2007-09-25 - Sleek BMW automobiles don't fail to impress even if you have no interest in auto mechanics, but can be even more impressive when you've watched the engine parts being made. At the carmaker’s foundry in Landshut, in southern Germany, ABB’s IRB6600 robots produce the light alloy components used in almost all BMW vehicles.
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Light alloy components are cast, processed and machined from aluminum or magnesium. Production at Landshut includes cylinder heads and compound crank cases for the BMW 2-, 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, and 12-cylinder engines, as well as car body parts.
At the foundry, molten aluminum is held in gas-heated furnaces. Transmission cases and cylinder blocks are then cast on high-pressure die casting machines. More complex cylinder heads and engine blocks rely on a low-pressure, semi permanent mold process.
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| ABB robots are used in die casting, lost foam, core handling and cleaning shops at Landshut. They also help with production and unload cores from the mold. |
For almost two decades, ABB robots – predominantly the IRB6600 – have played an important role in nearly every part of the foundry.
ABB's IRB 6600 robots are reliable, safe and versatile investments, able to perform demanding jobs in harsh environments with speed and tremendous accuracy.
“ABB robots are used in die casting, lost foam, core handling and cleaning shops at Landshut,” says Johann Wolf, vice president of the light-metal foundry, vehicle components and systems.
They also help with production and unload cores from the mold.
Why ABB
Wolf says BMW selected ABB robots as, “recognized products in this field with well understood maintenance requirements”.
The robots handle chemicals and high temperatures with ease, and lift what is too heavy for people. The foundry would need far larger floor space if employees were to take on the robot’s work, says Wolf.
Hellberg Ewald, who paints the white foam molds that are used to produce the new six series cylinder heads, finds “an enormous advantage” in robots. Without robots “the workload would be 20 percent to 30 percent higher.”
In extreme conditions, “robots are more efficient and reliable than people,” says Herr Heinz Hayer, a team leader in charge of a group of 29 people producing cylinder heads. “They never get sick! The robots currently work 21 to 22 hours per day, five days per week. They can also do dangerous work. We used to lift individual pieces by hand but that was dangerous as they could fall.”
But industrial robots won’t replace people at the plant, Wolf says.
“Only humans are able to react to altered conditions and to unforeseen situations. Only humans possess such a high degree of sensory perception,” he adds.
Benefits of using ABB robots:
- Able to carry out tasks in dangerous working conditions
- Reduced risks of accidents at work
- Able to work in difficult working conditions, such as high temperatures and where chemicals are present
- Guaranteed accuracy for repetitive tasks
- High availability
- Reliability