Finland-based Metos Oy, a manufacturer of professional stainless steel kitchen equipment, needed a welding solution that could deliver flawless, pressure-rated welds for small batches of high-spec products, which feature tubular structures and circular shafts that required continuous, precision welding.
Known for their high-quality steel products used in commercial kitchens, hospitals, and schools, Metos faced challenges in maintaining flawless, pressure-bearing welds on circular and tubular components, many of which are visible parts in kitchen manufacturing and must meet strict aesthetic and safety requirements.
Manual welding of such parts often results in interruptions due to position changes. Therefore, automating the process can eliminate the inconsistencies in quality by performing continuous welds in a single, smooth motion, ultimately enhancing quality and visual appearance.
By Integrating ABB’s GoFa™ CRB 15000 collaborative robot, known for its precision and repeatability, along with Kemppi’s Master M 358 welder and GXe-C torch, METOS was able to achieve high quality, consistent welds, which has improved welding productivity by 30 percent.
The GoFa cobot is enabling 360-degree, continuous welds on irregular and varied part stainless steel objects, significantly reducing post-processing and improving production efficiency.
“GoFa has dramatically improved our cycle times and reduced post processing by 60 percent, while maintaining premium quality,” said Risto Koskelainen, Production Manager at Metos.
At the heart of the application’s success is GoFa’s ease of programming and advanced capabilities such as seam tracking, wire search, and adaptive welding, which allow the application cell to compensate for part variation without requiring complex fixtures. The cobot’s ability to handle tricky work pieces helped the company automate even the most challenging all-round welds without compromising the quality.
“GoFa’s intuitive programming allows us to adapt quickly, even when we’re producing small series with varying geometries,’’ added Risto Koskelainen.
The success of this deployment is the result of a close collaboration between ABB, Kemppi, and the Metos team. After a one-week pilot, ABB provided training and hands-on support to onboard welders like Jani Paahtama, who quickly adapted to programming and operating the GoFa. “I’ve been surprised by how fast and easy it is to program GoFa even for complex weld paths,” said Paahtama.
ABB’s local sales and support team has remained involved throughout the project, ensuring the solution continues to evolve with Metos’ needs. ‘GoFa brings the agility of collaborative automation to a highly skilled process like welding,” said Juha Mainio, ABB Area Sales Manager. “This is exactly the kind of outcome we aim for, supporting customers like Metos in achieving world-class results with smart, accessible automation.
With manufacturers like Metos reporting a significant boost in productivity, ABB’s GoFa™ cobot is proving its precision, ease of use, and flexibility in high demand welding applications, paving the way for wider adoption of collaborative welding across diverse industries.
This article was contributed by ABB (Auburn, MI). For more information, visit here .
