In Tiel, we find Kranendonk Smart Robotics. In a brand new building on an industrial estate "but next year this building will probably already be too small again," we hear from Sander Voerman. Relatively unknown in the Netherlands, but an outlier in maritime and offshore worldwide.
"Everything we make here is actually customer-specific," Voerman explains. "Our robot systems we sell mainly outside the Netherlands, here Heerema and IHC, for example, are among our customers, otherwise we deliver all over the world." Kranendonk supplies many fully automatic welding lines, especially for the maritime sector, cutting lines for the offshore and steel industries but also, for example, a solution for automatic edge milling of plates. That we are dealing with an innovative forerunner here is shown by the fact that they won the prestigious Maritime Innovation Award twice. In 2007 for the 'Panel Welding gantry' in combination with the RinasWeld software. In 2013 with the technology of the so-called 'Edge Preparation System', a double-sided edge router with a pressure-sensitive milling head.
Double Hull Welding Gantry
Imagine metre-high portals, in which multiple robots do their work. For making double-hulled ship hulls, in awkward small spaces and complex constructions. Why this welding portal is so special, we ask Voerman. "In the portal, the robot welds fully automatically and order-driven. It is often a matter of one-off and unique constructions, so automation should require as little programming as possible. The 3D CAD models are therefore read into the software. The first time, the welding engineer enters the welding parameters, then the RinasWeld software recognises the type of weld and thus controls the robot based on the read-in 3D CAD information. That saves a lot of time after that first time with every new job. We are not welding engineers, we automate. The knowledge of the welds and fine-tuning, that bit lies with the customer, we take care of the rest."
Since the very beginning, Kranendonk has been working with ABB's robots, then even ASEA. "We just calibrate them quite a bit further than ABB does as standard. Because we are dealing with enormous dimensions, a very small deviation can still add up enormously and thus cause problems. We have our own in-house calibration specialists for this, in addition to a team of mechanical engineers and software engineers." Everything is developed in-house and the engineers play with the latest techniques when coming up with solutions. "We now also have a 3D printer in-house and some of our people are well versed in that. With a new way of thinking, that's how we come up with new solutions."
Interest
Within the growing portfolio of enquiries is a growing interest from China. Voerman: "You can see that there is a shift in focus there towards higher-end technologies. European partners are being sought for building cruise ships, we have started a joint venture with a large Taiwanese concern for that purpose. But a few days ago, we also unexpectedly received a request from another new angle for us, from South Korea. We have been very active in Japan for years, but not yet in South Korea, another major shipbuilding nation. In addition, we have a number of irons in the fire worldwide that are already causing us to cautiously start looking at opportunities for further expansion."
An emerging new demand is for welding lines for application in the offshore industry. Kranendonk is a company that is mostly demand-driven. So whether there are any developments to report here? That question is answered in the affirmative, but it takes quite a bit of effort. "In offshore, you have to deal with much heavier types of welds, composed of multiple layers. To a certain extent, we already have that technology in-house for steel construction. Only then the issue of 'certification' comes around the corner. Now the welder is certified, can you certify a robot? But it ties in very nicely with our efforts to make the robot even smarter and software that also makes the robot more self-learning."
Another ongoing development is integrating vision technologies. Using a combination of cameras and lasers, a fully automatic beam assembly machine is now being further developed for steel construction. By using vision, very high accuracy can be achieved here. "That technique can also be applied for making pipelines, of which there are an incredible number needed in ships."
Danish software
Besides a number of sales and service branches around the world, Singapore, Japan, China & USA, it is notable that Kranendonk has a branch in Denmark where software is developed. "The former Oden shipyard was very active in the field of automation. We worked with that and when the curtain fell on Odense, there was an opportunity for us to incorporate that knowledge."
The company started with automation and robotisation across the board in the early 1980s, from a garage in Ingen, a village near Tiel. In the 1990s, the company settled in Tiel, so last year it moved into that brand-new building. The first robot arm from back then proudly stands in the reception hall. Developments are going fast, and at the same time the order book is filling up very quickly. "The welding robot we have here now can weld up to four metres high. But the next one we are going to build will go up to seven metres. That won't fit here anymore. The projects are getting bigger and bigger and it's happening very fast. But also the volume of orders means we just need more space."
By: Janet Kooren
