SMB Feldner automates its POSMill C 800 KOMPAKT with a RoboJob Coby CNC

Key facts

• Company: SMB Feldner (Ingenieurbüro Feldner)
• Location: Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany
• Founded: 1999
• Employees: 5
• Industries: Machine construction
• RoboJob products: Coby CNC
• CNC machine brands: POS
• Automated machines: POSMill C 800 KOMPAKT
• RoboJob customer since: 2022
• Key results: more than 6 extra spindle hours a day; 85% degree of automation; in the black from the first month

Complex high-precision small series

SMB Feldner, also known as Ingenieurbüro Feldner, was founded in 1999 by Thomas Feldner. From Herzogenaurach in Bavaria, the special machine builder specialises in complex, high-precision small series in aluminium and steel. With its focus on complex workpieces, SMB Feldner has many orders that must be planned, designed and manufactured. Thomas Feldner can call on five skilled workers to run eight tool milling machines and machining centres.

The challenge: capacity on the machining centres

Although the design expertise was there, SMB Feldner often had to turn down projects because there was not enough machining time available. Its greatest challenge was using the capacity of its expensive machining centres while also handling series production. When a milling machine is blocked for a whole day or several days with one job, the production of individual parts suffers. Machining a more complex workpiece often takes 30 minutes or longer.

Series of 500 workpieces are rare. Requests for small series of 5 to 10 workpieces are more common, but they had to be turned down: SMB Feldner simply did not have the staff to load and unload the machining centre every half hour. Thomas Feldner started looking for a flexible way to run these very small series during night shifts or at weekends, so the milling machine would be free again during the day for individual parts.

Why a cobot

For SMB Feldner, a collaborative robot supplying the milling machine with workpieces was the ideal option. Quick set-up, easy programming and fast changeover between jobs were the most important requirements. The cell also had to be freely accessible, without a protective fence. And because it is compact and can be moved with a pallet truck, the robot can always be placed at the machining centre where it is needed most.

The solution: a Coby CNC on a POSMill C 800 KOMPAKT

In 2022, SMB Feldner installed a RoboJob Coby CNC on its POSMill C 800 KOMPAKT. The Coby CNC is built around a Fanuc CRX10iA collaborative robot and was developed for small and medium batch sizes, with a staging table for workpieces of up to 5 kg.

The cell is delivered fully assembled, then positioned and set up at the CNC machine. Getting to know the system and the one-off set-up usually take less than a day; after that, an employee can work with it independently.

Setting up a new job takes just a few minutes through a guided program. The operator enters the diameter and height of the raw part, and the deposit pattern and the loading and unloading of the staging table are calculated automatically. The operator immediately sees where to insert the pins in the table’s grid. The robot’s path planning is automatic as well, and when the raw part changes, the grid can be reconfigured in a few simple steps.

The main features of the Coby CNC at SMB Feldner:

• Collaborative robot system with a Fanuc CRX10iA
• Workpiece staging on a patented grid plate
• Space requirement of less than 1.5 m²
• Easy programming, no expert knowledge needed
• Set up in just one day
• Safety concept and CE certification included
• Intuitive user interface

The results: more than six extra spindle hours a day

With the Coby CNC, Thomas Feldner now accepts orders he previously had to turn down, because the POSMill can run at night and at weekends. SMB Feldner has increased the spindle-on time of its machining centre by more than six hours a day, with a degree of automation of 85%. During the day, Thomas Feldner focuses on individual parts; at night, the small series keep running unmanned.

All of this for a leasing price of €2,080 per month. “You can’t even find an unqualified half-day worker for that price. In the black from the first month!” says Thomas Feldner.

There is still room to grow: at weekends the Coby could take on larger batches or longer machining times, so SMB Feldner can accept more and larger orders and, as Thomas Feldner puts it, “earn money in his sleep”.

All in all, automated machine loading and unloading improves SMB Feldner’s efficiency and productivity, makes work safer, increases precision and consistency, gives more flexibility in planning production and saves costs in the long term.