Husqvarna has chosen ABB collaborative robots to increase competitiveness and flexibility

2021: Using ABB Collaborative Robots

The manufacturer of chainsaws Husqvarna to increase competitiveness and flexibility chose ABB collaborative robots, as the latter reported on September 9, 2021.

The company was looking for ways to speed up the production process and provide it with flexibility so that it could adapt to possible changes in the future. In the manufacturing process, there were also several labor-intensive stages for assembling components, during which workers performed tedious and repetitive tasks.

As of September 2021, the company uses collaborative solutions from ABB, including a YuMi coboat with two manipulators and an industrial robot IRB 1600 with SafeMove security software and a laser scanner.

In 2018, the company decided to modernize the stage of the production process for installing a chainsaw starter, making it faster and more flexible and reducing the risks of making mistakes that could lead to failures and industrial marriage.

To do this, the company decided to introduce collaborative robots into the production line, which would perform tasks together with operators. This solution provided production with additional flexibility and allowed staff to perform higher-level tasks.

We were looking for a flexible collaboration solution that we could run relatively quickly and that gave us flexibility in expanding production or changing tasks in the future, "said Jimmie Sollén, Husqvarna Technical Director.

After analyzing various solutions, Husqvarna chose a collaborative robot YuMi with two manipulators from ABV, which now works on an assembly line side by side with operators. Cobot mounts the chainsaw starter, taking screws and screwing them into the tool.

YuMi helps to produce more than 400 chainsaws per shift. Among the advantages of introducing a cobot into the production process is a higher repetition rate and a lower number of assembly deviations. In addition, the robot improved the working conditions of operators, as it reduced ergonomic risk factors arising from the need for workers to constantly screw screws.

Using YuMi for screwing is one of the best decisions we have made, "said Johan Håård, manufacturing technician and head of the Husqvarna assembly line team. - In particular, the use of YuMi reduces most of the monotonic work of operators. We want to get rid of manual screwing as much as possible, because this is a boring task that brings no benefit to customers.

The introduction of YuMi into production prompted Husqvarna to explore additional possibilities for using robots to improve the production of chainsaw. As a result, in 2020, on the same assembly line, the company installed a second collaborative solution for performing tasks at another stage of the production process, including screwing in the chainsaw handle with simultaneous attachment of the chain limiter. The solution, which consists of the industrial robot IRB 1600 from ABB, software SafeMove and laser scanners, allows operators to safely interact with it without the need to install complex protective barriers and partially without barriers at all.