MANUFACTURING

Any design language project would be futile to carry out if it didn’t take into account the product manufacturing and construction techniques of the company it was intended for. Since Titan predominantly makes quartz watches, the manufacture of watches happens in four main stages. The Case (main body) is made at the Case Plant. The movement is made at the Movement Assembly Division. The auxiliary parts are made in their individual plants. All parts are assembled at the Main Watch Assembly Unit.

1)Case Plant Cases and Casebacks are made at the here. Titan makes cases in Brass, Stainless Steel, Titanium and Ceramic. Of these, Brass and Stainless Steel cases are made in the Bangalore Plant. Titanium cases are made at the Chennai Plant and Ceramic Cases are sourced from Hong Kong. The process below details out the process of making Brass and Stainless Steel as these were the materials at the factory that was visited in Bangalore. The process is as follows:

i) Blanking Blanks of metal are punched out from strips of the raw material. Excess material is either melted to form new strips or sent back to the material supplier for recycling.

ii) Forming Metal blanks are then sent to the Press Shop where they are pressed into the desired shape using die applied with high pressure. There are two types of forming processes. Depending on the design and material of the case, Hot Forging or Cold Forging is applied. Hot forming is done to a case with a very simple design. The more complex cases are formed through cold forging. Cold Forging involves the case going through more stages of the press shop and delivers shape in great resolution. In both cases the press operation is repeated more than one to add a new facet with every press. Both the cases and back covers are made using the same process.

Figure 162. Omega 2018 Process of forging case from raw material blank - Blanking. Figure 163. Omega 2018 Process of forging case from raw material blank - Forming.

iii) Computer Controlled Milling (CNC) In the Machine Shop, finer details are machined into the case by using a CNC machine.

iv) Drilling and Turning The machine shop is equipped with drills and lathes that create the holes for crown and spring bar. The Thread and hooks for the case and

Figure 164. Omega 2018 Process of forging case from raw material blank - Computer Controlled Milling Figure 165. Omega 2018 Process of forging case from raw material blank - Electroplating Figure 166. Omega 2018 Process of forging case from raw material blank - Final Construction.

caseback are also added at the stage.

v) Electroplating The last process at the Case Plant is the electroplating of watches. Brass cases are electroplated with nickel to protect them from corrosion and ensure that the plating sticks to the case. In-House manufactured bracelets are also give the same treatment. A second coat is applied using Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD). This allows the case to be colored in a number of different colors.

2) Movement Assembly There are four sub-assemblies that run in this section.

i) Printed Circuit Board or PCB sub-assembly. ii) Stepper Motor sub-assembly which involved special coiling procedures for the motor.

iii)Gear Train sub-assembly involves the making of all the sprockets and pinions by automated or semi automated machines.

iv) The Main Plate is also machined and germs are assembled onto it after proofing

3) Plants for Auxiliary Parts

Parts such as the Strap, bracelets, buckles, crystal are normally sourced from Vendors, however the dial is sometimes made in-house.

4) Watch Main Assembly The parts of the case are assembled manually while the movement is assembled semiautomatically with a worker loading the machine that attaches each part. The watch itself is assembled by hand. The dial and hands are attached to the movement and the assembly is inserted into the case with mounting and sealing gaskets. The movement is usually screwed into place, with the crown being attached through the an opening drilled into the case (Case Plant process iv).

Different straps and bracelets from vendors are then attached to the watch body with the aid of a spring bar. Watches are then inspected, packed and shipped to stores. Since the watch case lies at the heart of the watch design, we will focus our main design effort on the case.