For more than 40 years, 'Gesellschaft für Antriebstechnik' has been developing and manufacturing rotational connections, slip rings, air bearings and torque motors for a wide range of industrial applications. The company has succeeded in building a flawless reputation over the years, thanks to convincing concepts and sophisticated technology. The production is based in central Germany, and GAT also has 17 offices spread worldwide.
Christian Pfeil, Production Manager: "We had been looking for automation at GAT for a long time. Our company started this quest because it’s becoming increasingly difficult to attract good workers. We wanted to release more time for our workforce by using automation so that they could focus on programming and process improvement. Flexible automation should be able to take over the physical, repetitive tasks. Of course, that’s easy to say.
Until we got to know RoboJob. During an Open House we got into conversation with Herr Gerhartz from the company Coveris. He was so excited about his RoboJob automations, that we were very curious and went to take a look at Coveris. They already have several Turn- and Mill-Assists there. RoboJob’s smart, simple concepts immediately impressed us.
We contacted RoboJob via their website. A first meeting quickly followed and after visiting RoboJob in Belgium, we were totally convinced and we ordered our first automation.
Of course the news rapidly went round the company and the personnel were informed about it before the installation. This dispelled any concerns that our employees may have had.
The installation of the Turn-Assist 250 with 70 kg robot, Pallet-Load and Pallet-Load followed in August. When doing this, an existing DMG CTX 1250 4A was automated. This machine was now 1 year old, and more and more work was coming in. However, the running times without automation proved to be too long.
Using the easy-to-adjust Turn-Assist we’re able to significantly reduce the lead times. A little under a year after the installation, it also turns out that we’ve been able to significantly increase production output. Operating with the Turn-Assist isn’t only done during the day but also at night. This way we’re able to absorb the peaks in demand. Furthermore, it appears that this DMG with automation produces at a more constant rhythm than machines without automation. And that's also logical: the robot never gets tired and doesn’t need to rest. Thus even 40 kg shafts are loaded and unloaded smoothly.
Finally, we want to emphasize the very good relationship with RoboJob. Our commercial point of contact is actually always accessible, and he always keeps his promises! Any technical issues are immediately responded to and resolved. RoboJob turns out to be a very reliable supplier and we’re extremely pleased with them!"
Since the first installation in 2016, a second system was purchased in 2019: GAT purchased a Turn-Assist 270s that was installed on a DMG CTX2500/1250.
