FANUC and major chain production plant join forces
The Vamberk, Czech Republic manufacturing facility of leading chain manufacturer Pewag produces many of the products it sells worldwide, making it pivotal to business success. However, only through a process of continuous improvement and investment can the company continue to compete on the global stage. Automation is among many strategies that this progressive business deploys to maintain its strong market position.
“We recently implemented an advanced automation solution in collaboration with FANUC to ensure top-tier quality inspection,” explains Peter Hopfer, Managing Director at Pewag Engineering, an independent group company specialising in bespoke automation solutions for the past 30+ years. “The solution involves inspecting and evaluating forged blanks based on specific quality characteristics. To achieve this, we utilise high-resolution FANUC cameras and sophisticated imaging solutions that ensure 100% inspection with high accuracy and consistency.”
Forged blanks arrive at a designated point in the system where Pewag deploys a ‘black box’ to minimise the influence of external light. An advanced bin-picking solution involves a special robot gripper that reaches into the box to retrieve a specific component. The first quality control process takes place here involving FANUC iRVision integrated visual detection technology.
FANUC iRVision enables robots to ‘see’. At Pewag, this capability ensures that each forged blank meets the company’s demanding quality standards. Following inspection, the system’s FANUC M-710iC/50 multipurpose industrial robot transfers forged blanks to a CNC machining centre. The forged blank is considered finished once machining is complete.
The principal challenges that Pewag Engineering had to overcome in this project included limited space availability, the high variety of parts and the complexity of the bin-picking process.
“Before system installation, Pewag performed all of these processes manually, which means there were differences in quality,” says Gerhard Edinger, Sales Manager for Robots at FANUC Austria. “The automated system devised by Pewag Engineering in collaboration with FANUC solved all of these challenges. Even with the space constraints and high process complexity, we managed to achieve the optimal solution.”
Today, the increase in QC accuracy in driving lower cost of quality at Pewag. Furthermore, changing from one part to the next is quick and easy.
“This highly adaptable system is suitable for a wide range of industries, making it particularly interesting for other customers facing challenges in their inspection and machining operations,” says Edinger.
Comprehensive and responsive support from FANUC has been of paramount importance to the success of this challenging project, something that continues post-implementation.
Machal Syrovy, Production Manager at Pewag’s Vamberk plant, says: “FANUC provides us with very good support from Austria, Germany and here in the Czech Republic. Immediate support from FANUC ensures we enjoy quick problem resolution and seamless operations.”
