Manufacturing
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Anodising Aluminium<h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anodising aluminium</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><strong>Adding beauty and durability</strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Bang & Olufsen over the years, has become famous for not only its stylish products but for their 'feel' and looks. Many products produced nowadays are of a hard-wearing aluminium; aluminium which has gone through the process of anodisation in order to harden the aluminium surface considerably and make it highly resistant to physical damage such as scratching. As the products' mirror finish and smooth surface without protrusions are easily cleaned, their beautiful appearance will be the same for many years.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Anodised aluminium has been a Bang & Olufsen hallmark for many years, but as the mirror-finished anodisation process is one of the most demanding metallurgic surface processes, Bang & Olufsen is the only manufacturer of audio and video equipment to use it. Anodising aluminium successfully combines science with nature in order to create one of nature's best metal finishes.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The process is electrochemical which thickens and toughens the naturally-occurring protective oxide. The resulting finish, depending on the process, is the second hardest substance known to man, second only to diamond. The anodic coating is part of the metal, but has a porous structure which allows secondary infusions, (i.e. organic and inorganic colouring, lubricity aids, etc.).</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anodising Definitions and Methods</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">While the chemical anodising process remains the same for all applications, the mechanical methods vary according to the two physical types and shapes of metals used.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Batch Anodising involves racking parts and immersing them in a series of treatment tanks. In wider industry, extrusions, sheets or bent metal parts, castings, cookware, cosmetic cases, flashlight bodies and machined aluminium parts are just a few of the items that are batch anodised.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Appearance options and quality are improved through the use of dyes and special pre-treatment procedures. This makes the aluminium look like pewter, stainless steel, copper, brushed bronze or polished brass and can also be coloured with brilliant blues, greens, reds and many varieties of metallic gold and silver (see, for example, the range of <a href="https://archived.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=370" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">BeoLab 4000</a> finishes). The unique dielectric properties of an anodised finish offer many opportunities for electrical applications.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The surface of the aluminium itself is toughened and hardened to a degree unmatched by any other process or material. The coating is 30 percent thicker than the metal it replaces, since the volume of oxide produced is greater than that of the metal replaced. The resulting anodic coating is porous, allowing relatively easy colouring and sealing.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Hard Anodising is a term used to describe the production of anodic coatings with film hardness or abrasion as their primary characteristic. They are usually thick by normal anodising standards (greater than 25 microns) and they are produced using special anodising conditions (very low temperature, high current density, special electrolytes). They find application in the engineering industry for components which require a very wear resistant surface such as piston, cylinders and hydraulic gear. They are often left unsealed, but may be impregnated with materials such as waxes or silicone fluids to give particular surface properties.</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anodising is accomplished in five carefully controlled, calibrated, quality-tested stages:</h2><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cleaning:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Alkaline and/or acid cleaners remove grease, and surface dirt</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pre-treatment:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(a) etching. An appealing matt surface finish is created with hot solutions of sodium hydroxide to remove minor surface imperfections. A thin layer of aluminium is removed to create a matt or dull finish (b) brightening. A near mirror finish is created with a concentrated mixture of phosphoric and nitric acids which chemically smoothes the aluminium's surface</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anodising:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The anodic film is built and combined with the metal by passing an electrical current through an acid electrolyte bath in which the aluminium is immersed. The coating thickness and surface characteristics are tightly controlled to meet end product specifications</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Colouring:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Colouring is achieved in one of four ways:</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(i) Electrolyte Colouring (the two step method) - After anodising, the metal is immersed in a bath containing an inorganic metal salt. Current is applied which deposits the metal salt in the base of the pores. The resulting colour is dependent on the metal used and the processing conditions (the range of colours can be expanded by over-dyeing with organic dyes). Electrolytic colours can be specified from any AAA member. Commonly used metals include tin and cobalt. This process offers colour versatility and the most technically advanced colouring quality.</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(ii) Integral Colouring:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">- This so-called one-step process combines anodising and colouring to simultaneously form and colour the oxide cell wall in bronze and black shades while more abrasive resistant than conventional anodising. It is the most expensive process since it requires significantly more electrical power.