CNC automation has seen a strong rise in recent years. A lot has changed since RoboJob's first participation at the TechniShow in 2010. Not only has the range considerably increased, the Netherlands has also become the European top when it comes to using industrial robots in the workplace. Yet, it appears that the majority of robots are installed on new CNC machines, while there’s huge potential on existing machines.
“The majority of industrial robots are, after all, installed on new CNC machines,” confirms RoboJob’s CEO, Helmut De Roovere. “But it actually makes more sense to automate existing machines. If you want to increase your capacity, you don’t necessarily have to buy additional machines. First try to get more out of your existing machines, in order to make full use of that capacity. A robot can then achieve very good results, and it costs a lot less than a new machine. Moreover, you can still move them to another machine later."
Wim Hudepohl and Han Krabbendam, owners of Humacs Krabbendam, also think so. Wim Hudepohl: “At Humacs Krabbendam, our mission is to keep our customers' machines running. We achieve this by offering high-quality machines, maintenance of machines and resolving malfunctions when they occur. In recent years, however, we have received many questions from our customers about the usefulness of automation, the range on the market and which machines are most suitable for this. But you really have to ask yourself: from which machines am I getting too little return? Or, where do I have insufficient capacity? These are the machines that you can automate. Humacs Krabbendam also wants to assist the customer in this.”
It was from this perspective that Humacs Krabbendam and RoboJob found each other. With RoboJob, the customer has the widest portfolio in CNC automation, and with more than 700 installations notched up so far, also the most experience. At Humacs Krabbendam, on the other hand, there’s a great deal of knowledge on interfacing and machine controls. This of course is useful when existing machines need to be automated.
“This agreement means that we’ve already taken the first step in a joint mission: together we also want to automate the existing CNC machines in the Benelux. We’re going to elaborate on this in the coming weeks and months so that we can promote our partnership at the TechniShow,” Hudepohl and De Roovere look ahead. “In addition, we want to emphasize that both RoboJob and Humacs Krabbendam will both continue to operate neutrally, certainly when it comes to the various providers that exist in our market.”
About Humacs Krabbendam B.V.
Humacs Krabbendam B.V. was created in 2012, when Humacs BV and MT Krabbendam were merged. In the years before, Humacs BV had specialized in the electronic servicing of CNC machines with FANUC control. MT Krabbendam was more focused on the mechanical part of CNC machine parks. Together they not only worked out an optimal service package, but also the dealership of several CNC brands, including Kitamura, SMEC and FANUC.