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REPORT - AURIMOLDES
New perspectives – new processes The cooperation between the Portuguese company Aurimoldes and EROWA is still comparatively young. But it has immediately led to a change in thinking on the part of the customer – and therefore also to an optimistic view of the future. “The beginning of cooperation with EROWA led to a paradigm change in our company,” says Paulo Tavares, the CEO of Aurimoldes, “since the new automation solution enabled us to change our working concept with regard to the set-up of our milling machines; now, an almost complete utilization of machine time without operators is possible, and this has resulted in a new, autonomous working regime in the company.” An important partner The decisive step for this radical change was the acquisition of an EROWA Robot Dynamic 500 intended to serve a total of four CNC production machines. In this decision, a long-standing partner of the company played an important role: “Our investement was motivated by the necessity of putting our
production time to better use,” explains Paulo Tavares. “In addition, and with all the changes we’re experiencing in our sector, the relationships and partnerships we’ve got with our suppliers sometimes help us to see more clearly and further ahead. In the case of the EROWA robot cells, we relied on a supplier which is a partner for life: Graphite Technologies, which has been the representative of EROWA products in Portugal for 20 years. With their well-founded knowledge of the mold market, G raphite Technologies was the bridge to the success of our investment, since I’m able to rely on the recommendations made by Hilario Costa, who has been cooperating with us on all EROWA projects,” says Paulo Tavares. The future begins under corona But when it came to realizing the project, the Covid pandemic was peaking – and Aurimoldes recorded the biggest decline in orders in its history. “I can’t say it was easy to continue with the installation of our new EROWA robot during that time,” says Paulo Tavares. “But we saw that as an opportunity for better learning and training. We restructured the shop floor, reorganized our work teams, trained the employees and rethought
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REPORT - AURIMOLDES
the way we planned our projects. We did all this because we had more time than would have been the case at a normal production rate.” Complex molds The main products of Aurimoldes are molds for parts in highand low-pressure die casting, as well as molds for plastic injection and zamak, a harder and more resistant zinc alloy. One specialty is magnesium thix-omolding, with which thin, light and highly stable parts can be produced from magnesium alloys at a favorable price. The company’s target market is the automotive industry in particular, but they also service other sectors including hydraulics, electrical, packaging and glass. “We produce many molds for parts in the automotive sector, for example rearview mirrors, roof racks or chassis. We’re involved both in completely finished projects in which our molds work in robot-supported and fully automated cells, and in development projects, in which we have to produce prototypes.” Supporting employee development The company is based in Gafanha da Encarnação. The town, which is situated approx. 60 kilometers south of Porto, is part of Aveiro, one of Portugal’s most important industrial locations. Aurimoldes was established there in 1997 and has grown rapidly. Today, the firm employs just under 40 employees, whose age structure combines a high degree of experience with the dynamism of youth in an ideal way. Aurimoldes employees
benefit from a philosophy which focuses on the improvement of working conditions and the training of team members. “We’d like to promote and improve our employees’ skills by encouraging continuous training and providing appropriate opportunities,” says Paulo Tavares. “This also includes all employees’ active participation in and responsibility for the quality management system and for corporate growth. The aim is to reinforce and consolidate an integrated and coherent vision of the organization.”
Increasingly international orientation Versatility, adaptability and precision are the key elements in the development of the Aurimoldes’ projects, explains Paulo Tavares, and continues: “The ability to find quick and innovative answers makes for a higher degree of efficiency and competitiveness with regard to prices and delivery times, and this has led us to the top of mold making.” To begin with, the company had the national market in its sights but soon turned towards international contexts. “Currently, our commercial strategy is pursuing an increasingly globalized market vision,” says Paulo Tavares. “In the last ten years, we’ve evolved into a mainly exporting enterprise.” But the international markets are fiercely contested. “There’s a lot of work which is drifting from Europe to points further east and accordingly, our market has to cope with very low prices. It's very demanding to keep pace with it all, particularly if you want to maintain the quality of the processes and services without any compromises. Therefore automation appears to be absolutely indispensable.” Automation is being pushed ahead In 2018, Aurimoldes took an initial step by commissioning an EROWA Robot Easy. Since summer 2020, an EROWA Robot Dynamic 500 has now also been in operation, serving three Quaser machining centers and a Feeler vertical lathe. The objective of this significant purchase was a better utilization
REPORT - AURIMOLDES
of production times. “But our new and automated production cell has also prompted us to implement new methods for the support of work preparation. Among other things, the programming process was modified to enable the EROWA process control system to control the NC programs.” Tavares is extremely satisfied, even under corona conditions. He puts the decisive factor in a nutshell: “We’ve already started to save time.” And he then sums up: “Our thinking has changed, and we therefore believe that there’ll be further projects with EROWA in the future.”
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