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(iii) Organic Dyeing:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">- The organic dyeing process produces a wide variety of colours. These dyes offer vibrant colours with intensities that cannot be matched by any other paint system on the market. They can also provide excellent weather-fastness and light-fastness. Many structures built with these finishes have lasted more than 20 years. The colour range can be broadened by over-dyeing the electrolytic colours with the organic dyes for a wider variety of colours and shades. This method is relatively inexpensive and involves the least amount of initial capital of any other colouring process.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(iv) Interference Colouring:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">- An additional colouring procedure, recently in production, involves modification of the pore structure produced in sulphuric acid. Pore enlargement occurs at the base of the pore. Metal deposition at this location produces light-fast colours ranging from blue, green and yellow to red. The colours are caused by optical-interference effects rather than by light scattering as with the basic electrolytic colouring process. Further development will produce a greater variety of colours.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sealing:</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This process closes the pores in the anodic film, giving a surface resistant to scratching, abrasion, crazing and colour degradation.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quality Control</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Throughout the entire anodising process, the process and quality of the product is strictly monitored. The application of electrical power and colour is pre-programmed and verified on all batches and coils. This quality control ensures uniformity to end product specifications for film thickness, density, abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, reflectivity, image clarity, insulation properties, adhesion and sealing.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The unique anodised finish is the only one in the metals' industry that satisfies each of the factors that must be considered when selecting a high performance aluminium finish.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Features of anodised aluminium:</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Durability</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Most anodised products have an extremely long life span and offer significant economic advantages through maintenance and operating savings. Anodising is a reacted finish that is integrated with the underlying aluminium for total bonding and unmatched adhesion.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Colour Stability</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Exterior anodic coatings provide good stability to ultraviolet rays, do not chip or peel and are easily repeatable.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ease of Maintenance</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Scars and wear from fabrication, handling, installation, frequent surface dirt cleaning and usage are virtually non-existent. Rinsing or mild soap and water cleaning usually will restore the anodised surface to its original appearance.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aesthetics</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Anodising offers a large increasing number of gloss and colour alternatives and minimises or eliminates colour variations. Unlike other finishes, anodising allows the aluminium to maintain its metallic appearance.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cost</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A lower initial finishing cost combines with lower maintenance costs for greater long-term value.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Health and Safety</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Anodising is a safe process that is not harmful to human health. An anodised finish is chemically stable, will not decompose; is non-toxic; and is heat-resistant to the melting point of aluminium. Since the anodising process is a reinforcement of a naturally occurring oxide process, it is non-hazardous and produces no harmful or dangerous by-products.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Colour</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Anodising provides depth and variety of colour with a brilliant metallic lustre.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Texture Choice</h2><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Anodising can provide a variety of textures from mechanically polished to heavily etched giving that extra dimension to a project.</span><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><div><span style="color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><br></span></div> | Manufacturing | |||
Koprivnice - Location of B&O's Eastern European plant<h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Koprivnice - Czech Republic</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">On 4 May 2006, Bang & Olufsen officially opened its first production facility outside of Denmark. The new factory is in Koprivnice, which is in the eastern part of Czech Republic close to Ostrava. Bang & Olufsen has invested eight million euros in the new 14,000 square metre factory and 130 employees are already working in the factory. The factory is geared for 200 employees and this target will be reached by summer 2007.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“This new factory placed right in the heart of Europe represents an important investment in the future of Bang & Olufsen,” explained Jørgen Worning, Chairman of the Board for Bang & Olufsen, in his speech for the official opening. “I am very proud to see the positive financial development Bang & Olufsen has shown over the last couple of years. The company is now geared for growth and it is our goal to have a turnover of about 800 million euros by 2010. It is an ambitious target and our new factory in Koprivnice will play an important part in this effort.”</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Bang & Olufsen started discussing the idea of a new factory outside of Denmark back in 2003 and a dedicated team then investigated no less than 42 possible sites. Koprivnice was the final choice, and already by February 2006 production had started in the new facility. The factory is already handling several preassembly tasks and will also assemble products from the range of Bang & Olufsen music systems, loudspeakers and telephones.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">“Bang & Olufsen’s attitude to technology is that it should work for our customers. At our headquarters and factories in <a href="https://archived.beoworld.org/article_view.asp?id=56" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">Struer</a>, in the west of Denmark, Bang & Olufsen has for 80 years manufactured some of the finest crafted products in the world. Now we have added this new factory to our product development and manufacturing facilities. We want to ensure that the quality of our products remains unmatched, and it is with great pride that we welcome Koprivinice to the Bang & Olufsen family” said Jørgen Worning during the official opening.</p><div><br></div> | Manufacturing | |||
