32 n ROBOTICS AND AUTOMATED MANUFACTURING July/August 2025 www.drivesncontrols.com Next-gen switches roll off automated assembly lines ABB Smart Power’s low-voltage switch factory in Vaasa, Finland, manufactures a wide range of equipment to help connect, protect, control and measure electrical installations and devices. To meet rising demand, the company needed to increase production rapidly while maintaining quality and without pushing up production costs. Manufacturing LV power switches requires precision assembly and testing of many different product variants. ABB needed a highly flexible automated system to help it juggle the competing demands of growing volumes, maintaining quality and driving down costs. To help achieve this, a local system integrator, JOT Automation, built an automated line using ABB robots. This was not easy because the line has to make up to eight different products, each with specific production steps, line paths and components. The line uses a combination of IRB 1200 sixaxis robots and 910SC Scara robots, each handling a specific part of the production process. It produces two distinct switch families, each one having up to 40 different variants. The system swaps between different products dynamically to meet production orders from the factory’s MES (manufacturing execution system). There are a total 13 robots, including two vision-enabled IRB 1200 models, which select, pick, place and assemble the components needed to build different switch combinations. Tasks handled by these robots include applying grease, screwing, inserting clips and installing multiple contacts. These tasks need to be performed quickly and precisely. Robots are also used in the finishing stages of production, carrying out tasks such as labelling and quality testing, before pickingand-placing the finished products on an outgoing conveyor, ready for dispatch. The start-to-finish automation system has allowed ABB Smart Power to increase production of its industrial switches five-fold, cost-effectively and without compromising on quality. ABB Smart Power also needed an assembly line for a new generation of energy-efficient switches designed for building control applications. The flexible, future-proof line had to be durable enough to achieve an anticipated operating life of 25 years. ABB again turned to JOT Automation, which delivered the new line in two parts, the first section of which makes larger frame sizes. To ensure the cells would work properly once installed, virtual models were built in ABB’s RobotStudio offline programming tool, allowing JOT’s engineers to carry out full testing without disrupting the physical production line. The SI carried out the mechanical and electrical design work offsite, before starting work at the Vaasa factory. It initially delivered the first 16 of a total of 19 cells that use a mix of 20 ABB industrial robots, including Scara machines. In early 2024, this first section of the line began to produce eight different models of low-volume, high-diversity switchgear on the same production line without having to change tools. It uses ten IRB 1200 robots for scanning and assembly, an IRB 1600 and IRB 2600 for loading and unloading, and an IRB 910SC Scara robot for assembly. Control software enables the robots to handle all of the product variants by adjusting their programming, rather than swapping tools. Once the first section was complete, work moved on to a second, faster section of the line, which produces smaller products. “When the smaller frame size line is completed, we will have a full product variation and portfolio for sales and manufacturing,”reports ABB Smart Power’s production manager, Jani Keränen. n Installing an automated assembly line at a factory in Finland has allowed ABB Smart Power to boost production of its low-voltage switches by 400%. In a separate project, it has commissioned a 19-cell robotic production line that can be programmed to make eight different products without needing to retool. The robots at the Finnish plant can assemble two families of switches, each with up to 40 variants The 19-cell line can produce eight different models of switchgear for building applications without having to change tools
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