Change to automation

Innovative production technology ensures competitiveness at MAP

The MAP Maschinen- & Apparatebau Produktions GmbH increases their investments in automated production technology. Last year, the Rathenow company commissioned three new CLOOS robot systems. Thus MAP accelerates the production processes and increases the  quality at the same time.

MAP's 90,000-square-metre premises could just as easily have housed a giant theme park. Instead, it is a place of welding, drilling and milling where 280 employees manufacture complex structural steel components, containers and vessels as well as other components for different industries. MAP is traditionally strong in the field of electrical engineering and the construction of heavy-duty installations, appliances and containers. Within the company's crane-operated production hall with a total floor space of 25,000 square metres, parts weighing up to 60 tons are assembled, processed, and transported — the company thus connects to the long tradition of boiler and apparatus construction of Rathenow city which dates back more than a century. Beyond this, MAP can also look back on many years of experience in the areas of renewable energy and mining. In addition, series production of welded assemblies with subsequent machining is becoming increasingly important for the company. Since 2007, MAP has been part of the Neuenhauser Group, whose members include around 30 companies throughout Germany. With innovations in automated manufacturing technologies, MAP is responding to the increasing competition in Asia and Eastern Europe. “We want to achieve higher productivity with maximum quality, more predictable costs with reliable lead times and ultimately sustainable jobs with reduced burden on our staff here,” explains Lutz Abram, head of sheet production at MAP.

Three new robot systems with cutting edge technology

MAP has thus begun operating three new CLOOS robot systems in the last year. All three systems are characterised by maximum flexibility — an important prerequisite for the variety of different components that are manufactured by the company. On the largest system, a QIROX QRC-350 robot welds generator housings for wind turbines, among other things. Mounted in overhead position, the robot can flexibly switch between the two stations. Usually, the employees prepare the components at station 2 while the robot welds at station 1.