KUKA Welding Cell Helps German Plant Bring Production Back to Germany

KUKA Welding Cell Helps German Plant Bring Production Back to Germany

(IN BRIEF) A medium-sized galvanizing plant in southern Germany has invested in automation, using a compact KUKA welding cell to bring production back to Germany and save thousands of transport kilometers in the production process. The plant has integrated a KUKA KR CYBERTECH nano robot to join an octagonal prism to a compact plate of steel. This saves the plant from facing the shortage of skilled workers and will help generate new customer orders.

(PRESS RELEASE) AUGSBURG, 28-Mar-2023 — /EuropaWire/ — KUKA (ETR: KU2), one of the world’s leading suppliers of industrial robots and systems for factory automation and part of Midea Group, announces that Verzinkerei Sulz, a medium-sized galvanizing plant in southern Germany, has made a significant investment in automation to bring production back to Germany and serve new customer orders. The plant has installed a compact KUKA welding cell, which uses a KUKA KR CYBERTECH nano robot to precisely join an octagonal prism to a compact steel plate with the aid of the welding device.

After just 90 seconds, two welding processes are completed. An employee removes the finished products and replaces them with two new ones. “One welding process takes less than a minute,” enthuses Bernd D. Euschen, managing director of Verzinkerei Sulz GmbH. Depending on the type of steel base plates, Euschen calculates that 5,000 to 10,000 components are galvanized per month.

This new automation has helped save thousands of transport kilometers in the production process and overcome the shortage of skilled workers.

Galvanizing plants usually focus on hot-dip or centrifugal galvanizing to protect steel parts from corrosion, but Verzinkerei Sulz is now able to weld steel parts as well. This has brought more control over the production process and improved the quality of the final product.

In the past, welding was done by various subcontractors, and the components were transported to Eastern Europe for welding. After welding, the welded assemblies were transported to the Sulz galvanizing plant for galvanizing, assembly, and shipping. “So our customer had to send 40 tons on the road twice a week,” Euschen reports. This new automation has helped the plant to bring production back to Germany and overcome the challenges of a shortage of skilled workers.

The initial assessment is positive: “We had calculated that it would take 2.5 years to achieve a return on investment, but we are confident that we will have achieved this after one and a half to two years. Because the fact that we can now also weld is now bringing us additional galvanizing orders. We’ve been able to strengthen our core processes.” In times of a shortage of skilled workers, Euschen finds that there is no way around automation for many small and medium-sized companies. “You can say quite clearly: the investment costs are manageable, but the opportunity to take the first steps with it, build up know-how and land the first good customer orders is very high.”

Christoph Welle from KIWI-Automations GmbH & Co. KG has been a system partner of KUKA since 2016 and implemented the solution for the galvanizing plant: “For us as a system builder, this project is a very good pilot project to show other companies that getting started with automation does not have to be difficult. That you don’t have to be inhibited, but can slowly grow into it, even as a small company.” This solution also benefited from the fact that KIWI-Automations already works with many companies in the sheet metal processing industry and is very familiar with the sector. In this way, the right solution was found for the Sulz galvanizing plant and its customer.

The investment in automation is expected to pay off significantly for the plant, as it will increase efficiency, reduce production costs, and improve the quality of the final product. It is also a promising development for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggling with a shortage of skilled workers.

Media contact:

Ulrike Götz
Spokesperson Technology
KUKA AG, Zugspitzstraße 140, 86165 Augsburg, Germany
+49 821 797-3795

SOURCE: KUKA AG