Hydrema spends 58% fewer hours at the CNC machine with BILA RoboPower

Hydrema - a modern international conglomerate that develops, manufactures, and markets high-tech construction machinery and equipment. Hydrema has acquired a BILA RoboPower for their machining department, where they produce components for their construction machines. The BILA RoboPower is a very user-friendly robot cell with easy accessibility through its simple programming. The operator can reprogram the cell at any time, and there are no limitations since it is not constrained by any parametric models. Additionally, it is a flexible robot that can be moved around in production as needed, ensuring high safety standards.

Before Hydrema acquired a BILA RoboPower, a dedicated operator stood by the CNC machine. His job was to load and unload components, often waiting for the production to finish as he didn't have time to perform other tasks.

Improving efficiency

Today, after the investment in BILA RoboPower, the operator has freed up man-hours for other tasks, as he can set the robot to run for 3-4 hours straight before needing to change components.

"The goal was to reduce the operator hours at the machine. An efficiency measurement shows that the operator uses 58% fewer hours at the machine. We have released 3-4 hours of continuous operation, which our operator uses to operate other machines simultaneously,"

Frederik Bach Nielsen, Production Engineer

Other important factors for Hydrema include the ability for the operator to prepare for the setup of new tasks and complete existing ones. The operator can also perform quality control and maintain tools while the machine is in operation. This results in minimal time spent switching to other variants and optimisation of process stability.

Unmanned operation with BILA RoboPower

Hydrema's production operates in two shifts, but for components with long chip times or during peak periods, there is the option to use unmanned operation by setting the BILA RoboPower to run the third shift. This allows for loading components for approximately 5 hours of production, so the parts are ready for the next morning when an employee arrives. This way, Hydrema frees up man-hours in the first and second shifts and utilizes machine hours in the third shift, resulting in a direct gain.

Hydrema's acquisition of BILA RoboPower was the first handling robot in the company, so there were high expectations for the robot cell. The BILA solution was chosen because BILA RoboPower met the specified requirements in the specification. One of the significant advantages was the distance between the robot cell and the CNC machine, providing ample space for setup without moving the robot cell.

"We had explored various suppliers, not all of whom met the requirements. Simultaneously, while BILA could deliver the right solution, BILA also became competitive on price,"

Frederik Bach Nielsen, Production Engineer

Quick and easy commissioning

BILA RoboPower is easy to commission, and the installation at Hydrema was swift. Two days were spent training operators, and in collaboration with Hydrema's operator and BILA's programmer, the commissioning of two selected components could be completed in one day. Afterward, Hydrema managed to keep the robot running in three shifts and has recently started unmanned operation on weekends.

"BILA RoboPower has undoubtedly been a success from the start, and Hydrema has been satisfied with the collaboration," says Frederik Bach Nielsen, Production Engineer.