Customized Apps for end-to-end Digitization
The roots of Winkelbauer GmbH from Anger in Styria date back to the 19th century – at that time it was a blacksmith’s shop for horseshoes and wagons.
In 1945, the foundation was laid for today’s company. Through innovation and entrepreneurial spirit, the blacksmith’s shop developed into one of the leading specialists for construction equipment and components for the recyclingindustry in Central Europe. Today, Winkelbauer has around 160 experienced engineers who manufacture high-quality tools and equipment for construction machinery up to 150 t and highly wear-resistant components for recycling plants. The traditional company ensures high product quality with a powerful and modern machine shop, including four DMG MORI machines. In addition, Winkelbauer places a strategic focus on digitization in order to optimize processes and respond better to customer requirements and changes in the market. DMG MORI’s no-code platform TULIP makes an important contribution to this strategy. The APPs created with TULIP support paperless production, for example, reduce training costs and increase process reliability in assembly.
Innovative strength for generations
Winkelbauer has grown over several generations to become one of the largest sector specialists in Central Europe. “We successfully hold our own against the competition through continuous investment in the training and further education of our skilled staff and due to our competence in the processing of highly wear-resistant steel – in our case, this amounts to over 6,000 tons per year, more than 4,000 tons of which are wear-resistant Hardox® steels,” is how Michael Winkelbauer, Managing Director of the company founded by his grandfather, explains the company’s success. This tradition has resulted in great innovative strength, which has already generated its own patents and brands. “Moreover, in our think tank we are always looking for special solutions for exceptional challenges.” At Winkelbauer, innovative thinking is reflected in its products as well as in its manufacturing. “In order to remain competitive, we have always pursued future-oriented paths that allow us to make our processes more efficient,” says Michael Winkelbauer, referring to the technologies used. These include state-of-the-art welding robots from ABB and IGM as well as advanced CNC machines from DMG MORI. Two DMC 90 U duoBLOCKs, a DMF 360 five-axis milling machine and a CLX 550 lathe have been put into operation since 2021.
With TULIP to paperless processes
Another building block in the innovation-driven strategy for several years has been digitization. “Our goal was to make all processes paperless, from order receipt to delivery,” explains Stephan Winkelbauer, who is responsible for digitization in the production process. He is the fourth generation to work in the family business. The no-code platform TULIP, which Winkelbauer also introduced with the purchase of the DMG MORI machines, is playing an increasingly large role.
TULIP APP enables step-by-step work instructions
Winkelbauer implemented the first TULIP application on a new welding robot from ABB. “Our primary goals were a paperless process and less training expenditure,” recalls Stephan Winkelbauer. Since the robot’s programmer knows the requirements best, he created a TULIP APP that presents detailed work instructions for operating the welding robot – step by step. “Until now, this information was stored in space-consuming folders, involved a great deal of searching and time, and in the end was still not always up to date. Now there is a PC in each of the two robot cells that displays everything very clearly.” Each instruction of the TULIP APP must be confirmed before the robot is operated, ensuring that all steps are carried out in a process-reliable manner and documented at the same time.
Career changers trained in a few days instead of weeks
Stephan Winkelbauer is also satisfied with the reduced training expenditure: “If required, we can also entrants that are career changers to operate the welding robot comparatively quickly and schedule them into production.” In the past, it took weeks to train new personnel in this area, but today this can be done in just a few days. “The speed also gives us a competitive advantage.” In addition, this process is scalable with TULIP: “We can transfer the program 1:1 to another welding robot, for example.”
Assembly instructions including test report and cycle time recording
Another example of process optimization using TULIP is provided by the assembly of a product series. It comes in 27 variants, which leads to many different serial and article numbers as well as product data, which are recorded on a type plate. “We have created and continuously developed a TULIP APP that supports the entire assembly process,” explains Stephan Winkelbauer. The component from pre-assembly is recorded and identified via the data in the safety & quality stamp. A visual and functional inspection takes place in the main assembly area, which the operator documents in TULIP. “In this way, we create an initial test report.” The APP explains the necessary steps in assembly as well. Detailed schematic drawings are stored for this purpose. “We have gradually integrated more and more functionalities into the TULIP APP, which serve to optimize the assembly process – right up to cycle time recording,” says Stephan Winkelbauer. “We already use apps similar to the two described in warehouse management or in quality control,” says Stephan Winkelbauer. He says it is important for him to involve the staff of the respective departments at an early stage: “The team has the deepest insights and can design the apps optimally.” The creation of TULIP APPs is very simple. Similar to PowerPoint, the content is inserted and placed via drag & drop. The previous uses of TULIP and the fact that it is easy to operate have convinced Winkelbauer to find many more applications and to continue to drive digitization in the company with the help of the no-code platform. Michael Winkelbauer also believes in this: “A holistic approach to digitization is crucial in order to remain competitive over the long term. In this respect, TULIP is an ideal addition to the ongoing modernization of our company.”
Winkelbauer GmbH
Viertelfeistritz 64
8184 Anger, Austria
www.winkelbauer.com