Additional engineering capacity needed
Elektrolas has everything in-house to create the welding shop of tomorrow. And this of course includes a piece of automation and engineering.
In a market where fewer and fewer skilled workers are available, Arcelor Mittal was looking for a solution to ensure the production capacity of their steel tubes. Elektrolas, an expert in the welding field, was therefore asked to come up with a customized automation solution: a cobot that performs weld seam control. Van Wees Waalwijk was involved in this project by Elektrolas as co-engineer.
Project description co-engineering
"At Arcelor Mittal, steel coils (coils) are coiled and welded together on a production line to form steel tubes. Currently, a certified UT operator checks the welds with a UT hand scanner, but the development of the cobot will fully automate this process," says Thije van Delft (Automation & Product Innovation at Elektrolas).
Patrick van Steen (engineer Van Wees Waalwijk) adds, "The cobot performs the weld seam check on the fixed mill. It detects, checks and marks any deviations. In practice, the cobot inspects pipes of different lengths, steel thicknesses and diameters. To ensure quality, the scanner calibrates itself twice a day on three test plates."
Thije van Delft says, "Extra capacity was needed for this project and for this we were happy to work with Van Wees Waalwijk. We even went to the end customer together to see the machine on which the cobot has to do its work. We then worked closely together on this project. Weekly consultation, short lines of communication, inventing together, testing together and improving together to arrive at a cobot that meets all the wishes and requirements that the customer set for it."
Innovate together!
Patrick van Steen: "Working together in this way is very nice. It makes the process go quickly. Of course, every engineering project we work on is a challenge because something new has to be thought up. Many aspects have to be taken into account. Practical aspects but also things to do with laws and regulations and safety. You have to think everything out in advance."
"For this project, I had to make a simulation. This simulation depicted whether the cobot would work as conceived and whether the dimensions would be correct. Of course, with the help of my Van Wees colleagues, we succeeded. After all, that is what we do and what we are good at; delivering!"
Cooperation between Van Wees Waalwijk and Elektrolas
Van Wees Waalwijk and Elektrolas have been working together for many years. Van Wees orders its welding supplies from Elektrolas and Elektrolas engages Van Wees in the development and production of its own innovative and specific Elektrolas parts/products. Or when extra manpower is needed for engineering projects.
The strength of Van Wees Waalwijk
"Why does Elektrolas enjoy working with Van Wees Waalwijk? The strength of Van Wees Waalwijk lies mainly in the fact that they have everything in-house," says Thije. "Not only can we turn to them for thinking along in terms of engineering, but also for construction and production. You notice in everything that this practical knowledge is a valuable addition. It creates a different way of thinking; more practically oriented."
"In addition, it is of course super convenient that the back door is always open at Van Wees Waalwijk. Just cross the road and we are there, we know who we need to be with, there is always time for us and therefore we can switch quickly. That makes working with Van Wees very nice!"
Electrofusion in a nutshell
Elektrolas, founded in 2000, was mainly concerned in the early years with the sale and maintenance of welding equipment. The company has since grown into a full-service company in the field of welding technology. Its services are bundled in the Five Five: Products, Quality Management, Service, Training and, since 2020, Automation. With technologies such as welding robots and cobots, Elektrolas automates welding work, completely relieving customers such as Arcelor Mittal.
Involved in this project:
Client: Arcelor Mittal
Engineering and project supervision: Elektrolas
Co-engineer: Van Wees Waalwijk