Second welding robot fuels 25-30% production increase at Container Modul

Container Modul employs around 170 people and supplies its products mainly to the Scandinavian market and, to a lesser extent, to Germany and Switzerland. "Our priority is to tailor our products to the individual customer needs", says Katarzyna Okuń, Director of the Ryman plant. "Our products are characterised by their high volume and low tare weight. We achieve low weight by using high strength steel with high abrasion resistance and hardness." The robot has to meet these requirements by automatically correcting the torch movement trajectory (thanks to the adjustment of dimensional tolerances of large products) and welding difficult-to-weld materials, while also allowing for easy and fast programming of new products.

Quality matters

"We put a lot of emphasis on the quality of our products, which is one of our differentiators and competitive advantages", says Piotr Hawrylak. Proper preparation of the parts to be welded is important in manual welding to ensure high quality, but it is even more important in robotic welding. It helps to reach full production on the robotic station faster and to achieve the right quality and efficiency. Earlier processes such as precision cutting or sheet metal bending are also important to the final result. Adapting production for robotic welding sometimes requires structural changes to the manufactured parts, but all with the aim of achieving an optimised design that reduces production costs while improving quality.

Production increase of 25-30%

"The most important benefit is the possibility to increase production by 25% to 30%. Given the current shortage of skilled welders, this is a big plus. The operator does not have to be a welder, so it is easier to find such a person in the labour market", explains Piotr Hawrylak. Container Modul already employs three women as robot operators, and they are doing an excellent job. To facilitate work at the robot station, it is equipped with a number of functions that make the programming and welding process easier. This involves offline virtual robot programming using DTPS software, as well as full sensor capabilities such as Quick Touch Sensing and the ARC-EYE laser camera. These functionalities are essential tools for the Valk Welding robot systems at Container Modul.