Page 31 - MetalForming Magazine April 2023

Special Section
FABRICATION
28 MetalForming/April 2023 www.metalformingmagazine.com
Smart
Programming
Software
Delivers Big Robotic Welding Gains
Van Hool employs robotic welding to assemble chassis for buses and other large vehicles. Artificial-intelligence- based software learns as it goes to increasingly improve offline robot programming, netting significant increases in arc welding throughput.
With more than 75 yr. under its belt, European industrial chassis and vehicle manufac- turer Van Hool takes pride in residing at the cutting edge of manufacturing innovation. Since its founding in 1947, the company stakes claim to achieve- ments such as manufacturing the first city buses with low floors, being a key player in the technology breakthrough of hydrogen buses and putting the world’s first battery-electric double- decker coach on roadways.
Van Hool boasts 3000 team mem- bers, with about 700 dedicated to the Industrial Vehicles business unit. Van Hool Industrial Vehicles, offers Stefan
Dhont, the business unit’s vice director, manufactures roughly 3000 trailers, or chassis for goods transport, each year from two locations: one in Lier, Bel- gium, and the other in Skopje, North Macedonia.
“Our loyal customers come back to us because we develop and construct trailers and chassis according to their wishes,” explains Dhont, referencing the customized nature of production. “These wishes evolve over time so we need to be flexible.”
Seeking Programming-Time Reduction
Van Hool Industrial Vehicles relies heavily on robotic arc welding—to the tune of 20-plus robots—for assembly of components from individual parts as well as the joining of complete chas- sis. With a reputation for residing on the leading edge of manufacturing