Critical production interruption at Inapal Metal SA successfully prevented   

Inapal Metal SA, founded in 1973, is a leading manufacturer of sheet metal components for the automotive industry, based in Trofa, Portugal. With more than 40 years of experience, the company has established itself internationally, supplying customers across Europe, North and South America, as well as South Africa. The production area covers 25,000 square meters. 

 Recently, however, INAPAL faced a critical situation: a central production press failed due to a defective PLC control board. 

The PLC control board, an ABC-IT CPU 100-2280-21, suddenly failed. Exploded capacitors, burnt circuit traces and damaged interlayer connections rendered the heart of the central production press unusable. Worse still: the control board had long been discontinued and was no longer available as a spare part. Inapal Metal SA was facing a dilemma. The consequences? Delivery delays, looming penalty charges, and severe interruption to the production flow. Alarm bells were ringing. 

‘We had no alternative’, recalls Luís Malheiro, Purchasing Manager at Inapal Metal SA. ‘The press was critical for our current orders. We had only a few hours to find a solution.' Time was running out, and customers - renowned automotive manufacturers - were already waiting. 

After unsuccessful attempts to find help in Portugal, Luís Malheiro came across EICHLER, a specialist in ABC-IT boards, on the internet and immediately contacted the 24/7 SOS hotline. 

The call to EICHLER, one of the leading repair service providers for automation technology, marked the turning point. EICHLER, known for its expertise and ability to carry out even the most complex repairs in record time, offered immediate support. 

Claudio Giuppone recalls: ‘It was a quiet week until, at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, I received an urgent call. I was on standby duty and had just gone shopping after work when my company mobile rang. An anxious English-speaking customer was on the line. His production press had come to a standstill, and he was in urgent need of a replacement for a defective ABC-IT control board.’

Claudio quickly set his hopping trolley aside, left the supermarket, got into his car and opened his company laptop. ‘I calmed the customer down and assured him that we would find a solution,’ he remembers. ‘Although we didn’t have the board on stock, I knew our technical team would be able to repair the defect.'

The customer, Luís Malheiro, was relieved, but stressed that the repair needed to take place ‘TODAY’, as every minute of standstill was costly. When Claudio suggested organising a direct courier, Mr Malheiro replied firmly: ‘I will get on a plane and bring the defective board to you myself.’ 

Without hesitation, Luís Malheiro set off for the airport in Portugal early the next morning. Just a few hours later, he personally delivered the defective control board to EICHLER's repair centre. 

The EICHLER team was prepared and immediately began fault analysis. Every defect was documented, and the experts set about replacing the damaged components and restoring the board. The repair of the inner layers of the ten-layer board, where the distance between the signal traces was just 18 µm, proved particularly challenging. During this phase, up to three employees worked on the assembly at the same time to handle the complex tasks efficiently. But with state-of-the-art technology and outstanding expertise, the team successfully mastered this challenge. 

Thanks to the fast and precise repair of the control board, the production press was back in operation as early as the following day. This prevented delivery delays, kept the production chain running without interruption, and avoided the need for costly upgrades or new acquisitions. The collaboration enabled Inapal Metal SA to restart the press quickly and reduced standstill to an absolute minimum. 

The experience of Inapal Metal SA demonstrates just how important a fast and reliable repair strategy is for maintenance production. EICHLER impressed with its technical expertise and its ability to deliver exceptional solutions even in critical moments. In this way, Inapal was able not only to safeguard its supply chain, but also to strengthen confidence in its own production.