A strong connection

Just-in-time production. This saves storage space and enables manufacturers to implement individual customer requests. But it also requires a high dimension of flexibility and speed of response. PC Electric (PCE) is committed to this maxim and only manufactures once the customer order has been received. "You want the cap of the plug to be black? Then that's what we do," says Daniel Lechner, Head of Automation at PC Electric GmbH, with a grin.

PCE, with more than 350 employees, has been producing electrical connection components at its headquarters in St. Martin im Innkreis, Upper Austria, since 1973. These include CEE industrial and safety plugs and sockets, power distributors, cable reels and wall boxes for e-mobility. The products are successfully sold in over 100 countries around the world. The group of companies employs more than 1,000 people at five locations in Europe.

A large vertical range of manufacture and independence from supply chains are important to PCE. This is why the company not only produces the plugs in a highly automated process, but also produces the plastic components itself using injection molding. The granulate silo in the courtyard towers is twice as high as the production buildings and gives a good impression of the quantities of plastics that PCE processes every month.

PCE is committed to a sustainable approach to people, materials and the environment. The specialist for industrial plugs and sockets therefore relies on recyclable raw materials, uses geothermal energy and photovoltaics, dispenses with plastic packaging and creates an ergonomically designed working environment.

One starting point, for example, was the picking of product containers. Every week, the skilled workers in the large, bright hall remove the items from gray plastic boxes. They pack plugs and distributors as well as cable reels into about 2.5 million packages in seven different sizes. Previously, they had to manually label the boxes with a maximum weight of 2.5 kilograms, stack them and place them on pallets. In the long run, this was not only tiring for the staff, but also inefficient. "In addition, like many operations, we are struggling with a shortage of skilled workers," says Lechner. An automated solution was needed.

During a visit to a trade fair, PCE's production engineers discovered the FXCB area gripping system with integrated vacuum generation from Schmalz. The flexible vacuum gripper is perfect for ergonomical handling of cardboards, as the system also lifts products with porous surfaces thanks to the suction plate with high-performance foam. The special feature: The foam has optimum adaptability to different workpieces and enables short cycle times thanks to its quick reset. This is exactly what the engineers were looking for.

In 2020, PCE installed the first FXCB, which works on a Kuka robot and is supplied with compressed air for vacuum generation. The system has no sharp corners and is perfect for human-machine interaction. After a skilled worker has packed the items into the box, it is pushed into the so-called cell. There it is automatically weighed, taped shut and given a "Tested" sticker. The area gripper lifts the box and holds it in front of the labeling device, which affixes the correct label to the narrow side. The robot then places the cardboard box back on the conveyor belt, which - as soon as four boxes are on top of each other - transports the stack onwards. "What's more, the large stickers are now always in exactly the same predetermined position - it just looks much neater," says Lechner happily. And there was another detail that impressed PCE: previously, the employees had to place the cardboards individually in larger shipping units, but now they can grab and pack the entire stack. That saves time.

The system also has nothing to hide when it comes to energy efficiency. The integrated pneumatic vacuum generation ensures low operating costs. After all, the system not only has to be ergonomic, but also economical and "pay off".

"The handling solution met our expectations so well that we installed two more robots with the FXCB area grippers in order picking at the beginning of this year," reports the division manager. In addition to the technical power, Lechner is also very satisfied with the cooperation with Schmalz. "Since the initial contact at the trade show, we have been on an equal footing, and our questions have always been answered quickly and comprehensively by our contacts. And the first-class solution speaks for itself anyway."