With clients like Samsung, the Polish painting company Hannex was facing ever increasing demands in quality and capacity. In 2015 it therefore chose to automate its paint shops. The KUKA KR AGILUS was the small robot of choice with its reach, speed, precision and reliability.
Established in 1996 as a family company in the Polish village Ordzin, Hannex initially specialized in car painting but soon broadened the scope of its services and customers. In 2010, the Korean company Samsung became Hannex’s client, demanding new levels of quality and capacity. This resulted in the decision to automate the paint shops with painting robots, but high potential costs and a vague perspective on the Return of Investment were deterrents at first.
KUKA offered the best solution and service for the automation of car painting processes
At the ITM trade fair in Poznań, a deal between Hannex and KUKA was finally made. The broad experience of KUKA in automation and positive reviews about the reliability of KUKA’s solutions were major factors in that decision, but also the ease with which the painting robots can be programmed and integrated into the facilities. Another deciding factor was the technical support that consists of an easy to access after sales service as well as the presence of competent integrators who cooperate with KUKA.
The hanging KUKA KR AGILUS at Hannex paints quickly and with high precision.
KR AGILUS as KUKA car painting robot convinces with precision, speed and reliability
The painting robot offered by KUKA, a KR AGILUS small robot, having the biggest reach among the competitive products, allowed for an effective organization of a work station. Particularly praised were its strong actuators that give the robot high efficiency and precision. The paint shop uses the robot’s maximum load – 10 kg – not to load it with maximum weight possible, but to extend its lifespan. Every day, the arm of the robot carries loads of circa 3kg, working at full speed. After one year of use, no signs of wear and tear, sweating of actuators or changes to calibration are visible. This means that the minimum service cost translates directly into a short return on investment period.
Automated painting process created more and better jobs at Hannex
At first, the employees were fearful about painting robots replacing blue collar workers on the production lines. Instead however, experienced sprayers broadened their qualifications and took classes in robotics. They became supervisors of the automatic painting robots, looking out for imperfections and ensuring proper maintenance. Introducing spray painting robot applications has translated into increased capacity. The resulting products have met clients’ expectations, causing them to place larger orders. Thus, the paintingrobots have created the need for new jobs atHannex. And Hannex was able to secure a stable position, with a very interesting outlook into the future, in its market niche.
Great benefits through automation with KUKA painting robots
Company director Krzysztof Iwanicki is therefore highly pleased with the short time for the RoI, the increase in quality and capacity and the acceptance of the KUKA robots by the workers.
We recommend this solution to all entrepreneurs considering automation process. It is the first step towards achieving success similar to that of Hannex, the family company from Ordzin.
