KUKA Industrial Robots - Solutions database

Robot park in body shop
In the body shop of the Ford plant in Cologne-Niehl, Germany, robots have to able to produce any of the possible variants of the Fiesta.

Welding of automotive front ends
Automotive supplier Läpple produces front ends for the DaimlerChrysler Mercedes CLK, among other things. Läpple’s fast-paced environment – with three-shift operation and “just in time” contracts – demands precise welding processes and permanent availability.

Spot welding of steel cabinets
When Stähli, a manufacturer of steel cabinets, was confronted with downward pressure on prices due to competition, it became obvious that the company had to increase its productivity. This meant that automation of the welding processes was absolutely vital.

Body shop Mercedes-Benz A-Class
DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes A-class body shop employs a variety of joining processes. For example, about 3,900 spot welds have to be made on 290 different sheet metal parts. DaimlerChrysler was looking to automate these processes through the use of robots; at the top of the priority list were short cycle times, which required high acceleration capability.

Injection molding applications
When Mürdter Metall- und Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH won a contract with a system supplier to the automotive industry to manufacture door side linings for an airbag system, it was clear that an automated solution would be needed. The main requirements on the handling systems were a long reach, both horizontally and vertically, and a high degree of flexibility.

Unloading of an injection molding machine
At Dynamit Nobel, linear units are increasingly being replaced by jointed-arm robots. This was also the case when the time came to automate the handling of bumpers and welding parts for the DaimlerChrysler S-class: only this kind of robot could guarantee that the bumper surfaces would remain damage-free. If any scratches were made, a smooth paint finish would no longer be possible.

More freedom of movement in production of drinks crates
For the production of reusable drinks crates using the in-mold labeling process, Linpac Stucki Kunststoffverarbeitung GmbH invested in three fully automated injection molding cells from Husky Injection Molding Systems S.A.

Automatic surface inspection of painted plastic parts
Through ever higher demands in quality management, manual inspection processes are being increasingly pushed to the limits. In the context of a research exercise, Rosenheim Polytechnical Institute developed an optical surface inspection process for evaluating the quality of painted parts in inline series production, documenting them and separating the bad parts if necessary.

Synergies in polyurethane foam technology
With the development of a new process in polyurethane foam technology for the production of thin-walled side member covers, Dynamit Nobel Kunststoff GmbH caused quite a stir. The result was better flow characteristics and shorter cycle times through an improved cooling process and, not least, an extremely light but also rigid part.

Handling of plastic bumpers
Before installing the two production lines which are used today to manufacture bumpers for the Chrysler PT Cruiser and the Audi A4 convertible, the automotive supplier Decoma looked for a more flexible handling solution. Previously, for production of other bumpers, Decoma still used linear units. A change from “rigid” automation to the higher flexibility which is provided only by six-axis jointed-arm robots was therefore desirable.

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