Production Automation at Van Vuuren a Part of Ambitious Growth Plan

Achieving strong commercial growth while successfully implementing an innovative automation project? Erwin Krol, Operational Manager at Van Vuuren Deuren, has been working on ambitious plans since 2013, plans that the company will continue to reap the benefits from in the coming years. We discuss the unique production line and objectives of the door manufacturer from Grou. Van Vuuren chose VARIODRIVE Drive and Control Technology to provide motion control movement, servo motors, and guides, including support for system integration. Krol explains the reasons behind this choice in this article.

Van Vuuren specializes in door concepts – from development to production – and delivers utility doors worldwide, primarily in the Netherlands and Germany. The company changed ownership in 2013, set an ambitious course, and has since doubled its revenue. The goal of producing 120,000 doors in 2021 was achieved, but this required production automation. Erwin Krol, Operational Manager, was and is responsible for this:

“We faced a significant challenge; we needed to significantly increase our production capacity without growing our workforce. During the crisis, we had seen that a large workforce makes the company vulnerable in economically challenging times. But the most important thing is that we want to retain our people and prevent forced layoffs as during the previous crisis. That’s why we’re investing in production (automation) now so that, if times get tough, we can maintain our workforce. This aligns with Van Vuuren’s values and also the motivations of our owners.”

Production Automation

Since 2013, the company has been achieving strong commercial growth of around 20% annually and has developed its export channel. Export is one of the tools to reduce the impact of fluctuations in the Dutch market. Van Vuuren has strong export ambitions and aims to achieve 30% of its revenue from exports in the near future.

“We knew that with our commercial growth, we would quickly reach the limit of our capacity – 100,000 doors per year. That’s why in 2018, we started exploring possibilities to increase our capacity and flexibility. We wanted to produce 1,000 unique doors per day to keep up with market demand. So, we focused on speed and flexibility. Many machine builders couldn’t provide the combination we needed, as it is technically complex. What we were looking for was unique and therefore hard to find in the market.

Through our Lean coach, we got in touch with IJssel Technologie, and we presented our requirements to them. They worked on determining whether: 1. It was technically feasible, and 2. There were suppliers who could deliver it. The answer was yes! To get an approximate idea of the cost, we entered the pre-engineering phase together.

One of the suppliers we chose was VARIODRIVE. They not only had the knowledge and a track record but were also willing to collaborate and find the best solution for us. All motion, servomotors, and guides – except for the heavy transport parts – come from VARIODRIVE. An important advantage of working with VARIODRIVE was that they had various modules available that matched our requirements for the production line, modules that no other company could provide. This choice also proved valuable for software integration, as VARIODRIVE, along with our developers, ensured optimal integration.”

Motion Control in the Production Process

The automated production line for Van Vuuren’s utility doors spans 65 meters in length and 20 meters in width. Each step of the production process is carried out at a designated station. In terms of motion control, it’s interesting to highlight the following stations:

Turner
Glue Application
Turner: Low Clearance Crucial

To apply the High Pressure Laminate (HPL), a High Density Fibreboard (HDF) is first glued to the top side. Then, the HPL is affixed and pressed before the entire door needs to be flipped over. This might seem cumbersome, but there’s a good reason for it; it prevents the accumulation of glue, which could lead to contamination or product defects. With the “turner,” Van Vuuren ensures that they always apply the glue on the top side.

“The turner does require some space. That’s why we see many other door manufacturers in the market using double-sided gluing,” says Erwin. “We deliberately chose not to go that route; the turner makes handling much easier and prevents contamination in the production process.”

Van Vuuren has high demands for this application. The lead-lined doors used in places like hospitals need to be produced in the same way as lightweight sliding doors. The 100 kg lead plates result in the heaviest doors in the lineup, but the production line needs to handle them seamlessly. These and other requirements posed an interesting challenge for VARIODRIVE’s engineers:

“During the door flipping process, the mechanics rotate due to the clearance of the gearbox. To address this from a control perspective, we opted for a high-precision gearbox with a special flange bellows coupling from R+W. The issue arises when you reach the 12 o’clock position; you change the driving force and encounter the clearance of the gearbox. At that moment, the controller momentarily senses no load. By using a high-precision gearbox with low clearance along with a bellows coupling with high torsional stiffness, utilizing electronic camming, and leveraging the softmotion functions of CoDeSys, the door flipping process is carried out in a controlled (smooth) manner.” – VARIODRIVE

The following components are combined in the “turner”:

– Parker Servo Motor MHB 205 with Apex High-precision gearbox AH255-070
– R+W Torsionally rigid bellows coupling BK 8
– Parker Servo Drive PSD1MW16000
– Parker MotionController PAC (controls multiple axes)
– Special mechanics from Prop engineering

Glue Application: Horizontal Placement of Linear Unit

Especially for the multi-layer doors, such as acoustic doors, a special glue application is integrated into the production line. For fire safety reasons, the different layers of the door must be bonded together, preventing the rapid collapse of layers in case of a fire. Through 5 glue heads, each equipped with its own motor, any desired glue pattern can be created. This enables on-the-fly adjustments of the glue pattern based on the cutouts (for glass or hardware) specific to the door.

“For the glue unit, Parker provided a standard OSP-E Z-axis with multiple drive stations. The unit is now horizontally positioned, allowing the glue pattern to be determined for each drive station. The Parker MotionController loads the pattern and checks the distances among them to prevent collisions.” – VARIODRIVE

In the glue application, the following components are combined:

– Parker Linear unit OSP-E
– Parker Servo Motor SMH 60 including Apex Gearbox AE series
– Parker Servo Drive PSD
– Parker MotionController PAC

Van Vuuren’s Ambitions

“We haven’t reached the targeted 1,000 doors per day yet; we still have a long way to go,” Erwin concludes. “Every time we take a step forward, we encounter new challenges. It’s unforeseen issues that need to be resolved. Nonetheless, I expect that by the end of 2022, we’ll be operating at full capacity. But even before that time comes, we’re already working on the next step. Van Vuuren is aiming to deliver the complete package: in addition to doors, we’ll also provide frames, glass, hardware, and fittings. Naturally, this also requires changes in the factory. By now, we know how to manage that process well, so together with our partners, we’ll turn those changes into successes once again!”