JOSKIN, one of the most well-known brands in agricultural equipment in Europe, with subsidiaries in Belgium, France, and Poland, has more than 14 years’ experience with 15 Valk Welding robot systems. JOSKIN Group is far ahead with programming and servicing of their own installations. We asked Piotr Knopkiewicz, responsible for the robot systems in the Joskin plant in Trzcianka, how the welding production is divided between the different production plants and what role the Valk Welding technology is playing in maintaining the high quality of the JOSKIN products.
Every plant is dedicated to specific vehicle productions, so that each factory has its own set of products they weld. This strategy allows the Joskin Group to avoid duplicating production tooling and stocks. Only the welding jigs are produced in Belgium.
The first welding robot in the JOSKIN company was installed in 2007. “Currently we have 15 Valk Welding robots: 7 installed in Belgium and 8 in Poland. Overall, the company has 3 types of robot stations: 9 systems dedicated to small, manually loaded parts, 3 systems for medium sized parts and the last 3 systems are for fully assembled trailers. The number of robot welded parts has significantly increased in the last years. Because of more pre-welded subcomponents, more products can be manufactured – which means the main purpose of robotisation is fulfilled. New robot stations boosted production times of selected trailers by about 25%,” says Piotr Knopkiewicz.
“When there is a decision to move the assembly of some part from one factory to another and it is justified to transfer the subcomponents as well, we can easily send programs between our similar robot stations in Belgium and Poland. It is also possible to write a program for the robot that is in the other factory, which is a great help.
We have specialists with years of experience in both of our sites. In case of any damage or unexpected behaviour, we can consult each other to see what we can do to fix the problem. But we’re also in contact with the Valk Welding service department. Everyone I have spoken to was incredibly helpful and every issue we had was solved with a tremendous reaction speed.”
There are fields in which the robots show its advantage. Our latest step forward was using the ARC-EYE technology to weld platforms for bale trailers. This trailer is almost 10 meters long and has a couple of welds coming all the way from the front to the back. Welding it by hand used to be both unpleasant for the welder and the weld was being made in a lot of shorter segments. Thanks to the ARC-EYE laser camera mounted on the robot, we can place a firm, clean and long weld on the whole length of the trailer, as the camera leads the torch straight along the gap.
In the years to come we want to expand our robotic infrastructure. By increasing the variety of robot-welded parts, more manual welders will be able to work with products that are too complex for the robot. That way we will reach two goals: better quality subcomponents and more manpower for challenging jobs. It is important to optimise the resources the best you can, so this synergy works out great so far.
In conclusion, having an advanced technology by our side helps us to give our customers possibly the best quality products and we will surely continue our cooperation with Valk Welding.
We like to think along with you in finding solutions for your (welding) automation, welding wires and welding accessories. We are looking for the connection and prefer to be a partner rather than a supplier.
