First understand the problem. Then design the machine.

Engineering

Most suppliers show you which systems they build. This page shows something else: how a technical task becomes a system that reproducibly reaches the required values in continuous operation.

Request a system design

This is not a sideshow, but the actual service. With us, a cleaning or deburring system is never the starting point of an inquiry — it is the result of a system design. Whoever first chooses the machine and then forces the task into it builds a system that works in the brochure and not in production.

1 · The challenge

An inquiry rarely begins with a machine

It begins with a result that is not right: residual contamination values are not reached, a burr sits at a location no tool can reach, a new production line sets a requirement that the old system no longer meets.

Some customers already come with a requirements specification, some with a specified machine type. Others expect a technical recommendation. Both are welcome — but in both cases the same question stands at the beginning: is the task described completely at all?

Where a sound system design fails before it begins

With initial inquiries, almost always the same information is missing:

Chemistry specificationsType and amount of contaminationData sheets of the process mediaMaterial flowCycle timeResidual contamination requirementComplete part data

If this information is missing, no sound system design can be carried out — every statement about method, cycle time or costs would be guesswork. That is exactly why every project begins not with design engineering, but with clarification.

2 · Engineering considerations

A system is not designed around the machine, but around the task

That is not a phrase for marketing, but the way of working itself. It can be summarized in three principles against which every system design can be measured.

How we think — the guiding principles

Understand the task before a machine is designed
Every system is thought through from the component and the process — not from a standard machine
A solution is only good when it works reproducibly in continuous operation and remains maintainable

What goes into the system design

A system design does not begin with a system type, but with what you have in front of you in production.

The component
Drawing, geometry, material, weight, as-delivered condition.
The contamination
Type, amount, data sheets of the media used.
The target
Residual contamination requirement, chemistry specifications, passivation.
The production
Cycle time, production volume, material flow — how the components reach the system.

These parameters influence each other and are considered together. A higher production volume changes the cycle time, the cycle time the method, the method the workpiece fixture, the workpiece fixture the locations on the component that can be reached. There is no fixed rule “component X → machine Y” — and therefore no configurator that replaces the system design.

Technical terms in the glossary

Large orange turning fixture in a bright hall: between two slewing rings an engine block is clamped that can be rotated into any position; in front on the left stands a person in work overalls — The workpiece fixture decides which locations on the component can be reached at all — here a turning fixture that rotates the engine block into every position required.

Where the limit lies

In principle, we try to solve every task technically. The limit rarely arises from the technology — but from unrealistic performance requirements, economic constraints and budget. If a residual contamination requirement is unrealistically low, we say so before the quotation, not after acceptance. That is not a refusal out of convenience, but the prerequisite for the promised values actually holding in the end.

3 · From the task to the system

A sequence that is always the same

Between the clarified task and the running system lies a technical sequence — regardless of which machine type is created in the end.

The technical sequence

01InquiryThe task is recorded and checked for completeness.
02Technical analysisComponent, contamination, target and production are clarified.
03Concept and layoutMethod, configuration and arrangement arise from the analysis.
04TrialsWhere feasibility is not certain, it is tested — before anything is designed.
05Design engineeringMechanics, electrics and control system are worked out.
06SimulationThe system design is calculated through before steel is cut.
07ManufacturingBuilt in our own company.
08Factory acceptance test (FAT)Inspection in the factory before the system leaves the building.
09Site acceptance test (SAT)Second acceptance after installation at your site.

Two steps in it are the reason why the later system works and does not merely look plausible: the trials, because feasibility is tested on the task and not on the model — and the simulation, because the system design is calculated through before anything is built.

If defined residual contamination values are required, they are checked at the factory acceptance test, in our own factory. The analysis itself is carried out by an independent, accredited test laboratory, not by ITR.

This technical sequence is the backbone of the project. It is embedded in the complete project workflow from the order through installation and commissioning to long-term support.

The complete project workflow

What we design for

Low-maintenanceEnergy-efficientClosed media circuitsStainless steel buildSystem design for the application

These principles are not an ingredient added at the end, but constraints from the outset. A system that reaches the values but is not maintainable has solved the task only halfway.

Why there are no data sheets

As a matter of principle, we develop customer-specific special-purpose systems. A standard machine is not the starting point of the design engineering — and therefore there are no fixed specifications from which to calculate. What a data table does for other suppliers, the system design does here: it is created project-specifically and stands in the quotation, not in the brochure.

4 · The result

Reproducibility is the actual goal

Process reliability means for us: the system must run permanently in its intended operation and reach the required quality reproducibly — not once at acceptance, but in every shift.

That is what distinguishes a designed system from a purchased one: a residual contamination value reached once is no verification if it cannot be repeated. That is exactly what the entire sequence from section 3 is aimed at.

How quality is verified

Before delivery, we test the system with original components. Depending on the project, this includes:

Leak testFunctional testInspection of the weld seamsRequired cleaning qualityResidual contamination measurement

Technical cleanliness and residual contamination

When an existing system is to fulfill the new task

Not every changed task needs a new system. In retrofit projects, previously unknown constraints regularly appear — they are analyzed during implementation and solved by design engineering. Retrofit is thus not an exchange of parts, but engineering work on the existing stock: the same way of thinking, applied to a system that is already standing.

