CIEB, the Czech manufacturer of truck seats, this year received the ?ekia stability award.
This prestigious award, presented to stable and reliable suppliers, is reserved to just a small number of entrepreneurs in the Czech Republic. According to George Mikala, CEO of CIEB, the consistent welding quality of the frames made a substantial contribu-tion to this. The company put its first Valk Welding welding robot system into use in 2006. CIEB now has four. As well as consistent welding quality, the automated welding process has enabled the company to sharply step up its productivity. The factory in the Czech Republic's Brandys produces 120,000 to 140,000 frames a year. As well as passenger and driving seats CIEB manufactures various parts for seats and other components for the automotive industry.
The fourth welding robot, which Valk Welding delivered this year, is of the same type as the one supplied in 2012. Both are equipped with a Panasonic TA800WG3 welding robot. "These welding robot systems are set up to weld back frames for passenger seats. The fourth work station had to be installed to meet the growing production volume", says CIEB's CEO George Mikala.
Tried and tested partnership with Valk Welding
As is the case with many other customers, investing in a welding robot system is often the first step in a long-term partnership. This holds true for the partnership with CIEB, which took its first steps towards welding robotisation in 2006. The first 2 welding robot cells on an H frame construction and Panasonic VR006 L welding robots not only improve the weld quality but also sharply increase efficiency. Robot welds also eliminate the chance of human error.
300 percent faster
CEO George Mikala: "More than half of all welding production is now carried out with welding robots. The welding robots are about 300 percent faster than manual welding. A welding robot in a three-shift system has the same productivity level as nine qualified welders. The company is currently producing 8 to 15 sets of seat frames a day for 2-3000 buses a year, representing 120,000 to 140,000 frames a year. CIEB supplies them to major manufacturers such as IVECO, SOR, TATRA, LIAZ, AUTOSAN, SKODA, SAAB, OPEL, and many more.
Seats for the Olympic Games and the Dakar Rally
The high quality level made it possible for CIEB also to provide the seats for the Czech team in the Paris-Dakar Rally. The athletes who took part in the Winter Olympics in Sochi and the Paralympic Games were also trans-ported using buses equipped with seats from Brandys. The buses now form part of the city transport system in Moscow and St. Petersburg. 'All of Moscow's underground trains have a driver's seat from our factory, and that's something we're proud of," says George Mikala. Success in the markets and a rising pro-duction volume call for the further devel-opment of the company and its production systems. CIEB will certainly be continuing its use of welding robots in the near future and beyond.
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