Heun relies on CLOOS

HAIGER/DILLENBURG –  The Heun group has trusted in the CLOOS welding technology for decades. In order to be able to manage the greatly increasing demand and to ensure the high quality standard, the medium-sized contract manufacturer increases the investments in automated production technology. Meanwhile, 4 CLOOS robot systems are in use at the company's site in Dillenburg-Oberscheld.

During the last years, the Heun group has continuously grown and has today more than 100 employees. Marc Willgenss leads the family business together with his two sons Yannick and Raphael. For more than 60 years, H.K. Heun GmbH offers solutions in sheet metal processing, tank and equipment construction and the production of gratings. In 2014 the primetall GmbH which is specialised on the production of high-quality stainless steel components became part of the group. The portfolio comprises galley components for the aviation industry, stainless steel components for domestic appliances up to operating tables for the medical industry. Although the group works for more than 90 % as contract manufacturer, Heun produces its own product by now: a safety cabinet for the retail industry. The focus of Heun is on individual special production, whereas Primetall mostly produces series parts with batch sizes between 100 and 5,000. "Our portfolio comprises thin, 0.4 mm plates up to 20 mm thick plates", says Raphael Willgenss. "We fulfil the most different customer requirements from small metalworking shops to big companies with strict regulations". For this, the Heun group trusts on modern technologies and a high degree of automation to ensure a perfect product quality.

22 manual welding machines and 4 welding robots
In the field of welding technology, the company has trusted in the CLOOS technologies for decades. 22 welding machines for manual MAG and TIG welding are in use at the manual welding stations. Furthermore, four robot systems produce different components. At Primetall, a CLOOS robot uses the TIG Weld process to weld circular welds for tank containers. Besides, Heun welds small and medium-sized components of different types with two compact robot cells.

Another robot system produces ladders for underground engineering. This system consists of two stations which are identical at both sides. Thus the employee on one side can remove the welded components and reload the systems whilst the welding process takes place at the other station. The system produces a wide range of different types of ladders. So the ladder width and the number of rungs vary considerably. Therefore, the robot is also fitted with a gas nozzle sensor which uses electromechanical sensing technology to determine the start and end of the weld seam. The programmed welding distance is corrected correspondingly. The system also adapts the welding process automatically to the type of ladder. Thus, only one program is required for the robot system which facilitates the operation significantly.