Innovation has always been a tradition at Vorwerk & Company since it's founding in 1883. The ability to predict customer requirements and changing market conditions has allowed Vorwerk to quickly respond and react to customer needs. The upright vacuum cleaner developed in 1929 was considered a slow seller because of its rather modest design and lack of appeal in the marketplace. Today, Vorwerk's innovations have resulted in the vacuum cleaner division contributing more to the bottom line than any other Vorwerk division.

The latest development from Vorwerk is a series of compact, lightweight DC motors (40% weight reduction compared with older models) which are extremely efficient and reliable. In partnership with itus Industrietechnik und Sodereinrichtungen GmbH, the item machine building system was used to develop and design an assembly conveyor belt system which allows the motors to be assembled in an extremely economical and efficient process.

The Vorwerk DC motors are assembled on a total of ten independently designed machines each with its own cycle time but all integrated into a single belt conveyor. This assembly process begins with a work bench for pre-assembling the stators which are then attached to a work piece carrier in the second operation. Next, the rotor is inserted in the stator using integrated force and path monitoring. The "B" bridge and its capacitors and contacts are preassembled at a different work bench. In the next operation, the "B" bridge is attached to the stator using force and path monitoring, after which the capacitor legs are soldered to the stator, also involving force and path monitoring.

At the following work bench, the magnets located within the stator are magnetized. In the next to last operation, the carbon brushes and springs are fitted with the aid of a camera vision monitoring system. At the final operation, all motor functions including durability and reliability are checked automatically. Defective motors which fail stringent quality checks are automatically removed from the assembly process. With assembly lines of this length, the rigidity of the machine base and conveyor system is critical.

The item machine building system consisting of more than 320 structural aluminium profiles and 2500 modular components was the perfect solution for this complex factory equipment engineering challenge.