In the coming years, the German SAXAS Group intends to build a large number of special vehicles that must meet the highest requirements in terms of welding quality. The use of welding robots played a crucial role in this decision. Taking into account flexibility, programming and trust, SAXAS has entered into a partnership with Valk Welding as a project partner. Valk Welding has supplied five welding robot systems on E-frame arrangements and a large welding robot installation using a gallows construction (-XYZ arrangement), in which large frames will be welded by 2 hanging welding robots. 10 large frames between 6 and 7 m long and 2.5 m wide are completely welded in 2 shifts, daily.
In addition to having a large market share in Germany, SAXAS Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH is also one of the largest manufacturers in Europe of truck body systems for the distribution sector. In order to spread risk, in 2014 the manufacturer made the decision to enter the market for special vehicles. "Logistical transport systems that must be suitable for off-road use," explains graduate engineer Nico Boden, director of SAXAS Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH.
Today, SAXAS delivers transport solutions for special vehicles in large series in Germany and around the world. “In the longer term, we want to consolidate and further expand this business segment. In contrast to the traditional truck body systems where the focus is on assembling different materials, special vehicles are mainly constructed completely out of steel. In order to deliver these, we had to further increase the welding capacity. "
To be able to show what you can offer the customer as far as technology, we have proactively invested in expanding our welding robot capacity. In addition, we wanted to use multiple cells for single-piece production and also to be able to use all cells to weld the same product in series. Valk Welding, known to us as a renowned European supplier of welding robots, could offer exactly what we wanted. Valk Welding uses Panasonic welding robots in its systems and is the right project partner for us with its expertise and support in regard to offline programming."
In the branches that we operate in with our specialty vehicles, very high demands are placed on the welding quality. We must carefully document the requirements for both the process and the weld seam control, repeatable accuracy, welding dimensions, etc. Deployment of welding robots is crucial because you can guarantee the customer a consistent welding quality. "If you let ten welders make the same product, the possibility of different results is very high," Nico Boden emphasizes. “We use the new welding robots for both subassemblies as well as for complete products. This also enabled us to convince new customers that we could offer them both the capacity and the desired welding quality,” says the director.
All welding programs for the robots are produced offline during the work preparation phase and then copied into the robot during the welding robot installation phase. Robot programmer Stefan Jonas: “Of course it is important that we first check the position of the weld using a gas nozzle search , or preferably with a wire search (Quick Touch). For long seams we use the Arc-Eye laser camera, which makes it possible for the welding robot to follow the weld in real time. The Arc-Eye laser camera is adapted automatically using a tool changer for better accesibility. Furthermore, it's important that the position of the welding torch is always the same. The slightest deviation translates into a deviation from the weld seam. That is why we have an extra set of robot torches, of which we check the gooseneck after every assembly group."
The SAXAS Group has a large sheet metal department where the components for both product groups are made. After sheet processing and welding, the different construction groups are powder-coated in their own paint shop and then put together in the assembly line. "The fact that we do everything under one roof is crucial for our customers to want to work with us," explains Nico Boden.
“All programs are interchangeable among the different welding robot installations from Valk Welding."
The Saxas group also uses the premium quality welding wire from Valk Welding on all their robotic systems in order to have smooth and fricting free wire feeding. The premium welding wire from Valk Welding, in combination with the Wire Wizard feeding systems give the robot systems a very high performance. www.saxas.biz.de
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