workholding
The latest automated workpiece handling technology
can cut labour costs while increasing efficiency and
process repeatability. By Steed Webzell
Automation
for the nation
System 3R’s new
vibration-damped
palletisation system brings
a number of productivitylinked
benefits
Erowa’s ERS Robot
Linear handling facility
can ‘handshake’ with the
Erowa Robot System.
ACCORDING to Erowa, its raison d’etre is to make
customers’ CNC machines run more efficiently and so
allow them to be more competitive in what is an
increasingly tough global marketplace. This can be
achieved by reducing set-up times and creating many
more unattended production hours. However, Erowa’s
latest innovation is not a single product offering but a
lean manufacturing concept made up of several linked
products that are implemented in a step-by-step logical
programme.
Erowa’s FMC (Flexible Manufacturing Concept) is not
a new religion for production engineering managers
with buzz words and a whole new list of acronyms to
remember, it is a practical, logical and achievable
solution based on Erowa’s own manufacturing
experiences over the past 30 years and those of its
customers. Erowa FMC aims to turn machining centres
into flexible production cells able to cope with a wide
range of parts and small batch sizes. Set-up is removed
from the machine, production time is extended into the
night and weekends and all this with minimum
manning levels and complete safety.
It starts with short changeover times, using zero point
tooling for part palletising, and removing set-up from
the machine tool to an external activity. Erowa FMC
continues by automating workpiece pallets for extended
production capacity, before finally providing a reliable
and safe control of the machine tool cell with rightfirst-time
production and the ability to do small batch
machining lights out. Erowa’s FMC, which is available
in the UK from sole distributor REM Systems, was
52 MWP january 2008
introduced at September’s EMO exhibition in Germany
along with a number of other innovations, such as the
Erowa Robot Compact. This is aimed at volume
manufacturers of small components that are looking to
increase machine autonomy in a restricted footprint.
The Erowa Robot Compact can be quickly retrofitted
to existing machines. Rack magazines are loaded
externally that accommodate varying number of holders
from 160 pallets of 72mm diameter to 50 pallets of
148mm diameter. Thanks to its symmetrical design, the
robot can be positioned either to the left or to the right
of the machine, from where it moves pallets of up to
30kg to and from the machining envelope. Also new
from Erowa is the ERS Robot Linear handling facility
that can handshake with the Erowa Robot System, with
the one difference that the appliance now runs on rails.
As a result, this robot is not only characterised by its
modularity and high transfer weight, but also by the fact
that it is capable of serving many machine tools (up to
8), magazines and measuring stations. Identical working
processes can be run in parallel, although it is also
possible to complete an entire process through various
types of machining. And with a speed of 2m/sec, this
robot is quick.
For shifting pallets up to 500kg in weight
automatically and safely, the Erowa Robot Heavy is
another innovation that supplies up to three machines
with big workpieces. Thanks to its modular design, it is
very simple to adapt this new handling facility precisely
to production requirements.
Milling away inefficiency
System 3R is another supplier constantly working on
improving the performance of its products, not least
with a view to finding new fields of application. The
company’s new VDP (vibration-damped palletisation) is
an example of advanced engineering that System 3R
says is going to set new standards in machining.
A typical machining system is a closed circle with an
elastic structure that broadly consists of three
components - a machine tool, a cutting tool and a
workpiece clamping system. Together these dictate the
stability of the system. The quality of the manufactured
product and the capability of the machining process
depend largely on the dynamic stability of every
component within this structure. Ever more stringent
To view a Ceros magazine you need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser and have the flash player 8 or higher installed. To install the latest flash player, click the icon above, install the flash plugin and then click here to refresh this page.