Best Practices for Implementing a Smart Fastening System in Your Facility

Smart fastening systems are proving their value and have become essential for many manufacturers. Smart tools can transform your work process, increase efficiency, ensure greater consistency and quality, assist with data-driven decision making, reduce legal risks, and improve worker safety. Learn more about the benefits of smart tools here.

But while nearly everyone can see the benefits of smart fastening systems, change can still be a challenge. Many legacy systems and tools have been in use for a long time. Operators have a level of comfort with their current tools.

In this article, we’ll identify the best practices for implementing a smart fastening system in your facility. By following these steps, you can maximize the benefits of smart tools, overcome challenges, and minimize difficulties in the transition.

Every assembly line is unique. How your assembly line will handle smart tools depends on a few key factors.

One of the biggest benefits of smart tools is that you no longer need to use different tools for different stations. Your Manufacturing Execution System (MES) will automate tool and job selection. MES sends a message to the operator to set the correct specs for a specific job. This will effectively eliminate manual errors, reduce production downtime and greatly increase operator efficiency. With enabled real-time visibility of production fastening data, you can have enhanced quality control over the line to identify and resolve any fastening issues almost immediately in real time.

So, one of the first steps in implementing a smart fastening system in your facility is assessing MES and Fieldbus compatibility on your line. You’ll need to identify your existing systems and evaluate the MES solution’s integration capabilities with your specific Fieldbus protocols (Profibus, EtherNet/IP, etc.) and any other equipment including SCADA systems. As part of your integration planning, you likely want to test a pilot program to make sure the data flows correctly before rolling it out across your entire line.

You’ll need to determine your specific warranty requirements and quality control needs as you set up your system, and you’ll want to identify the correct torque values to make sure your system is configured correctly. Consider what level of data is required for the quality control you are establishing, and how that data will be directed and seamlessly integrated into your existing systems.

It's important to pay attention to the needs of your operators. In addition to safety, efficiency, and quality-control, you’ll want to address ergonomic issues, such as operator strain and reaction forces as you update the system. In many cases, the process of implementing a smart fastening system can correct ergonomic issues that have existed for years.

It stands to reason that the more complex the system, the higher the cost. So your budget needs to be considered as you plan the system. Ingersoll Rand® has a variety of product options, and we will work with you to design the right smart fastening system for your needs and budget.

As you evaluate your assembly line and identify your needs, you can use the considerations listed here as a guide to develop questions for vendors before starting the evaluation process of different systems.

While your immediate needs will tend to take priority in your decision-making, you will ideally want to balance those immediate needs with your long-term goals. In this way, you can design your system to handle growth, new product lines, and even greater efficiencies in the future.

Every change to your existing process will pose a challenge for operators and managers alike. You’ll need to confirm that operators are following the new process and a system of checks will likely be required. Operator training is critical to ensuring compliance. Ingersoll Rand® offers accessible product training to help your operators feel comfortable with the new tools and procedures.

Transitioning to smart fastening systems can bring a few hurdles. Operator training is often the first challenge—new tools and processes require clear instructions and compliance checks. Providing hands-on training and ongoing support helps operators feel confident and reduces resistance to change. Another common issue is data overload. Smart systems generate large volumes of tightening data, so it’s important to have a plan for how this information will be analyzed and used to improve quality and efficiency. Finally, system communication is critical. Your new smart tools must work seamlessly with existing MES, Fieldbus, and SCADA systems to avoid workflow disruptions and ensure smooth production. Addressing these challenges early will make your integration process faster and more successful.

The data collected by a smart fastening system creates data management and cybersecurity considerations. You’ll need a thoughtful plan on how the data will be used and how it will be secured.

When you’re conducting your evaluation of current systems, look at the security of your corporate Wi-Fi networks. Consider how your data will be stored and accessed, and how that access will be securely traced.

Before your new system goes online, set up secure data protocols to protect your sensitive information. Ingersoll Rand® tools make data security easier. For example, our QXLimitless Series has INSIGHTqcx™ Compatibility, which facilitates real-time tightening data logging and traceability.

One common misconception is that static tools with a pre-set torque value are simpler and therefore “better” than tools with dynamic torque measurement. While static tools are indeed simpler, dynamic systems continuously measure resistance and will adjust to avoid over- or under-tightening. This dramatically improves the accuracy, consistency, and ultimately the quality of your assembly line.

Part of this misconception comes from operators who are comfortable with their existing static tool. These well-trained, experienced operators might argue that their skills make dynamic torque measurement unnecessary. But dynamic torque measurement allows for greater consistency and quality across operators, including at different stations and products where torque requirements may vary.

Training these operators on the value of dynamic torque measurement will help foster a culture of learning and improvement on the line. Once roperly trained, these experienced operators can become champions of dynamic tools and help train newer, less experienced operators on their proper operation.

Ingersoll Rand® offers ongoing training, support, and troubleshooting assistance. We leverage field service engineers for hands-on support. Our goal is to provide your team with sufficient resources so that you can ultimately train your own teams (with our assistance as needed).

We will continue to provide you with a variety of resources including in-person training, virtual programs, online Learning Center, and ongoing customer support to answer questions and give you any support you need. We will be there for you throughout the entire transition process.

To make the transition to Smart Tools easier, Ingersoll Rand® tools are designed for easy adoption. Our smart tool architecture is very similar to existing static tools, so operators will feel comfortable and will be able to use them with minimal training.

Our systems are ready-to-use with minimal upfront costs, and the initial goal is to keep the new system as simple as possible for easy implementation. Over time, the system may increase in complexity as needs evolve. Our systems are designed for long-term scalability and adaptability to effectively future-proof your tools as they evolve with your needs.

Across the world, major manufacturers are transitioning over to smart fastening systems. These success stories include:

• A Truck Manufacturer: Integrated 180 systems with prevailing torque functionality.
• An Aircraft Manufacturer: Transitioned from ‘dumb’ static tools to smart, dynamic tools for FAA compliance, with successful short-term testing.
• MVI in Georgia: Addressed ergonomic issues by switching to ETS platform tools and eliminating injuries caused by previous tools.

Our customers who have adopted Ingersoll Rand® smart tools say that the tools were easy to set up, their operators adapted quickly, and they saw impressive operational improvements (greater efficiency, more consistency, better quality control, etc.) with the new tools.

At Ingersoll Rand®, we will leverage our experience with these manufacturers and other customers so you can learn from their lessons to successfully transition to smart fastening systems.

By investing in a smart fastening system for your facility, you’ll support Industry 4.0 initiatives to bring your company to the future of manufacturing.

Smart tools like our IQi Series can dramatically improve your efficiency while improving overall consistency and quality. Because they collect data to improve traceability, smart tools can reduce your liability, protect against compliance issues, and reduce your legal risks.

To see some of the smart tools now available from Ingersoll Rand®, check out RTS Connect, IQi Series*, QC Series**, QX Limitless.