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Going big at GB Steel
With a view to the future, the GB Steel Group has taken the decision to automate part of the welding process at a number of divisions with a welding robot installation. The robot installation is placed at the Vossebelt division for welding parts for tippers and containers, semi-finished products, container doors and the sides of containers. The robot will also be used for the other division, Staalbouw Nauta Heeg.
The GB Steel Group consists of six production companies and one machine factory. The division Vossebelt mainly builds tippers and containers. It employs a total of 315 employees, of which 35 are located in Vossebelt. The Vossebelt and Staalbouw Nauta divisions wanted to automate some of the welding activities with a welding robot.
Forward-looking
The entire process started with a pre-selection of the products that GB Steel Group wanted to produce in the future. The welding process was critically examined and a selection of parts for products was made. Once this was clear, the phase of learning about the different solutions available in terms of robotizing these welding operations began. Ultimately, a future-oriented market research took place. Wouter Faber, Director of Vossebelt says: "We had a good feeling about Yaskawa and we still have it."
When the choice had to be made for the size of the robot installation, a bigger step was taken than planned. "At some point you get a taste for it and you choose a bigger one!" Faber said. The largest Yaskawa welding robot with the longest arm is now at Vossebelt in Geesbrug and is also used there by sister company Staalbouw Nauta from Heeg for their production.
Getting to know the technology
The installation consists of an MH50-20II Yaskawa Motoman welding robot with a working range of more than 3,000 mm, which is mounted on a track with a travel distance of 11,150 mm, which can be programmed as an external axis. The working range of the robot thus obtained is divided into 3 workstations; two at the front of the track and one at the back of the track. Freely programmable 2 ton workpiece manipulators with counterbearing are installed in the two front workstations. The installation is equipped with a water-cooled Fronius TPS500i welding installation and a water-cooled Robacta welding torch. This power source can be easily programmed directly from the robot teach pendant using the WeldCom 2 interface. In recent months, the automation team of GB Steel Group, Vossebelt and Staalbouw Nauta have been working on the preparations for the welding robot. The focus was mainly on getting to know the technology, programming and getting a sense of the products.
Even faster and more efficient
Because of the corona measures, no training could be done for a lengthy period of time, but there was time and space to get a feel for the robot installation and to practice with it. The automation team was able to take the time to go through the learning process of the software and robot technology. The old welding machine has now been scrapped and the focus is on programming with the welding installation. With the Yaskawa welding robot, the process of single pieces and small series can be automated. “The aim of this investment is to gain experience with welding robots and to be able to produce our products even faster and more efficiently in the future,” says Faber.