Production Techniques<h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Manufacturing a Legend - Production Techniques</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Several special production techniques are used in Bang & Olufsen appliances. For example, the top covers of the company's <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">BeoLab 6000</span> and <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">8000</span> speakers are polished like a mirror, as the designers wanted absolutely no traces of the manufacturing tools used to produce it. This process is reportedly quite difficult to achieve and requires a special polishing machine that uses diamonds in the cutting process.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In addition, the company's new remote <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">Beo1</span> (with only 11 buttons - see the 'cabinet' above) and a banana-shaped cordless telephone - <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">BeoCom 2</span> - are made of 100 % polished aluminium. "We polish the round shapes with a 5-axis robot arm," says Mr. Mortensen of B&O. "We want the naked aluminium because that makes the visual difference. Bare aluminium is very touch-sensitive: if a part has a fingerprint on the surface it cannot be anodised and cannot be used (in that case, it's recycled). And to achieve the colours we want, our designers had to acquire special anodising knowledge."</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">He continues: "A second example of production technology is the advanced techniques we use for our <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">Beovision Avant</span> televisions. The casing is made of extra strong MDF to be vibration-free for the powerful built-in loudspeakers and to reduce mechanical noise from a built-in VCR. We wanted a very strong paint that would not deteriorate under sunlight. Therefore, we borrowed techniques from the car industry for our painting shop."</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The aluminium cabinet for <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">Beo1</span> after cutting holes for operation buttons - Factory 5</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The Bang & Olufsen brand occupies a special place in the annals of Danish industry. It has, in its 75+ years of existence, become a global icon for design and quality in audio and video appliances. In the book 'Bang & Olufsen, From Vision To Legend', this history is accompanied by breathtaking photography, which shows the Bang & Olufsen products in all their glory, as well as the world and culture in which they exist. Who would have thought that the fine line between art and technology could become so blurred?</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Distribution and Dealers</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">One of the reasons the company experienced problems in the 1980s included problems with product distribution. Ordering was so unpredictable that stockpiled up in Denmark at company headquarters and at dealers' shops. This was partly due to the nature of the way the appliance is purchased: customers do not leave a store with a box, but often place customised orders and change their minds frequently during the process. Another problem is the seasonal nature of the consumer electronics market: sales are highest in autumn and winter, with the busiest months in November and December.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Thus, Bang & Olufsen is working towards an important goal concerning its logistics: made-to-order production and delivery within five days of ordering. "Much work goes into our Retail Ordering System (ROS)," says Mr. Mortensen. "It is Internet-based, contains technical information, service manuals and ordering functionality. It allows the dealer to assemble the configuration of an audio or video set, and the order is copied directly into our assembly computer system. Now, our larger dealers are connected, and at the end of 2001, we expect to have every dealer work with this system. At the moment, about 50 percent of our audio/video products are made-to-order."</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Supplier Relations</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">One factor that helps is Bang & Olufsen's close relationship with its aluminium suppliers. As a small manufacturer, Bang & Olufsen must rely on others for key technology, and the main supplier is Philips (Europe's largest television tube manufacturer), which supplies TV tubes, CD/DVD mechanisms and VCR decks. "Philips is an example of what we call a key supplier," says John Bennet-Therkildsen, head of the Operations Division. "We are small, and we have no supplier exclusivity, and we have to follow the trends in technologies. In addition to key suppliers, we have system suppliers, who manufacture complete subsystems for us. For example, our speaker systems have built-in amplifiers, so we have five suppliers."</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">As its products are electronic, Bang & Olufsen buys a majority of standard electronic components and has experienced some shortages in the electronic components market. "Until now, we haven't experienced severe problems, but we have had to change some production schedules," says Mr. Bennet-Therkildsen.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">During final assembly of the high specification <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">BeoLab 1</span> active speaker (max power 500 W), a blue test box with studio microphones is lowered onto the speaker unit for the product's first acoustic test. Final testing is done in another larger acoustic chamber in Bang & Olufsen's production facility.</p><div><br></div> | Manufacturing | |||
