Ceramic Plant Bowled Over by Capability of FANUC Robots

“Quality is very important for Apulum customers,” states Dan Dorogan of Apulum. “At the moment, we manage to achieve top-quality products for around 94% of our production throughput.”

Apulum knows it must maximise its quality in order to meet the demands of customers that include many reputable retail giants. Among the many attributes of automation is its ability to have a real impact on quality.

“The use of automation can influence quality because it allows us to maintain a high and controlled standard across all production stages,” states Dorogan. “Furthermore, we can detect any defects that arise due to improper process adjustments at an early stage.”

Apulum introduced its first FANUC robot in 2014. Today, a number of FANUC robots, including M-10𝑖A/12 models, serve in the company’s product finishing process. With its 12 kg payload and 1420 mm reach, the M-10𝑖A/12 provides high-speed, vibration-free product handling, helping to boost both productivity and quality.

“In the future we want to introduce robots in our packaging area, which will drive further improvements in our operations,” says Dorogan. “We believe that we still have a lot to learn, especially in the field of work programme optimisation for robots.”

Uptime and productivity are of paramount importance at this incredibly busy ceramics plant. Here, the company leverages the capabilities of FANUC’s technical support to help identify and resolve defects.

“The repair and parts replacements service provided by FANUC is of a high and professional standard,” reports Dorogan.