ASIS: Fully automatic from batch size 1

At a Swiss manufacturer of household appliances for the upper price segment, everything from the sheet metal to the finished product is produced in-house. In order to further develop the standard, the company invested in a new powder enamelling plant.

In Zug, Switzerland, the V-ZUG company has been producing appliances for kitchens and washrooms for 100 years. In order to maintain or even improve the high quality standard, the company recently invested in a new powder enamelling plant. In order to be able to coat the various components automatically, the new plant must be perfectly adapted to the cycle and product variance. Every 50 seconds, the different components come out of the welding line and are automatically transferred to a flat conveyor belt. Then all parts are cleaned of drawing oil and dirt at the 5-zone spray pre-treatment for optimum coating quality. The spray pumps are not controlled via butterfly valves as usual, but via frequency converters.

After the pre-treatment, it's time for the actual coating. All powder jobs take place in an air-conditioned enclosure. The economical linear axes coat the vertical, flat surfaces here, while robots powder edges and interior areas. Sensors detect which part is currently entering and the parameters and programmes are optimally set accordingly. The entire plant was set up digitally in advance. Each individual process was precisely coordinated, automated and linked with uniform control technology like a Swiss watch.