News

June 2010 - GROB sets new standards in production

GROB has set itself apart from every other standard machine builder in the world with its newly established production cell, which will produce guide beds to order, with a maximum output of three guide beds per shift.

GROB has a well-deserved reputation for its innovative, indeed highly individual, approach to developing new production methods. So it was that in the course of the last few months, a new production cell for machining G300 series guide beds has taken shape in the production area. A production cell that consists of two machine stations, and a manual workstation. The guide bed will be manufactured extremely quickly by the production cell as the basis for all modules. With this new method, throughput time can be shortened by more than 60 percent, leaving more time to pay particular attention to the quality specifications of the component, producing guide beds as they are needed, and delivering them directly to the installation site.

Production cell with high-tech equipment
The guide bed is equipped with standardized tool chucks outside the machine and then transported to the station on the loading vehicle. There it is lowered with the aid of hydraulic rams in the machine, and is clamped manually. The excellent foundation is also a crucial element in the outstanding machining result. On the basis of a perfectly solid machine construction, which is temperature-controlled by regulating air inflow and outflow, station 03 uses a special 6-spindle unit. In this station, all guide surfaces are machined at the same time. The flange surfaces for the pallet changer and the drive units are also completed.

The milling units are purely 2-axis NC units; this means that the feed motion is performed by the tool. They are changed by hand throughout the entire plant. Chips are removed with manual vacuum units, which remove the chips from the work area and deliver them straight into a disposal container. In the field of tool technology, we turned to proven GROB suppliers from our systems business.

The cladding for the machine was manufactured to the best possible standards by our own employees in the sheet metal workshop. The machine shows practically no significant vibration during machining. The outstanding quality is based on the knowledge of chip removal we have acquired from many years of working in the automotive industry. At the neighboring station, the bed is milled and drilled. Here, a single-spindle boring mill is used. The rest of the milling and drilling operations are also performed in four clamping operations. The boring mill has a swiveling head which can be rotated by hand in 90-degree steps. The spindle used is a GROB motorized spindle with standard chuck. At this station, which is set up for manual work, the part is machined with a thread cutting apparatus, then deburred and finally cleaned.

“With this new production method, our company is again entering unexplored territory and has proved that real success can only come from bold decisions”, declared GROB Production Manager Uli Gneitung proudly. “With the new production cell, we can ensure guide bed production for installation driven entirely by consumption - and of extraordinarily good quality”. A “lean” process from end to end, and “Just in Time” reliability.

Once again, GROB has blazed its own trail in production and provided yet more proof of the company’s creativity and technology leadership.