HWI expands with new robotic arm

Since 2017, HWI has been betting on automation. Now, the machine park is expanding with the latest purchase: the Gibas G-Loader 270. Together with the current three robots, this robotic arm will raise production and reduce delivery times, explains director Ton Wolvers. “In the future, robots will do more for us, but people will always be needed.”

Several robots are already being used. Two lathes already have a robot cell and one of the milling machines has a Universal Robot. The new robot is a welcome addition to the current capabilities within HWI.

“The advantage of robots, of course, is that they can work uninterrupted. Even in the evenings and weekends”

More efficient operations and shorter delivery times

“The advantage of robots, of course, is that they can work uninterrupted. Even in the evenings and weekends,” Wolvers explains. “In an industry where it is difficult to find staff, it is nice to be able to do more work with the same number of people. We deploy machines more efficiently and hope this will also shorten delivery times for our customers. This way, we can provide them with even better serial work.”

New acquisition

The Gibas G-Loader 270 is a robotic arm that can handle up to 175 kilos. “This is the heaviest robot we have ordered so far,” Ton explains. “It joins our DMG MORI NTX2000. The robotic arm places the material in the machine. Then the products are completely twisted and milled and the robotic arm puts the finished product back on the pallet. It's a huge time saver compared to having to work with multiple machines.”

Will there be no more people at all in the future then HWI work?

Future

So will there be no people working at HWI at all in the future? Ton answers immediately: “No, you will always need people to set up the machines. Especially with us, because we make a lot of single runs and small series. I can imagine that in the future we will be able to automate even this work, but even then people will still be needed for setting up.”