‘The production process at the customer is number one, not the welding machine’
“In the past we used to go to the customer to sort out their welding problems. Now we go there as system integrators with proven concepts in order to improve or even replace complete welding production processes.” This was stated by Piet Mosterd, managing director at AWL, specialists in joining technology.
Based in Harderwijk in the Netherlands, AWL develops and produces production equipment with the emphasis on jointing technologies such as resistance welding, as well as arc and laser welding methods. AWL supplies industrial sectors including the automotive supply industry and metal working industries such as steel furniture manufacturers, manufacturers of pallets racking, sprinkler systems, prefabricated construction systems and steel packaging. After a relaunch, the company was established in 1993 and initially aimed itself at the resistance welding market and a little later with arc welding as well. “Because the market was stagnating, we decided to develop computerised and robotised welding applications. The inspiration for this initially came from the very demanding automobile industry where their production times could be drastically reduced using such equipment. The sector was called ‘the most demanding industry of the world’ for good reason. Currently these highly specialised companies account for around 75% of our turnover with the metal working industry taking the remaining 25%,” according to Mr Mosterd.
A few years ago AWL got involved in laser welding technology in response to a growing demand coming mainly from the automotive industry. The spin-off created a lot of demand for this type of welding. Piet Mosterd: “Because of this demand we set up the laser welding laboratory in 2004 where we research both resistance and arc welding technologies as well as laser welding.”
3D engineering
Over the last ten years changes and developments in the joining technology sector have been occurring in rapid succession. An important development was with 2D to 3D engineering, "With the 3D models we are now able to completely simulate robot applications and carry out off-line programming,” Mr Mosterd explained. “Thanks to 3D we can simulate production models, machine models and jigs simultaneously. The standard modules developed from this ensure a reduction in welding time of 45%. This is what the market, principally the automotive market, are continually crying out for. The current process times for welding machine equipment cannot be compared with those of five or seven years ago.”
High Strength Steel
The use of ‘High Strength Steel’ has also ensured a steady stream of developments especially in the automotive and aircraft industries. High strength steels are stronger than normal steel types and therefore thinner plates can be used in some applications. This results in less weight and therefore cost savings. “The average plate thickness of 10 or 11 mm has now been reduced to 5 or 6 mm, or even less. Plate thicknesses of 0.2 and 3 mm are no longer the exception for us. This has forced us into being proactive in finding new joining technology,” stated Mr Mosterd.
Concentrating on trendsetters
In 2008 at least 96% of the activities at AWL were aimed at the export market. “We don’t expect this situation to change”, said Mr Mosterd, “the high volumes demanded by overseas customers are just not available in the Netherlands. We export widely throughout Europe and further afield. Because of our breadth of expertise, we find our market position differs in each country, but we always concentrate on the trendsetters in the various sectors. We want to assist our partners with extensive computerisation and therefore with improvements to their production processes”.
Market leader
In view of the above philosophies, AWL finds itself positioned as market leader where European welding machine equipment is concerned. Our subsidiary in the Czech Republic also contributes to this success. A large proportion of the equipment is supplied to multinational companies. “This results in frequently receiving orders from outside Europe. Service and support is therefore also an important topic. Our facilities in this area have been vastly improved over the last few years, in part helped by the possibilities provided by our robotics suppliers.
Standardisation
AWL will continue along its chosen path. “We used to aim at solving welding problems, but are now increasingly being asked for proven concepts. This means that we now concentrate on the customers’ entire production processes and not just a single piece of equipment. We have also grown from being an equipment supplier to becoming a developer and manufacturer of total product systems - also known as turnkey solutions. Our strategy has therefore become more market oriented. Furthermore, we are increasingly adapting these customer concepts into standard modules so that we can offer cheaper solutions with less maintenance,” Mr Mosterd emphasised. A good example would be the sprinkler manufacturing industry where AWL has now developed a range of modular solutions for sprinkler tube welding equipment. “We will use these same developments in other metal working sectors.”
Fibre reinforced plastics
As well as using metal as the basis for joining, in future synthetic materials will play an increasingly important role. Piet Mosterd: “Components containing fibre reinforced thermoplastic material are being used increasingly. This is logical as they are very strong, light and are resistant to chemicals and damage. Therefore we are also aiming at the joint development of production systems for laser welding fibre reinforced thermoplastic materials, also called composites. Naturally we are using the existing knowledge we have accumulated in developing these new production methods. This way we will be able to provide new synthetic material joining technology as an alternative to aluminium and stainless steel.