Robots & Gantries

EWAB Gantry applications

The design, use and integration of gantry loaders needs to follow the modular mindset which is the fundamental base for the EWAB Flow Technology.

In order to be flexible, interchangeable and reusable when requirements change, they have to follow the principle of "one machine tool - one gantry". With this approach it is also possible to create independent work cells which can be rearranged as a process module.

Gantries are used when long travel distances are required and when space is somehow restricted. Another typical application is combination with tray stackers for loading and unloading of part at the beginning and end of a line.

EWAB Basket load and unload.

In a complete manufacturing process, there are often certain steps that takes place at some distance from the actuall machining facility. Typical processes are forging, casting, heat treatment and varius types of surface treatment.

Between these different locations, the components are often transported in special trays/baskets designed to protect the parts from damage and to maintain orientation. When trays/baskets are delivered to the beginning of the machining line, the componets are loaded onto the palletized conveying equipment by robots or tray stackers and entered into the machining process.

The empty trays/baskets are returned to the facility where they came from and serves as physical Kanban cards. When the complete machining process is finished, the components can be unloaded directly onto an essembly line or into another set of empty trays/basket for further transportation to another location or to a following process.

EWAB Flow Technology in combination with trays/baskets between different facilities will create a value adding process that is as Lean as it gets.

EWAB Industrial Robot applications

Integration of industrial robots are made under that same modular mindset as with all other equipment within EWAB Flow Technology. Industrial robots was already from the very beginning stand alone modules and have today become almost a commodity.

As they are available in many shapes, forms and sizes, it makes it possible to find an off-the-shelf-solutions for many applications and therefore industrial robots are often the first choice. EWAB integrates several brands of robots depending on the end user preferences. The most common brands are ABB, Kuka and Fanuc.

With the use of industrial robots in combination with other standardised tools, it is often possible to combine loading and unloading of machines with inspection, deburing, marking and other similar operations. Complex load and unload patterns is another typical robot application.