Innovative robot welding cell ensures maximum flexibility
Solution for lot size 1
The renowned injection moulding machine manufacturer Arburg provides proof that batch size 1 and full automation are not mutually exclusive with a pioneering robot welding system. On the contrary: Such challenges are solved efficiently and economically at the Lossburg headquarters.
Founded as a small business in the idyllic Black Forest in 1923, Arburg achieved a spectacular rise to become one of the world's leading machine manufacturers for plastics processing. The family-owned company currently has around 3,200 employees worldwide and still manufactures exclusively in Lossburg - now on an area of over 170,000 square meters and with an extremely high vertical range of manufacture of around 60 percent.
The high-quality all-round injection moulding machines with hydraulic, hybrid, electric or vertical injection moulding technology are in great demand. An export quota of about 70 percent underlines the international esteem in which these machines are held. The automation technology used to produce them is as innovative as the all-rounders themselves.
A robot welding cell in a class of its own
A prime example of the state-of-the-art production technology at Arburg can be found in sheet metal production. This is where the machine stands for the injection moulding machines, which weigh tons, are produced in all conceivable designs. Wolfgang John, head of the non-cutting manufacturing department, sums up the special production engineering features: "Here we produce exclusively to customer order, which often means batch size 1 given the wide range and modularity of our injection moulding machines. For this we need a robot welding cell with maximum flexibility, where offline programming, maximum availability and process reliability as well as first-class welding results are indispensable."
The welding specialists from Yaskawa Europe made the running here. And what they have installed in close cooperation with the Arburg managers in Lossburg is impressive: A high-tech welding cell, approximately 11 meters long and 4.5 meters wide, is situated in a very confined space. A Motoman MA2010 six-axis robot is suspended from its X-Y-Z portal. Two special rotary positioners pick up the pre-worked, up to 5,500 millimeters long and three tons heavy machine stands using suitable jig carriers, which are then MAG gas shield welded by the welding robot in perfect trough position.