EROWA Report - GEMÜ Gebrüder Müller Apparatebau GmbH & Co. KG

REPORT - GEBRÜDER MÜLLER APPARATEBAU GMBH & CO. KG

Automation on 2 by 2 meters The globally operating German company GEMÜ ­Gebrüder Müller Apparatebau GmbH & Co. KG has been active in Switzerland ever since 1981. The two subsidiaries in Rotkreuz and Emmen constitute the group’s plastic competence center. The Emmen plant, which was built in 2012, is specialized in customized valves. Here, Dominik Moser is in charge of CNC ­machining. Recently, he had a milling machine ­installed which is served by an EROWA Leonardo Robot Multilevel: a pilot project.

EROWA: Mr. Moser, in what segments does GEMÜ ­Switzerland operate?

Dominik Moser: About 70% of our customers come from the microchips and solar industries. Further customers come from the medical and environmental industries, for example, and from pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs.

You commissioned a new facility this spring in which EROWA plays an important role. How did this partnership come about?

I knew about EROWA because we use some of your tooling systems, but the decisive factor was that I saw an EROWA Robot in operation in an in-house demonstration on the premises of the machine producer, GROB. I actually visited this demonstration on account of a 5-axis milling machine, but the interaction between the two components appealed a great deal to me, and so I started to pepper the EROWA project manager who was on site, Thomas Lüscher, with questions. And I liked the way in which even crazy ideas didn’t faze him.

Crazy ideas? Tell me about them!

On the one hand I took a feature that was mentioned in the prospectus concerned literally and asked whether it was really possible to realize two tooling systems on the same machine.

The thing is that we don’t only machine orders down to batch size 1 and therefore depend on flexibility, but we also have workpieces of different dimensions. But that wasn’t all.

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REPORT - GEBRÜDER MÜLLER APPARATEBAU GMBH & CO. KG

extremely demanding project even for EROWA. Everything was done to adhere to the schedule. They didn’t quite manage it, but I still regard delivery in January 2017 as an admirable achievement, particularly since the machine was in operation within a month. The project team really did some good work.

What are the advantages of Leonardo, that is, the facility with Leonardo and GROB G350?

If you produce in Switzerland, it is crucial that production involves as few people as possible. Here in Emmen we run two shifts, and Leonard practically takes on the third shift. The facility processes different pallets, workpieces and batch sizes autonomously, primarily at night and at weekends.

You also wanted a double-decker system, right?

Right. Although our premises here in Emmen have basically been built on a generous scale, turnover generated per square meter is of course an important factor. So I asked whether it would be conceivable to place two of these automation systems one on top of the other. I immediately thought that this would be unusually compact and would have a great capacity.

What was the response to these ideas?

They nodded, and after a short time turned up with layout ideas. I liked that a lot. But – I reckon I’m a difficult customer – I wanted the centerpiece of the new facility, the new GROB G350 second-generation milling machine, in operation within a very short period of time, so the schedule for the development of the robot was extremely speedy as well. The result was the handling system called Leonardo, a double-decker storage with two different tooling systems, with the bigger pallets being equipped with CleverClamp.

What do you mean by “extremely speedy schedule”?

The order was placed on June 3, 2016, and I wanted the system in operation before Christmas. Of course this was an

The final goal would be to feed the facility during the day, as it were, and then have it work through the night, without an operator and with batch size 1. The G350 is a very dynamic machine, and we have a very dynamic handling system to go with it, which results in a high degree of availability.

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REPORT - GEBRÜDER MÜLLER APPARATEBAU GMBH & CO. KG

So the components work well together?

Yes, the Robot accepts the clamped parts, measures their heights and allocates magazine positions to them. Incidentally, this was another detail which Leonard had to cope with: our workpieces are of very different heights, which means there must be corresponding positions available.

The software, the EROWA JMS Jobmanager, then determines when a part is produced and with which program. The tool management system also provides excellent checks on tool life since the Jobmanager also knows when a tool isn’t sharp enough any longer and issues a corresponding warning. This means we go home in the evening and know that the machine won’t stand still.

So can we call you a satisfied customer?

Absolutely. This was a pilot project with special details and highly specific requirements. I was not least impressed by the speed with which EROWA got the facility going. Also, cooperation was excellent. Of course it’s an advantage that the producer lives just round the corner. But remote support also works well when it’s needed.

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