UR cobot solution keeps Swiss moulding specialist on home soil
In short
Profatec AG turned to Universal Robots when the challenges of expanding its business collided with the potential need to move manufacturing towards the cheaper Asian market. However, a combination of robotic arm solutions ensured the company could keep its base cost-effective at home in Switzerland. Founded in Malans, Switzerland in 2003, Profatec AG has been providing specialist, moulded plastics solutions to industries ranging from automotive to pharmaceuticals for well over a decade.
The business transformation
When the time came to expand the size and capabilities of the business, the company was faced with a difficult decision. In 2007, it would incorporate injection molding into its offering, boosting its ambitions and profitability.
Typically, the need for more space and staff for manufacturing would see companies like Profatec turn to the Asian market for a low-cost solution, but instead this classical Swiss company turned to Universal Robots for an automated answer that would allow it to keep its home grown business flourishing in its own country.
Profatec AG
Chris Battaglia, CEOWithout our robots we would not have had a chance against the lower prices from China, We are therefore all the more pleased that we succeeded and have been able to go in the other direction, securing jobs in Malans and freeing staff from more monotonous tasks
Addressing major challenges
Universal Robots would need to address two major challenges for Profatec. On the one hand, any machines would need to be quickly adaptable to the injection of new plastic parts. On the other, the most diverse processes would have to be flexible enough to cope with even small lot sizes quickly and economically.
Flexible and well recommended
The UR5 robot, as recommended by automation specialist and Universal Robots’ Swiss representatives Bachmann Engineering AG, was implemented for an initial test phase and proved to be a great success. Unlike linear robots, the UR5 was able to work flexibly on five different injection-molding machines, all easily programmable by staff without the need to halt production.
Boosted profitability and production
With the UR5 allowing orders to be completed much faster, Profatec invested in an additional two UR10s from Universal Robots to expand production, reduce costs and boost profitability even further. The two larger robots have a larger working radius (1300mm instead of 850mm) and a higher load capacity (10kg instead of 5kg) than the UR5, however every robot is able to work on every machine – in creasing the flexibility of the Profatec process even further.
Automation challenges solved:
Freeing up staff for less repetitive tasks Creating more consistent reliable process Reducing costs
Key value drivers:
Easy programming Fast set-up Flexible deployment Collaborative and safe
Tasks solved by collaborative robots:
Assembly Cutting
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