Research & Development<p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><i>"Courage to constantly question the ordinary in search of surprising, long-lasting experiences."</i></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">This is Bang & Olufsen's vision for the future, but it also encapsulates the values and culture that have played a part in defining the company throughout its first 76 years of existence. From the hopeful start near the small town of <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">Struer</span> in Western Jutland in 1925, to the international company of today, the aim has always remained the same; to develop innovative and original products that make a noticeable difference.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Nearly all of Bang & Olufsen's research and development work, the production of products, and the administration of the company are still carried out in <span style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">Struer</span>, the town where it all began, and it is here that the vast majority of Bang & Olufsen's 2,636 employees are employed.</p><div><br></div> | Manufacturing | |||
Testing Bang & Olufsen<h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Testing the hard way</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The tests that Bang & Olufsen products go through before a product is released onto the market are some of the most rigorous in the business. Nothing escapes the testers when products are bumped, stressed out, thrown around and even gassed!</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Must be able to take 5000 bumps</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A television or radio from Bang & Olufsen must be able to withstand the bumps and jars of being wheeled over doorsteps and other such small domestic obstacles. The consumer expects it. At Bang & Olufsen all sets receive 1000 bumps and bangs on the base, the sides, front and back. Five thousand in all: "And after all this, the set must still be intact or it’s back to where it came from," says Torben Jørgensen, the company's test manager.</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A bumpy ride in a "Prairie Wagon"</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Bang & Olufsen tests packaging and stresses components. The demands Bang & Olufsen makes of its products are the toughest in the business.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Everybody knows it as the "Prairie Wagon". It’s the test rig Bang & Olufsen uses to make sure its products will arrive safely in the hands of the consumer, no matter how far away.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">When equipment is packaged up and loaded into the back of a truck, it is subject throughout its journey to a constant barrage of bumps and vibrations," says Torben Jørgensen. "We use the Prairie Wagon to simulate these truck journeys and determine whether this banging and crashing causes the packaging to leave any marks on the surface of the equipment it contains. After a six-hour "ride", the equipment is thoroughly tested and if there is the slightest mark, well that’s the end of the trail for that piece of kit," he guarantees.</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stress</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">But Bang & Olufsen equipment is shipped in vehicles other than trucks. Transport by train or ships is common. And Bang & Olufsen is using a special vibrating machine to simulate these too. The packaged equipment is shaken by vibrations varying between 10 and 400 cycles per second. "What we’re trying to do here is to stress the components," says Torben Jørgensen. "At the end of the test, we try all the functions. And no matter how tough we’ve been with them, they must function correctly in every respect. Otherwise they won’t meet the expectations the user has of them."</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The business has promulgated accepted tolerances of what equipment should be able to withstand but Bang & Olufsen has set its own requirements. "And they are much more stringent than the general standards set by the business as a whole," emphasises Torben Jørgensen. "And they must be met in every detail or the equipment doesn’t leave the factory."</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bang & Olufsen TVs smoke up to 120 cigarettes a day</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Thorough testing prevents the effects of smoke and dust and cut down on the need for consumer cleaning. Bang & Olufsen’s <a href="https://archived.beoworld.org/prod_details.asp?pid=865" style="color: rgb(51, 153, 204); outline: none;">AV 9000</a> television set had to get through 120 cigarettes a day for ten days - a forced inhalation of 1200 cigarettes - before shipment to the user. It’s all part of the company’s efforts to test its products’ ability to resist smoke and dust. "We subject the equipment to the smoke and dust they will encounter in their future homes," says Torben Jørgensen.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">On most modern TVs there is a glass plate in front of the picture screen and if smoke or dust manages to get behind this, then the picture tube itself will get grimy and dull. As the coating builds up, the picture deteriorates and the plate has to be removed every so often and cleaned if the picture is not to become worse and worse.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">"The easiest thing for the user, of course, would be that the plate didn’t need cleaning at all. Furthermore, between the plate and the picture tube on our sets there is a certain amount of sensitive electronic gadgetry that shouldn’t be touched," says Torben Jørgensen. "So we have set the goal that our sets should be so airtight that smoke and dust can’t get in there in the first place. That saves the consumer a lot of problems.”</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">"Admittedly 120 cigarettes a day for ten days is pretty heavy smoking, but if our television sets can take that, then they will also be able to take the more normal levels of smoke and dust found in the domestic environment," concludes Torben Jørgensen.</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Televisions thrown around</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">50 centimetres: that's the drop a TV set from Bang & Olufsen - in its package - must be able to take without blinking before it arrives in somebody’s sitting room.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">"We simulate one of the traumatic events a television set may encounter on its perilous journey from the factory to one of the subsidiaries, a dealer’s showroom or a domestic viewer," says Torben Jørgensen. "There is ample opportunity in that process for somebody to drop it and if it can’t take the shock, then it doesn’t go anywhere."