PROJECTS

Nefit keeps the Netherlands warm...
Absolute certainty. This is Nefit's key promise. Not just to the users of their HR-boilers, but also to the fitters and wholesalers with whom Nefit works closely. It is not for nothing that Nefit has been the most sold brand of HR-boilers in the last 25 years. With more than 1.5 million appliances installed, Nefit is the undisputed market leader in the Netherlands. For this reason, one can rightly say that Nefit keeps the Netherlands warm. Nefit is part of the international Robert Bosch group. The staff at the expertise centre in Deventer are working to further develop Hoog Rendement (High Efficiency) heating for the whole group. More than half of that produced at the factories in Deventer and Buinen is sold abroad. Six hundred staff realise turnover of more than EUR 250 million.

Nefit Topline
Timmerije supplies important synthetic components for the new Nefit Topline central heating boilers, which are fitted with compact heat exchangers with Nefit Twisted Flow Technology. The Nefit TopLine fits in with the market trend towards greater capacity in less space, both in the residential and non-residential sectors. Timmerije produces, for example, the inner door and the spray-proof housing for the UBA 3, a microprocessor-controlled Universele Brander Automaat, which optimises the comfort and the energy saving of the Nefit Topline. We discussed the ins and outs of this production with Hildo van Dijk, Purchaser at Nefit, and Henk Swerink of Timmerije.

Reproducibility is paramount
Nefit develops new products in the time-to-market process. At Nefit, this process has four sample phases for synthetic components. In the second phase, Nefit uses the future supplier - in this case Timmerije. Hildo van Dijk: "Our maxim is that 80% of the costs are incurred in the design phase. For this reason, we give a lot of attention to all the sample phases, to the design and to the tools. Later, this must result in faultless, efficient production and guarantee optimum reproducibility. The first injection mould production item must be absolutely identical to the 50,000th production item. All of our and Timmerije's efforts
are aimed at this".

Complex mould
Henk Swerink of Timmerije concurs. "A lot of time is spent on preparation. For example, the cover (a door on the front of the central heating boiler) of the Nefit Topline Compact requires precision work. Stiffness, dimensional tolerance and flatness tolerance are crucial for this product. The cover has to satisfy, for example, certain norms as regards leaktightness and is therefore fitted with a rubber seal. Because the cover is, of course, removed during servicing and maintenance, there must also be a guarantee that the norm of leaktightness is satisfied afterwards". Strength and load calculations yielded a number of innovative solutions and modifications. Example: Click fasteners on the underside of the cover were strengthened when fitted because of the expected pressing force and a provision was made so that noise shielding could be easily fitted to the cover later.

Intensive cooperation
In the development phase, this approach resulted in very intensive contact between customer and supplier. "In this phase, Timmerije held consultations with Nefit at least three times a week," said Van Dijk. "This is very intensive. It is also needed; there is a lot at stake. From our point of view, an increasing amount of synthetics (in this case ABS) is being used in our central heating boilers; it is lighter, we have much more form flexibility and can more easily integrate all kinds of functions into the synthetic component, which would not be feasible with steel". In that respect, Van Dijk has had good experiences with Timmerije. "Timmerije works with projects, the response time is good and so is the level of knowledge." The new N8 Topline Compact of Nefit will be launched in October 2006.