Increased efficiency and production flexibility for Harry Metall with PEMA robotic welding station

Customer Stories

Customer story

Increased efficiency and production flexibility for Harry Metall with PEMA robotic welding station

PEMA robotic welding station reduces manual work from the Estonian manufacturing company Harry
Metall OÜ. The station’s automated technology enables a high-quality final product and increases production capacity with optimized welding processes.

The Estonian contract manufacturing company, Harry Metall OÜ, is situated in Rannu near Tartu, Estonia. The company was founded in 2001 and bought by a Finnish company, Ramtec Oy in 2010. Today, Harry Metall operates in a new, modern factory as a contract manufacturer for various companies, producing a range of products including different mining and earthworks buckets. Their main customers are export companies from Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The investment in PEMA welding automation equipment was part of Harry Metall’s future strategy for developing its products and aims to be strong and competitive in growing and highly competitive markets.

“Thanks to the modern PEMA welding solutions, we now have a higher level of automation, and the robot station increases our productivity significantly. The station’s automated technology reduces manual work, producing a high-quality final product. The welding processes are optimized which also increases the production capacity”, tells Veikko Janhunen, Chairman of the Board at Harry Metall OÜ.

More flexibility in small series production

Committed to delivering high-quality products to its customers, Harry Metall realized the need to find new ways to stay competitive. The aim was to find a solution that would bring improvements and efficiency to the heavy manufacturing process. To achieve this goal, they turned to Pemamek. Pemamek was already a familiar name to the company thanks to the PEMA APS 3-axis manual welding positioners that had been delivered to Harry Metal a few years earlier.

“We needed to find a solution that would bring more flexibility and volume to the small series production. We manufacture big volumes of products but in small series. Therefore, it was crucial for us that the programming would be easy and production flexible”, says Harry Salu, General Director at Harry Metall Ou, and continues:

“In addition, one of our main goals was to reduce manual work. The lack of welders is a global challenge. We wanted to add automation to our processes, increase quality and reduce costs. This robot station together with multi-pass welding brings us the flexibility and volume we were looking for. Thanks to its accuracy, no overfill or underfill occurs in the welding, and the weld quality is better with multipass welding.”

We manufacture big volumes of products but in small series. Therefore, it was crucial for us that the programming would be easy and production flexible.

Harry Salu, General Director at Harry Metall Ou

Turn-key solution for heavy manufacturing

The goals Harry Metall set for the investment have successfully been achieved with the PEMA robot welding solution. The total delivery from Pemamek to Harry Metall included a robotic welding station with three external gantry axis, PEMA 10-ton 2-axis workpiece positioner, PEMA WeldControl 300 offline programming, five welding programs for different products, and welding process evaluation and parameters by PEMA welding engineers. Harry Metall has valued the overall package that Pemamek provided and the expertise that Pemamek has provided throughout the customer journey.

“For us, the defining factor in choosing the PEMA solution was the credibility and the overall package that Pemamek could deliver with a good payback period. A critical factor for us was that Pemamek could provide several tailor-made programs for us. Pemamek’s engineers programmed altogether five different welding programs for different products that we can start using immediately. The pre-tailored programs provide a good start to our investment”, describes Janhunen.

Harry Metall has valued the support from Pemamek’s side when it comes to implementation and making sure that the new equipment is adapted to production routines. When it was time to assemble the station, the project team from Pemamek traveled to Estonia and made the installation. They also provided training for the welders at Harry Metall to ensure a successful start. Service is provided for Harry Metall also in the future. Included in their investment is a PEMA service contract with annual services and program updates which make sure that the station is always equipped with the latest software. In their daily work, Harry Metall’s team can get help from Pemamek’s robotic experts by contacting the PEMA Robotic HelpDesk.

Plans for the future

Thinking about the investment in welding and production automation in the long run, the aim is to gain a competitive advantage. Flexibility, cost savings, and the ability to manufacture big volumes with less manual welding combined with increased quality and decreased costs are something Harry Metall finds extremely valuable. The cooperation between Pemamek and Harry Metall has been easy and smooth, and they have already been thinking about the next steps in the automation journey.

“We have calculated that the payback time for this investment is less than 3 years. We have already been thinking about the next investment in automation. One option that has been on the table is another robotic welding station”, tells Janhunen.