Estonian metalworking company Danival MW has introduced three Yaskawa welding robots to expand production capacity and improve quality consistency as customer orders grow.
The robots are being used for higher-volume series production and large project orders, while the company continues to combine automated and manual welding where appropriate, writes Tööstusuudised.
Building capacity around customer growth
Rainer Daniel, head of Danival MW, said the company had reached a point where production throughput was limiting further growth and larger orders were extending delivery times. The business expanded its welding workshop to 1,200 square meters less than two years ago, but the additional welding stations soon filled up.
“As our production portfolio includes many series products and we want to increase their share further in the future, automating welding was the next logical step,” Daniel said.
The three systems were supplied and installed by RKR Seadmed OÜ in the spring. The largest is a Yaskawa AR2010 TSL H2 MIG welding robot designed for larger assemblies, with a working area of 1,200 × 4,000 millimetres. Two smaller Yaskawa ArcWorld Mini systems, one equipped for TIG welding and the other for MIG welding, have working areas of 425 × 700 millimetres.
Matching robots to the right work
Danival uses the robots mainly for products and projects with sufficiently large volumes to benefit from more stable quality and higher productivity. Part geometry and access to welding points are just as important as order volume, however. A complex assembly may be unsuitable for robotic welding if setup and programming take longer than the productivity gains justify.
“A large part of our current assemblies contains many short welds, which means that the productivity difference between manual and robotic welding is not very large for every product,” Daniel said. “At the same time, we are increasingly looking for parts and assemblies where the efficiency and economic benefit of automation are significantly greater.”
Expanding an integrated production service
For customers, the investment is intended to provide greater production capacity, more consistent weld quality and stronger delivery reliability as order volumes increase. Danival offers services across the production chain, including material cutting and bending, welding, surface treatment and final assembly.
In its welding information, Danival says it works with carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium, and offers powder coating and hot-dip galvanising through partners. It aims to add stable, recurring series products to its portfolio and develop as a long-term manufacturing partner for customers whose production needs are growing.
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