezochte bijeenkomst op landgoed Mereveld in Utrecht. Machinebouwer IMSuit Almelo won de award voor de Best Customer. Lees verder [Bron: linkmagazine.nl]
Hoe bouw je een machine die hoogwaardige sensoren of zeer kleine camera’s kan produceren? Wie die vraag in Nederland stelt komt vanzelf uit bij IMS. Ambitieuze technici zoals Mike Everink staan hier dagelijks voor nieuwe uitdagingen. “Wij bouwen hightech machines voor de wereld van morgen.” Lees verder [Bron: tubantia.nl]
Ben jij net als Fed een ambitieuze teamleader Controls Engineer en spreek je een lekker woordje over de grens? Zie hier hoe ver je kunt komen met gewoon nuchter Twents.
Het is een flinke uitdaging om productielijnen voor het assembleren van optische componenten voor smartphones te leveren, een snel veranderende markt waarin IMS al meer dan tien jaar actief is. Er wordt 24/7 gebruik gemaakt van de IMS-machines en dat vraagt ook de nodige stabiliteit van de subsystemen. ‘De machines gaan wel eens uit (onderhoud) echter de pc-toren blijft altijd onder spanning aan. Het is dus een mooie prestatie dat ze sinds 2006 nog steeds elke dag staan te draaien en dat is zeker ook toe te schrijven aan de kwaliteiten van HPS Industrial, legt Bart Deen, Controls Engineer bij IMS uit. Lees meer [Bron: linkmagazine.nl]
Solar Team Twente will be waiting impatiently at the start of the The Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Darwin, Australia, together with 50 other international participants on Sunday 8 October. This is the top race for cars running on solar energy. This year, Solar Team Twente worked with a number of companies including IMS on the team’s seventh car: ‘Red Shift’.
In this exciting era for the automotive market, technology evolves quicker than ever before. Autonomous driving and safety are key words, spoken by the big players in this field. Micro-optics play an important role in ensuring the passengers’ safety in this new automotive mobility. With years of experience in automating micro-optics assembly for smart devices, we are making the cross over to the automotive market. We are hitting the ground running and we joined forces with the experts at Fraunhofer Project Center at the University of Twente (FPC@UT).
Chinezen kunnen razendsnel werken en verwachten dat ook van hun toeleveranciers. Machinebouwer IMS kan, samen met zijn ketenpartners, een zeer gecompliceerde hoogvolumeproductielijn in vier maanden ontwikkelen en bouwen en richting China op transport zetten. En als het echt nodig is, wordt er één per twee weken uitgeleverd. Snel spel van een – zo blijkt – ingespeeld team.Lees meer [Bron: KMWE & Link Magazine]
Mr. Dennis van den Broek, Process Engineer at IMS, will give a presentation on ‘Automating quality inspection: how to automate and integrate manual inspection’.
He will elaborate on how we managed to find an answer to the question: how can you add the intelligence of an operator’s assessment to the automated process?
For the third time in a row Solar Team Twente is using the steering system that was developed together with IMS. The steering system has proven itself in the previous races and the team is happy to get through with it.
Imagine an existing production line; one that is already in use. Would it be possible to add a new production module to it in order to achieve complete production automation? By working with IMS standard platform ProMicro it is. With this platform, a production line is modular and can be expanded to suit customer requirements. Not only can process units or components be added to the production line, but a whole new ProMicro based production module may be integrated.
If you’re the world leader in the development of sensors and you are faced with a sudden, increased demand in your component, how do you react? That’s right: you step up production, even if it means getting outside help. This was exactly the situation Sensata Technologies found itself in. After having worked together with IMS for many years, Sensata turned to us again. With a basic agreement, both parties consolidate their collaboration on new products and production methods.
ESPS is to proud to announce that we have been appointed as preferred system integrator for VIDI systems.
VIDI, established in 2012 and based in Switzerland, is revolutionizing the industry by commercializing the first Deep Learning-based image analysis solution dedicated to the machine vision market. The partnership with VIDI means access to state-of-the art knowledge in deep learning for machine vision. A welcome addition to the selection of technologies already on display in our Robotics Experience Center.
We just had our kick-off meeting for the new project ‘RECap’ and thought we would inform the public about this new initiative in Smart Industry and robotics!
This project is a collaboration between several Dutch industrial firms and knowledge institutes in which an experimental garden is set up in ESPS’s Robotics Experience Center.
