AP&T: Upgrades presses at SKF

Wind power plants, trains, streetcars, paper mills, trucks … spherical roller bearings from SKF are used in many different applications around the world. In each bearing, the rollers are held in place by retainers produced in the SKF Retainer plant in Gothenburg. It is here that a steady stream of blanks is pressed into finished retainers. Approximately 20 hydraulic and mechanical presses are used for the job. Along with automation equipment from AP&T.

The Retainer plant of SKF’s Gamlestaden production area in Gothenburg manufactures retainers in series of 50 to 5000 pieces for SKF’s entire roller bearing production. 200 different retainer variants with diameters ranging from 110 mm to 2 meters are pressed here and are then transported to company plants in Malaysia, Mexico, the UK, Sweden and the US.

Higher production rate
The majority of the manufacturing is now done in automated processes. It is only with really small series that the presses are fed manually.

AP&T has made more than 10 deliveries to the Retainer plant since 1996.

In April of this year, AP&T installed two new automation systems in the Retainer plant. One controls transport between two presses and replaces an old, pneumatic system. The other is used for feed-in to a single press – an operation that used to be done manually. In both cases, the investment greatly increased the production rate while improving ergonomics for the operators.

Reliability and support
“We always strive to become more efficient. Naturally, an important part of this is being able to maintain a high production rate. It is equally important to have equipment that is reliable and to have access to quick and professional support,” says Roger Jonsson, process developer at the Retainer plant.

New challenge every time
“Installing new automation systems that must work with existing equipment is a challenge every time,” says Göte Allansson of AP&T.

“Based on our specific needs, we have a discussion with the customer to come up with an appropriate solution,” says Martti Huttunen, production manager at the Retainer plant.

Products from the standard range
In most cases, AP&T can meet requirements with modules from the company’s standard range of automation products.

“This helps us ensure a high level of reliability, which is important to both us and the customer,” says Göte Allansson.