Automation from zero to 100 percent

Looking back
TIMM Stahlformenbau GmbH can look back on a company history that soon will span 40 years. After the acquisition of an existing mold-making company in 1978, Gerd-Peter Timm has continually enhanced the company. Since 1981, the production site is located in the industrial area in Velbert. Already at an early stage, the company has invested in vertical and wire eroding machines. A distinctive quality awareness has developed very early on and is now part of the corporate DNA.

CIM and CNC
The next evolutions were at the time of “Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)” in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In this Industry 3.0 phase, TIMM Formenbau took the next step and invested intensively with its motivated team in CNC technology to increase productivity and competitiveness.

Ongoing investment
Mirco Timm has consistently continued the path of his father. Under his direction, the machine park was continuously modernized to ensure competitiveness and to be fit for the future at any time. A skilled toolmaker, Mirco Timm, together with his competent team of now 13 employees, implements successful customer projects in such focus industries as medical and electrical technology as well as construction, furniture, and automotive.

Targeting Industry 4.0
Mirco Timm was aware that investment in technology and innovation is not a one-off, but a continuous process. In 2012, he wanted to take the next step towards process automation. The existing high process focus and the certification according to DIN ISO 9001 induced him to measure, and in particular to document, electrodes and workpieces automatically in the future. Initial discussions with existing customers showed that documentation and transparency became increasingly important to customers as well.

Active partnership
After thorough analysis of the market for measuring machines, the choice fell on its long-standing partner, EROWA. For more than twenty years, there has been a partnership with EROWA based on mutual respect and trust, which goes far beyond a normal customer-supplier relationship. The possible use of the measuring machine and CERTA’s Q-Measure software solution addressed another important issue, besides increasing process reliability and customer satisfaction.

Valuable exchange of experience
Before the company made the investment, it requested a reference visit. It was very important for Mirco Timm to speak directly from mold maker to mold maker in order to share experience. During the reference visit, Mirco Timm was able to convince himself of the performance capability of EROWA and a high level automation scenario at the customer’s site. In the specific customer situation, the technologies of milling, EDM and measuring were seamlessly linked and controlled by the CERTA process control system.

Full throttle towards automation
Mirco Timm was thrilled by the impressions and quickly recognized the potential. He knew how important the first step was with the measuring machine. However, automation of the entire process meant another significant productivity boost. After consultation with the trusted partners of EROWA and CERTA, the decision was made to schedule the next evolution step immediately after the measuring machine project. These considerations led to the decision to link the existing Röders RXP 500 milling machine, the OPS Ingersoll Gantry Eagle EDM machine and EROWA’s Preset 3D CNC measuring machine to an EROWA Robot System Linear, controlled by the CERTA process control system. In this scenario, the robot loads the relevant tools directly into the Röders machine, providing for continuously available supply.

Employees on board
Mirco Timm was aware that he could not take this step alone. The transition to automation could succeed only with the whole team, because the introduction of new technologies often brings about change in the way people are accustomed to. Not every employee is open for changes right from the start. But Mirco Timm was sure that his team would go along this path with him.

Smooth transition
Before the start of the project, all the details and necessary changes in the production process were discussed, planned, documented and approved in a workshop. The entire project, which was implemented by the team led by EROWA, ran almost without any issues. After all hardware and software components were delivered, the setup of the robot and the connection of the machine tools and the measuring machine could be implemented swiftly. The CERTA team ensured that the software solution was installed and integrated. So nothing stood in the way to take the big evolutionary step in the premises specifically air-conditioned for this purpose.