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KOVONA-SYSTEM uses Valk Welding robots for production of large-scale series

In Český Těšín in the Czech Republic, the KOVONA-SYSTEM company welds table frames, among other products. "The furniture industry is extremely demanding in terms of welding quality, the weld appearance and positional repeatability. Our older welding robots simply could not achieve that. In our quest for a robot integrator, we were also very interested in the technical support, programming, safety aspects, price/performance ratio and achievable delivery times," explains Zdeněk Luzar, project manager at KOVONA-SYSTEM, who decided to invest in new welding robot technology in collaboration with Valk Welding.

KOVONA-SYSTEM

Valk Welding robots

Based on our successful welding tests, we purchased our first Valk Welding robot in 2016, specifically designed for the production table frames. "The Panasonic TM1600WG3 is fitted with SP-MAG welding technology for that purpose, allowing us to reduce the cycle times by 25% versus the former robots, while also minimising manual finishing work,” explains the project manager.

User-friendly controls

The initial welding robot unit, featuring two workstations that rotate according to the Ferris wheel concept, has very user-friendly touchscreen controls. Even inexperienced personnel can check the status of production at any point, can input data and can initiate the welding robot. Zdeněk Luzar: "This welding robot unit allowed us to both meet the required production capacity for the table frames and comply with the required welding quality. Based on these results, we have also conducted welding tests for the development of a new table design. The appearance of the welding seams and the successful stress tests jointly resulted in a new order, and in us ordering three extra welding robot units from Valk Welding."

Active Wire Process (AWP)

The company has opted for the Active Wire Process for the three extra welding robot units, a process specifically developed for welding thin-walled materials. AWP is a combination of SP-MAG and wire feed control, in which the welding wire is pulsated at a high frequency. AWP enables quicker welding of thin-walled materials without spatter, resulting in minimal manual finishing work. These welding robot units were commissioned early in 2018, and have been deployed in around-the-clock shift rotations virtually all year.

Expansion

The production welding of new products at KOVONA SYSTEM is likely to result in further collaboration and installation of extra welding robots in the future. "Due to our focus on large-scale series production, nearly all our processes are strongly automated. The market demand (forecast annual growth is 10 percent) or expansion of the portfolio of our products will also require extra investment. We're currently involved in the development of a number of new products, that will require expansion of capacity and technology in the future," explains project manager Zdeněk Luzar. www.kovona-system.cz

SP-MAG welding technology

The SP-MAG Panasonic welding technology is an arc welding process with limited spatter, superior welding quality, good gap bridging, improved fluidity of the weld pool and an nice seam appearance. The SP-MAG technology is possible thanks to the extremely fast 100 kHz inverter power source with a regulating cycle of 10 μs. This extremely high short-circuit frequency results in lower heat at the same level of power, thus greatly reducing deformation and spatter. The SP-MAG technology also enables new functions for the reduction of drop formation at the start and finish of a weld, and so also contributes to an nice bead appearance.

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