1
REPORT - POGGIPOLINI
Everything under control! The CEO of Northern Italy's titanium specialist Poggipolini is convinced that with EROWA as a partner, the family business is ready for the challenges of the future - after a decisive step into automation with an EROWA Robot Dynamic.
Focus on titanium Poggipolini S.p.A. was established in 1950, and its headquarters are still in San Lazzaro di Savena, a municipality that is part of Bologna. A number of additional production facilities are also situated in this municipality. The focus is on titanium machining; in particular, components for the automotive, aviation and aerospace industries are produced. “We’re top specialists for the design and production of critical fasteners and structural components made of titanium and special steel alloys,” explains Michele Poggipolini, who runs the company in the third generation. “Additionally, we’re specialized in the galvanic process for the anodization of titanium and the passivation of steel, and we’re certified in accordance with aviation standards,” he explains. And Cristian Bernardi, Head of Industrial Engineering, adds with pride: “The entire production process takes place in-house: from raw material procurement to hot forging, precision machining, cold and hot thread rolling up to the final heat treatment and quality checks.
What matters This aspect of keeping everything in-house and thus under control is very important for the company’s quality hilosophy, adds Michele Poggipolini, for only in this way can the firm satisfy its own requirements. “Thanks to a team of highly qualified technicians and engineers and the use of specific software, we’re able to support our customers from the design stage to implementation,” he says – and all this in a highly competitive environment, as Cristian Bernardi explains. “Thanks to its lightness combined with very great strength, titanium can be used to produce parts for Formula 1 racing cars, luxury cars, aircraft, helicopters, drones and space flight.” Typical production batches range from three to one hundred parts, he says, “but thanks to the use of automated cells, we’re now also ready for mass production.” And this is where EROWA comes in.
2
REPORT - POGGIPOLINI
Investment in the future For some time now, a Robot Dynamic ERD250 XTL has been performing its services. Thanks to its long X-axis range and load-bearing capacity of up to 250 kg, it serves the three Makino DA300 five-axis machining centers with ease. The new production cell is equipped with three rotatable workpiece magazines, which offer a great deal of capacity for the EROWA UPC 320 × 320 mm workpiece carrier pallets that are in operation. The loading station, which has been additionally integrated, serves to provide the cell with the set-up and palletized workpieces or fixtures. “Although we’ve been working with EROWA products for about 20 years,” says Michele Poggipolini, “this step is still of enormous importance.
the smart factory: “Thanks to a specialized software, we can run the production process virtually at first,” explains the CEO himself. “All the processes are interlinked and connected up to the management system. We’re also working on a digital twin model of our entire enterprise with which we’re able to manage and simulate all our production processes! With the new robot from EROWA, we’ve made a step in the direction of automated production with a very high degree of process control,” concludes Michele Poggipolini. “We’re well on track.”
Automation is the key to success because it’s the sole possibility for keeping the production processes under control and increasing the efficiency of the machines. The line we’ve now configured was chosen because it enables us to maintain the flexibility that is our hallmark. and we are able to suitably automate the production process even with small series. At the same time, the expandable system enables us to grow step by step while keeping the process 100% under control.”
Copyright © 2021 - EROWA AG
Keyword control Of course EROWA’s process control system also plays an important part in this. As is well known, the EROWA JMS 4.0 interlinks all the data and controls the entire production process. “It’s a growing system with which we constantly discover new options,” says production manager Cristian Bernardi. In any case, the company is well on its way towards
Poggipolini S.p.A Via Emilia, 262 40068 San Lazzaro di Savena BO Italy contact@poggipolini.it www.poggipolini.it
EROWA AG Knutwilerstrasse 3 CH-6233 Büron info@erowa.com www.erowa.com