Product category:
Handling and automation equipment
News Release from: Wittmann UK | Subject: Wittmann 721 robots
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 04 December 2007
Robots raise moulding production, cut
rejects
Four full-servo 3-axis robots installed in a moulding company's factory are helping to increase overall volume production while also decreasing reject rate and stoppages.
Wittmann UK is helping Carclo Technical Plastics (CTP) in Mitcham, UK, to increase its volume and market share of precision-engineered products for the European, US and Japanese healthcare and laboratory markets Wittmann UK has installed four full-servo 3-axis Wittmann 721 robots in CTP's moulding shop
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 3 Sep 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The robots are helping to increase overall volume production at the factory while also decreasing reject rate and stoppages.
CTP's diagnostic cell of nine machines is currently moulding a range of disposables for the medical market.
These are then exported in quantities of some 20 million units/week.
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Thanks to the increased robotics and automation performance at the company, CTP is steadily increasing its output, reports Wittmann.
* Stability in handling - CTP Moulding Shop manager, Andy Fay, explained that greater stability was needed in the automatic removal of pipette tip mouldings from the injection cells.
He said: "The Y-axis of the Wittmann 721 linear robot was much steadier and robust than the previous model of robot.
We were therefore able to rely on a much shorter dwell time in the mould, and thus increase output.
The new Wittmann machines have also given peace of mind and removed any possibility of tool damage due to inaccurate robot positioning".
For many industrial users the rack and pinion design for the 'wrist' armature of the Wittmann 721 robot gives it a competitive advantage.
That, together with a 10kg payload over the 6kg figure normally quoted for competitor machines means that the non-pneumatic mechanical design is winning UK customers, said Wittmann.
Fay said: "Quality of machine was probably the foremost factor in beginning to source with Wittmann UK.
Our high cavity tooling needs fast, efficient and fault free production on a 24/7 basis - and in clean conditions." Fay added: "Wittmann UK were so confident of the machine's performance in trial that they supplied the first machine to us in our factory white colours.
Output was then in fact improved to the order of around 10% on the previous machines".
The four Wittmann robots are now playing a central role in the manufacture of this product line.
Fay's reasons for working with Wittmann UK, said the company to manufacturingtalk, include the following.
* Speed of order quotation.
* Short delivery lead times.
* Excellence of service, installation and back-up - particularly in integrating the robotics into CTP's automation further down the production line.
CTP manufacturers a range of customised products at Mitcham.
These are for the medical and healthcare markets and cover conventional injection moulding, insert moulding, two shot moulding and assembly techniques.
CTP is ISO 13485 approved to the highest standards of medical manufacture, and is part of the global Carclo Technical Plastics organization with facilities across the UK, US, Czech Republic and China, see
CTP is also a purchaser of Wittmann's popular Primus C 9kW water heaters.
Fay commented that: "The competitive price of these machines means that it is now most cost effective to buy in bulk and simply replace rather than repair as needed".
Wittmann's 721 robots are intended for the majority of companies involved in injection moulding sectors.
Comparatively short production lead times will ensure the lower cost and steady market supply of the 721 robots, said Wittmann.
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