"Default" is a word that is only rarely used at Wiehag. In fact, the Upper Austrian glulam producer and timber engineering pioneer is regularly drawing attention with architectural showcase projects around the globe. The flexibility as well as the solution-oriented way of working that Wiehag provides to customers is also expected of the company's suppliers.
The relationship to Hundegger is a good example for this guideline. Since purchasing a P10 joining system 25 years ago, the timber engineers keep coming back to Hundegger in the search for solutions. "In 2001, we accepted an order for four exhibition halls in Karlsruhe with a span of 80 m without knowing how we will be able to join arched beams that are 42 m long, 54 cm wide and 110 cm high. It was Hundegger who eventually provided us with the appropriate system", Wiehag process manager Manfred Haimerl remembers.
Efficient joining
By now, Wiehag's Hundegger machinery has been expanded to five bar and panel joining centers. Latest member of a few weeks is a Robot-Drive equipped with a water-cooled 29 kW high-performance unit. Wiehag is utilizing the machine for joining straight elements with dimensions of up to 1.3 m width, 30 cm height and 24 m length. "The strong new spindle and other further developments useful for industrial purposes made the system particularly interesting to us", Haimerl explains. Hundegger integrated the system in a powerful 13 kW circular saw unit for quicker, splinter-free processing.
With the investment into the Robot Drive, Wiehag is not looking to increase the glulam production volume but rather the share of joined products. "Thanks to the higher joining rate we can further boost the added value in our own company without reorganizing the glulam production", Haimerl elaborates on the motives for the investment. Quality is always the central focus. "Only absolutely precise and neatly processed elements leave our manufacture", says Armin Wieser who oversees the timber engineering production.
Clean and precise
To achieve accurate joining results, the Robot-Drive is equipped with the patented Motion Control System HMC. It presses a measurement module against the bottom of the component and measures all movements directly on the element. "If a component slips out of position, Motion Control senses this movement, passes on the information and this way an absolutely precise way of processing is possible", Hundegger representative Arno Gaggl informs.
With up to 15,000 revolutions per minute, the 29 kW high-performance spindle guarantees the level of chipping performance necessary for producing smooth, splinter-free surfaces. Clean however is not only a priority in terms of surfaces but also when it comes to air. For reasons of employee health, the company decided to purchase the optionally available airborne dust extraction system. "Next to better working conditions, thanks to the fine dust extraction system we are able to reduce cleaning times and optimize the plant's performance", Wieser informs.
Flexible machinery
In addition to joining quality, flexibility was a central decision criterion for Wiehag. Apart from the extensive processing possibilities, another strong suit of the Robot-Drive is the integration into existing joining capacities. "Thanks to a unified preparation procedure by means of the Cambium program, we can wait with deciding on the actual joining system until after the planning stage, just before the actual processing. Furthermore, our employees only have to be trained once and can subsequently work all systems", Haimerl concludes his report.