Retrofit and modernization

What we have in our own company for this

That system design, design engineering, control cabinet manufacturing, programming and verification come from a single source is the prerequisite for this thinking process to carry at all. Whoever takes responsibility for the result has to master the chain behind it.

Vertical integration Digital system lifecycle

What a system costs — and what it depends on

No special-purpose system builder names a price in advance, and for a factual reason: there is no standard system from which to calculate. What a system costs follows from what it has to deliver — from the required cleanliness, the cycle time, the production volume, the degree of automation, the number of process steps and the media treatment. Each of these requirements shifts the effort, and no two tasks are the same.

Added to this are three quantities that follow less from the required performance than from the extent of the system: the part size, which determines the installation space and thus the entire mechanics, the filtration and the documentation scope, which can be considerable in projects subject to acceptance.

That is why the price of a system from us is not a surcharge, but the reflection of the requirements it meets — and of the quality with which it does so permanently. Whoever buys a system that holds the values reproducibly and remains maintainable for decades is not investing in a component, but in a production that will change.

Where this engineering takes effect

The same approach stands behind all three service areas

Industrial Parts Cleaning High-Precision Water Jet Deburring Automation & Robotics

Questions and answers

Frequently asked questions before the quotation

What information do you need for a quotation?

With initial inquiries, almost always the same seven pieces of information are missing: chemistry specifications, type and amount of contamination, data sheets of the process media, material flow, cycle time, residual contamination requirement and complete part data. If they are missing, no sound system design can be carried out — every statement about method, cycle time or costs would be guesswork. That is exactly why every project begins not with design engineering, but with clarification.

How do you design a system?

Not around the machine, but around the task. Four areas go in together: the component with drawing, geometry, material, weight and as-delivered condition, the contamination by type and amount, the target with residual contamination requirement, chemistry specifications and passivation, and the production with cycle time, production volume and material flow. These parameters influence each other — there is no fixed rule “component X → machine Y”.

Can I submit my own requirements specification?

Yes. Some customers already come with a requirements specification, some with a specified machine type, others expect a technical recommendation. Both are welcome. In both cases the same question stands at the beginning: is the task described completely at all?

Why are there no data sheets?

Because, as a matter of principle, we develop customer-specific special-purpose systems. A standard machine is not the starting point of the design engineering — therefore there are no fixed specifications from which to calculate. What a data table does for other suppliers, the system design does here: it is created project-specifically and stands in the quotation, not in the brochure.

Where is the limit of what is feasible?

Rarely in the technology. In principle, we try to solve every task technically. The limit arises from unrealistic performance requirements, economic constraints and budget. If a residual contamination requirement is unrealistically low, we say so before the quotation, not after acceptance — that is the prerequisite for the promised values actually holding in the end.

What do you design for?

According to fixed principles, regardless of the project: low-maintenance, energy-efficient, with closed media circuits and water treatment, in stainless steel build for a long service life and consistently designed for the application. These principles are not an ingredient added at the end, but constraints from the outset. A system that reaches the values but is not maintainable has solved the task only halfway.

What does a system cost?

No special-purpose system builder names a price in advance, and for a factual reason: there is no standard system from which to calculate. What a system costs follows from what it has to deliver — required cleanliness, cycle time, production volume, degree of automation, number of process steps, media treatment. Each of these requirements shifts the effort.

Which factors influence the price?

The required cleanliness, the cycle time, the production volume, the degree of automation, the number of process steps and the media treatment. In addition, the part size, which determines the installation space and thus the entire mechanics, the filtration and the documentation scope. Each of these requirements shifts the effort, and no two tasks are the same. That is why the price is not a surcharge, but the reflection of the requirements the system meets — and of the quality with which it does so permanently.

Why do you need 3D data of the component?

Because the system is not created independently of the component. On the solid model, what a drawing only hints at can be assessed before the first line is drawn: installation space and dimensions, blind holes, cross-drilled holes and internal channels, sealing faces, edges and the locations where a burr forms. From this follows what matters — where the process medium reaches and where spray shadow remains, how the part has to be held and oriented, where nozzles sit and where it is blown off and dried. In water jet deburring, the geometry additionally decides the alignment of the high-pressure nozzles: the burr root sits at the bore intersection, where two bores meet, and a jet that misses it by a few degrees does not remove the burr. 3D data are therefore not a design document for later, but the basis for assessing workpiece fixture, media access, nozzle arrangement and process sequence before anything is built. Together with material, contamination, required cleanliness, cycle time, production volume and downstream process, this becomes a sound system design.

Direct contact

AddressITR GmbH powered by Zippel
Hauptstraße 31
93186 Pettendorf
Pettendorf bei Regensburg

Phone+49 (0) 9409-777 3598
Fax +49 (0) 9409-777 3607

Emailinfo@itr-anlagenbau.com

Technically responsible for this page: Fikret Önal — Managing Director