From 17 to 1
The 30 robot arms are called Linda, Marie or Ramona and share their names with players from the German and the Swiss women’s national football teams. These arms are part of the assembly system used for manufacturing the flush valve type 212 in Pfullendorf (DE).
Since the start of the project, the high-precision in-house solution has been the responsibility of Fabian Hiller, Project Engineer in Pfullendorf. Under his direction, the flexible assembly system was designed and developed on time and on budget within one and a half years – thanks to an in-house team made up of designers, control technicians and IT specialists. Only specific components such as the orange robot arms came from external suppliers. “The goal was to optimise the production time of the flush valve and reduce the complexity to minimise the workload on the employees,” sums up Fabian Hiller.
17
individual parts
A flush valve type 212 is made from 17 individual parts.
Maximum flexibility
When running at full speed, the two lines can manufacture several thousand flush valves every day. To do this, three employees are required. They operate the system, fill it with the 17 different individual parts and then remove the finished flush valves. However, it is possible to operate the flexible assembly system with just one person. The output is then lower as a result. This also means that the staff can be divided up better between the different production lines across the facility. “This flexibility is one of the biggest strengths of the new production lines,” comments Fabian Hiller. The modular design is also practical. New processing stations can be integrated afterwards with the insertion of additional modules, meaning the systems are then optimally prepared for future innovations.
