FMO, based in La Ferté Macé, France, is a leading company that has been manufacturing precision tools for mechanical presses since 1992. With a team of 22 employees, FMO focuses on designing, developing and manufacturing high-quality tools, providing innovative solutions for the automotive industry and, more recently, for the nuclear industry.
Dominic Davout, Managing Director of FMO: "At FMO, we were mainly active in the production of tools for presses, from design to final delivery to the customer. The automotive industry was our main market, with customers such as Renault, PSA and Ford. However, we did not want to stand still and decided to diversify into precision components for other sectors, including the nuclear industry.
An important step in this direction was the investment in a five-axis machining centre combined with a robot. Our goal was to be able to produce technical parts with a slightly larger volume, in small to medium series, but also single pieces. Thanks to the automation with RoboJob, we can now machine several different parts in a single cycle. This saves us a huge amount of time and gives us unique flexibility towards our customers.
We specifically chose the system in which the HWR workpiece carrier is used as a reference rather than the workpiece itself. This allows us to automate up to five different parts at the same time, which significantly reduces our lead times and increases our production capacity.
The collaboration between RoboJob and Mazak was decisive for us: we wanted a total package with a single point of contact. The installation and commissioning went very smoothly – our operators were able to get started with the system quickly and we could count on excellent support if any problems arose.
Thanks to this automation, we have been able to acquire a completely new customer from outside the automotive sector, with a large order for 3,000 parts for the nuclear industry. We even process this order completely unmanned during the night.
The switch to automation was an innovative step for our company, but it has given FMO wings. We are looking to the future with confidence and want to roll out this technology to other departments. RoboJob has not only made us more flexible, but also gives us the opportunity to explore new markets, such as the agricultural and railway industries.
This is just the beginning for us – we hope that automation will become a permanent feature at FMO!"
