Sedus Stoll, a global supplier of office furniture, has been manufacturing high-quality seating furniture since 1871 and exclusively for offices since 1926. What once began with the "spring swivel chair" is now sold in thousands of different variations all over the world. The company is expanding, growing and constantly extending its premises. In 2018, a fully automatic loading unit was introduced, which is adapted to the special needs and requirements of the existing pipe production. This loading unit speeds up the production process in multi-shift operation. In collaboration with Trafö-Förderanlagen, a solution was developed with which Sedus Stoll supplies the existing BLM tube laser with individual tubes from the long goods warehouse fully automatically via a robot unit with special, three-dimensional laser technology and specially developed software.

Material handling with robots
Trafö-Förderanlagen received the order from Sedus Stoll to technically expand the existing tube storage system so that individual work steps can be automatically and efficiently recorded and executed by robot handling. The entire unit consists of a robot with a 3D recognition system, a product-specific vacuum tool, a conveyor line from the long goods storage system to the pipe laser and a delivery point at the pipe laser. The long goods storage system already in place at Sedus Stoll prior to the technical expansion was brought up to the latest technical standard with a Trafö retrofit. Trafö has developed a special software solution to ensure that all handling components can communicate precisely with each other and that processes run reliably at all stages of production.

Order via tablet
Internal work plans provide employees with an overview of upcoming laser jobs. The required material is requested directly at the tube laser using a tablet. The storage system now receives the information to provide the requested material to the robot cell. At the same time, the robot receives all the important data for the requested tubes: dimensions, geometry, weight and quantity. The requested system cassettes, in which different tube types are stored, are positioned on the robot. Then the "tube picking" begins.

Regripping function for chaotic positions
The robot scans the system cassette with the 3D scanner and records the position of the pipes. Once the data has been determined, it is compared with the previously sent information. If there is a match, the robot automatically selects one of the tools and reaches into the cassette to pick up the pipe. The position, orientation and angle of inclination of the tool are automatically adjusted to the actual position of the selected pipe. In the event of chaotic storage in the cassette, the additional "re-gripping" function ensures that the robot reliably picks up the required material. If pipes become jammed or the vacuum is not reliably established, the regripping function scans the cassette again and picks up the pipe again. The re-gripping intervals can be set individually.

Conveyor section as pre-buffer
The picked-up pipe is deposited in a conveyor section above the station and transported to the pipe laser. Here, the pipe is transferred directly to the pipe laser's pick-up device using a lowering conveyor. The length of the divided conveyor section is also used as a pre-buffer. This means that several tubes are fed into the conveyor section one after the other, resulting in a continuous supply to the laser system. This tube picking system enables Sedus Stoll to load the tube laser system with new material fully automatically in multiple shifts in less than a minute - without manual intervention. This type of production technology has advantages for companies that want to operate tube laser machines safely and efficiently in multi-shift operation - especially when there are several material changes in day-to-day production. The automatic feeding of individual tubes eliminates the need to transport entire bundles or even residual bundles. Manual intervention is reduced to a minimum, machine utilization is increased and system operation is better utilized economically.

About the solution provider
Trafö offers solutions for in-house logistics requirements. The company is a contractual partner of Linde Material Handling and positions itself as a partner for forklift trucks and warehouse technology in Berlin, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Trafö also offers a rental service with 500 trucks, including electric forklifts, diesel forklifts, work platforms and special vehicles for short, medium and long-term rental.

Transport- und Fördertechnik - Trafö GmbH for short - was founded in 1990. By 1993, the company claimed to have a market share of around 49 percent in the region in forklift sales. In 2006, company founders Dieter Henning and Ulrich Stropp handed over the management of the company to the next generation: Volkmar and Ralph Henning, Ulrike Heinemann née Stropp and Jörg Kollmorgen. The company grew steadily: At the end of 2016, Trafö celebrated the opening of a new 3,300 square meter office complex in the GVZ Wustermark. In June 2019, Trafö also expanded its previous sales area of Berlin/Brandenburg to include the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern region with an additional location in Neubrandenburg.