RECap means “Robotics Experience Center als proeftuin” (experimental garden).
For over 40 years, we at IMS (Integrated Mechanization Solutions) have been developing and building production lines for small, composed products. Examples are production lines for pressure sensors used in cars and (production lines) for camera modules used in smartphones. This movie shows an overview of how we put our competences and experience to work to provide our customers with a permanent advantage on their competitors.
Bedrijven moeten tegenwoordig flexibel kunnen reageren op de snel wisselende vraag naar nieuwe producten. Hiervoor hebben ze flexibele machines nodig waarmee ze die producten in elkaar kunnen zetten (‘handen’), software om het hele productieproces te besturen (‘hersens’) en vision systemen waarmee ze de kwaliteit bewaken (‘ogen’). De Twentse bedrijven Integrated Mechanization Solutions (IMS), VIRO en Focal ontwikkelen daarom in het SLIM2-project nieuwe productiemiddelen voor de ‘smart industry’. Lees meer [Bron: robopocalypse.nl]
Automotive industry supplier Donaldson found ESPS through a referral. When approaching their robot specialist DENSO for partial automation of their production line, Donaldson was recommended to hire us as their robotic integration partner. Based on the DENSO robots, ESPS can deliver a complete automation solution.
SPS has developed a flexible manufacturing system which makes this customer’s producton process faster, simpler and flexible. We combined robotic systems such as DENSO robots, with an Eyefeeder, vision control units, and bowl feeders.
Automotive industry supplier Donaldson found ESPS through a referral. When approaching their robot specialist DENSO for partial automation of their production line, Donaldson was recommended to hire us as their robotic integration partner. Based on the Denso robots, ESPS can deliver a complete automation solution.
IMS and VIRO have been collaborating for many years. Their latest collaboration concerns the development of generic control software for the new generation, flexible production platforms used in the ‘Industry 4.0’ production environment.
Recently, ESPS was contacted by an important producer in the agricultural sector. The client was looking for a way to integrate production processes, which included a self-developed drilling process. Cutting costs and completely automating this process were the main goals for the client.
Within Industry 4.0 trends such as hyper connectivity and big data, the collection and comprehensive evaluation of data from different sources, are becoming more and more important.
This also happens in the process of selecting production automation solutions and throughout the cooperation with suppliers of these solutions. Production companies want to receive as much information as possible, to make sound decisions.
For years, the production automation experts of IMS have worked with Vernay, an automotive industry client (see box), having built various assembly machines. Vernay operates in a growing market. This growth is mainly caused by European laws and rules for reducing exhaust emissions. The task at hand involves automating the assembly of a small automotive component, which is positioned in the high end of the market.
For the value engineering of a tray handler to be integrated in its ProMu generic production platform, IMS collaborated with KMWE, a specialist in high-tech machining, assembly and engineering/development. The challenge was to reduce the cycle time for component placement, to make the module lightweight and to integrate the previously external tray handler within the clean ProMu environment.
After a steep learning curve, a series of ProMu production lines equipped with the latest generation of tray handlers is now being shipped to China.
This story is published in Mikroniek Magazine. You can read the complete article as PDF file, via this link.
METIS 4.0 is a production line with three important characteristics:
· scalable in production capacity
· flexible in process sequences
· re-configurable in lay-out
Last Friday, Solar Team Twente presented the new solar car: the Red One. With this solar car, Solar Team Twente aims to fulfill its dream: victory in October during the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge in Australia. The unveiling took place during the busy first edition of the Out of the Box Festival at Enschede Airport Twente. IMS is proud partner of the Solar Team Twente.
Anticipating trends such as smart industry, hyper connectivity and big data, Dutch company IMS is developing a production platform more flexible than ever before. Next to that, IMS launches an app, on which we elaborate later on in this press release.“More and more products are adapted to the customer’s wishes, as well as production line requirements,” says Director Sales & Marketing Markjan Vermeer.
In the medical industry, precision and reliability are the keys to success. In order to secure high-volume orders, every tiny detail needs to be perfect. And this is exactly why promising ideas end up on our table. Discover how a medical supplies producer ramped up its production capacity through a collaboration with IMS.
In partnership with Universal Robots, ESPS currently works on a concept to integrate a collaborative and flexible robot in an assembly line. The robot is equipped with a flexible servo gripper from Robotiq. The robot from Universal Robotics is tested in the ESPS tool shop. Collaborative and flexible are key features of this robot.
