Limited space, special requirements for ingress protection and special attention to the shape of the sacks all played a part in the design of the new palletizing solution for Norwegian Elkem.
Elkem is one of the world’s leading businesses specialising in environmentally-friendly production of metals and materials including silicon, silicone, foundry alloys and carbon materials. Some years ago, Fisker Skanderborg sold a sacking machine to Elkem for the packaging of alloy material for the iron industry, and Elken now needed to extend this solution with a robot palletizer.
Palletizing solution with a six-axis robot
Space for the palletizer was extremely limited, and Fisker therefore decided to recommend a six-axis robot, both in terms of space and palletizing pattern, but also due to the quite unique shape of the sack, which required special treatment.
Protection class IP67
The environment that the robot is placed in is filled with electrically charged particles, which placed very special requirements on the robot’s ingress protection class. The requirement was protection class IP67 (IP = International Protection Marking), which Fisker’s robot supplier NACHI was able to live up to with the robot supplied for the solution. IP67 is a very high classification, which means that there is no need for further covering of the robot. Other suppliers must pack the robot into a ‘jacket’ in order to achieve the same level of protection.
Long-lasting collaboration
The collaboration with Elkem is yet another fine example of why so many of Fisker’s customers return to Fisker when they are buying new equipment or extending a solution. “We are extremely satisfied with our expansion of existing customer relations, which has great value both for the customer and for Fisker,” says Fisker’s Sales Director, Peter M. Henningsen.