</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A heavy set has a lower drop-height than its lightweight cousin. "This has nothing to do with the punishment the two sets can withstand. It’s simply a question of how high they can be lifted and you don’t lift a heavy set as high as a small one."</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Bang & Olufsen’s Hi-Fi sets, however, have to take the real rough stuff. A 10kg set has to take a drop of 86cm. And just to be on the safe side, 30cm is added to the specified tolerance limits. They are dropped onto the tops, bottoms, sides and corners.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Torben Jørgensen adds, without a trace of sadistic pleasure, that other Bang & Olufsen equipment, including loudspeakers, is subjected to the same unkind treatment.</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wax & fix</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The weight of the Avant’s wide screen picture tube called for new thinking in terms of construction. High density fibre board turned out to be as solid a solution as it is environmentally healthy. To disguise its low tech appearance, it is treated to a high quality two-component lacquer of the same type as is used at the upper end of the car industry. It will not scratch easily, but should this happen, a minor scratch can be polished away using liquid silicone car wax.</p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Motorised stand of the Avant</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The motorised stand of the Avant is rigorously tested. It's built to be able to turn through an arc of 70° at least 20 000 times. If the TV was turned on and off 5 times a day, the motorised stand should perform flawlessly for more than ten years. In its tests, B&O stopped after 80 000 turns. A painted iron base plate, an aluminium top plate which carries the entire weight, with the actual turning mechanism of a 36 ball bearing race between them is how the stand is made up. Tests such as dropping it several centimetres directly onto the rim of the bottom plate ensure that the stand has many years of life in front of it.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Such is the life of a test product at Bang & Olufsen. Knowledge indeed that it's received stringent tests before the product graces your living room!</p><div><br></div> | Manufacturing | |||
The Cube<h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Cube</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"><strong>Testing loudspeakers the Bang & Olufsen way</strong></p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"></p><h2 style="font-size: 18px; line-height: 1.375em; margin: 0px 0px 15px; color: rgb(51, 133, 173); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Developing a Bang & Olufsen loudspeaker</h2><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">For well over half a century Bang & Olufsen has been working at developing loudspeakers that combine a true-to-life sound reproduction and an innovative and unique design. In the process of research and development the company has drawn on the skills of its in-house experts in acoustics, electronics and mechanical engineering. Their combined effort is aimed at developing prototypes, which offer the best reproduction possible of tone balance and spatial impression.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Once produced, the prototype is subjected to a number of extensive tests. These tests enable the company to see whether the loudspeakers' performance matches the conceptual idea and if not, which modifications are required before the speaker is ready for production.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">In pursuit of perfection, Bang & Olufsen uses its highly sophisticated research facility: in a purpose-built cube-shaped test chamber (12 x 12 x 13 metres) are analysed the speakers' performance under simulated free-field conditions. The test equipment and computers that are used are capable of registering even the most microscopic deviations from the ideal that has been chosen and every detail of the large number of factors affecting the sound quality of the speaker is able to be measured.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The Cube was designed and built in 1981 and is completely isolated from its surroundings. The large dimensions allow reliable measurements to be taken all the way down to 30 Hz at 1m, or 40 Hz at 3m. This is much lower than in conventional anechoic rooms, but Bang & Olufsen considers it necessary as measurements at low frequencies give a better correlation between objective and subjective assessments. The Cube is not, however, an anechoic room, but has been designed to produce a natural sounding semi-reverberant environment such as would be found in a normal home.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The loudspeakers under test can be placed to within a millimetre, tilted, or rotated to any required angle by computer control. This is a powerful tool for identifying cone break-up modes, cabinet resonances, poor suspension and diffraction effects.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The purpose of a loudspeaker cabinet is to isolate the rear side acoustical emission of the speaker units from the front side emission. A loudspeaker cabinet is also designed to act as a supporting structure for the speaker units without contributing any sound itself. As it is important to minimize mechanical vibrations in the cabinet Bang & Olufsen uses a highly sophisticated technique called laser holography: by studying the three-dimensional picture produced during the holographic test, it can be seen where in the cabinet undesirable vibrations are produced and we then the steps needed to dampen them can be taken.</p><p style="line-height: 1.5em; margin: 0px 0px 20px; color: rgb(83, 101, 124); font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The above-mentioned testing techniques can all be classified as 'objective tests' because the performance of the loudspeaker is evaluated on the basis of data provided by advanced technological equipment. However, as loudspeakers are developed for the pleasure of the human ear - and not merely for the impersonal acceptance of a machine - a number of 'subjective' listening tests are also undertaken. In the reference room for listening tests are gathered an audience of people from the well-trained listening panel whose ears are tuned to the fine nuances and details of sound. Their expert opinion and highly personal comments are of the utmost value in research and development work and their acceptance is needed before the speaker can be given the final seal of approval.</p><div><br></div> | Manufacturing |