Automation and robotic solutions are nothing new to us at Interal, but over the past two years we have spent extra time and focus on automating more and more of our articles. We installed two new robot cells in 2019, which has contributed to increased productivity and safer manufacturing.
During this time, we have automated several of our existing articles and a larger proportion of our new projects are prepared as robot articles already in the planning stage. We have created a breadth of automation and have excellent solutions for both small and large production volumes and also when the performance requirements are high.
For high volume items with smaller surface requirements, bulk feeding is a suitable solution. When the surface requirements are higher, our ”belt-in-belt-out” solution is best suited. Here, the parts are currently picked up by an operator who, when required, makes a visual check of the parts in connection with placement on the belt. In one of the machines, we have a fourth axis for a more efficient process in cases where the workpiece must be processed from several different directions.
Both our customers and we ourselves gain from this development in the form of; shorter lead times, more flexible production, smoother planning, higher and more consistent quality level, better working environment to name just a few of the benefits.
Some of our technicians' thoughts on automation:
”It frees up a lot of time for new projects”
”Automation is the future for Interal. It contributes to higher efficiency and quality”
In other words, we have an exciting continued journey in this area and continue to work with full focus on automate even more!
