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In addition to a wide range of products, MiniTec also offers customized solutions in the field of protective systems. For the North Hessian company ALMO, one of the world's leading manufacturers of disposable syringes, MiniTec supplies protective enclosures. An effective measure for man and machine in highly automated production as well as intralogistics with an automated guided vehicle system.
The company ALMO Erzeugnisse Erwin Busch GmbH is located in Bad Arolsen, Hesse. With 380 employees, the company manufactures around two billion disposable syringes per year under cleanroom conditions for a wide range of medical applications. ALMO's products are used in more than 160 countries around the world. The semi-finished parts for the disposable syringes, plunger rods and cylinders are manufactured from plastic by injection molding and then sent for further processing, printing and assembly.
Since disposable syringes are a bulk product, a high degree of automation and efficient production have always been necessary in order to be competitive on the world market, even in Germany.
Intralogistics is also an important production factor. Due to the spatial conditions, the already existing conveyor technologies and the infrastructure within the production, ALMO decided to realize this automation task with an automated guided vehicle system (AGV). This meant that a large part of the equipment could remain in its traditional places. Special transport containers were also introduced in production.
One challenge was that the entire system, i.e. driving course and transfer stations as well as the new infrastructure, had to be modular and expandable. Within the scope of the project, a total of 55 plants were equipped and connected with two transfer stations each, as well as some special stations, for example for quality assurance. To facilitate the connection of the individual plants, the transfer stations were first designed and standardized to such an extent that only three different types of transfer stations were needed to implement the overall system.
The new transfer stations to be installed created a large number of new interfaces at the various plants, which had to be mitigated by protective enclosures.
Taking into account the needs of the employees, the specifications of the manufacturer of the automated guided vehicle system, the requirements of occupational safety and the process sequences, a protective enclosure was designed for each station type. It was quickly determined that standardization, as with the transfer stations, was not possible. Here, individual adaptations had to be made to the individual plants.
For the realization of the enclosures, the choice fell on the protective system from MiniTec. The decisive factor was the good experience with MiniTec's modular profile system. These have been used for years as protective enclosures on the plants in production.
The iCAD Assembler CAD tool from MiniTec was also helpful. Here, the protective enclosures could be designed in 3D and adapted to the respective plant. The design documents were then sent directly to MiniTec. There, the designs were checked and a quotation was prepared. The good contact between the ALMO and MiniTec employees was an advantage here. This meant that questions about the designs could be clarified quickly and without problems, and the design know-how of MiniTec's technicians was also incorporated into the new protective enclosures. These were then pre-assembled at MiniTec on the basis of the CAD data. The assembly of the individual segments on site was then quick and uncomplicated.
Even during the first test runs of the automated guided vehicles (AGVs) in the manufacturer's halls, it then became apparent that extensive additions had to be made to the protective enclosures in order to safely separate the AGVs and the employees from each other. Various passages between the systems had to be closed off with fixed, separating protective devices or secured with doors so that the AGV could perform as required without endangering the employees. MiniTec's compatible modular system once again proved its worth here, as it was possible to modify or extend the protective enclosures without any problems.
Among other things, fixed partition walls were installed between the protective enclosures of the transfer stations in the area of the injection molding department, since here the employees do not have to step out onto the travel path. In the area of the printing and assembly department, safety doors were added to ensure that employees have the usual access to the machines. Care was taken to ensure that employees did not have to perform any additional manual operations, such as pressing a button. A very simple solution was found: A door with a door closer monitored by a light barrier.
Light grids were installed at the transfer stations of the printing and assembly departments, as this is where the transport containers are emptied. Until the final solution was found, the position of the light grids was revised three times. Here, too, it was advantageous that the components of the protective enclosure to be changed could be easily removed and replaced by new components.
According to MiniTec's motto "The Art of Simplicity", a clever solution was developed: While light grids and additional light barriers were still necessary in the first approach to safeguard the stations, tests and adjustments to the AGVs and the stations soon made it possible to dispense with the light barriers completely:
As soon as an AGV approaches the station and stops, it signals that it is ready to hand over the container. The light grid is then switched off and the container is delivered to the station. As soon as the vehicle has completed the container handling, the light curtain is switched on again. Only now is the vehicle given the go-ahead to continue its journey.
With these measures based on the MiniTec protection system, a safe working environment for man and machine could be realized.