VDL Weweler opts for Leuze and itsme for the safety of a shot peening machine

To ensure the quality of air suspension struts, VDL Weweler - a leading international manufacturer of air suspension systems for trailer construction - uses a shot peening machine in production, among other equipment. This treatment contributes to an increased product service life. When the machine in question was due for replacement, machine safety was also reviewed. Because of the long-standing cooperation, VDL Weweler again chose Leuze and itsme to purchase and supply the new safety light barriers. “Our slogan is ‘strength through cooperation’. So we always strive to create partnerships.”

The suspension struts are developed by VDL Weweler, a VDL company that has been a customer of itsme for many years, and produced in its own factory. For other system components, engineering is also carried out in-house, but production is outsourced. The company has customers worldwide, with Europe being its biggest market. “With a complete air suspension system, we want to provide customers with a total solution. For this purpose, we have a fully automated production line in Apeldoorn, from the moment a piece of steel enters the machine until the finished product is placed on the pallet,” says Niels van Noord, project manager at VDL Weweler. The company also acts as a system integrator: all production machines are developed in close cooperation with machine builders.
 

Safety design

To ensure the quality of the products, to increase their hardness and tensile strength and thus extend their service life, VDL Weweler works with top-quality steels. These are refined by hardening and tempering in high-temperature baths, and finally undergo intensive shot peening. This shot peening machine forms the final processing step on the line before products are sent for painting. Due to the large number of transport movements around the machine, it is protected by fences. That way, staff and automated guided vehicles (AGVs), which are used to move materials and products, can safely move around it. Next summer, all pallet bays in the production cell will be fitted with eight safety light barriers. Van Noord: “This increases accessibility to the pallet bay for the AGV, and also for the robot to place products on the pallet. We are now working out the layout of the production cell in detail. An important part is the safety design, within which we also define the specifications around the light barriers: height, type, required performance level, and so on.”

‘With suppliers, there has to be a match’

Van Noord did not have to think long about the manufacturer. The choice fell, as ever, on Leuze. “We aim for uniformity as much as possible, preferably working with one type of light barrier so that we don’t have to stock all kinds of different screens,” he explains. The collaboration goes back many years and took further shape with the rebuilding of VDL Weweler’s plant at Ecofactorij in Apeldoorn a decade ago. “Our slogan is ‘strength through cooperation’. When we look for new suppliers, there has to be a match. We aim for partnerships where we get the best component and don’t have to worry about it for the next 10 years. The standard set when the plant was built is what we are building on now.”

Fine collaboration

The closeness of the collaboration is also evident in the light barriers. “In this case it just took one phone call to check the technical part, in other words whether everything was complete. I then give advice on that,” says Eelco Jaegers, account manager North and East Netherlands at Leuze in Geldermalsen. Delivery and pricing agreements were negotiated by Robin Veldhuis, account manager at the Hengelo branch of itsme, also a strategic partner of VDL Groep. “The great thing about this collaboration is that Robin and itsme’s back-office support me with several people in this region. This ranges from liaising with customers to supplying materials.” With that in mind, Veldhuis refers to this technical distributor’s own slogan: Making You Succeed. “With these ‘triangles’ in our services - in Leuze’s case proactive logistics - we want customers to be successful. In projects like this, you then complement each other nicely.”
 

‘We determine the required performance level with a risk assessment’

The safety light barriers essentially form an optical door of horizontal light beams, which Leuze custom-manufactures in the length, height and resolution required by the customer. “Based on a risk assessment, we determine the required performance level. If the distance to the machine is short, for example, the barrier can even detect the tip of your finger. At a greater distance, it is then your wrist or arm,” Jaegers explains. “Furthermore, the height of the screen is closely related to the size of the robot, the machine behind it and the danger it may pose.” In addition to safety screens, VDL Weweler also uses walk-in protection by means of scanners on the side where an AGV picks up the finished product. “The next step in this project is to build the digital twin of our production cell, to simulate PLC, robots and peripherals. Then you can build and test digitally beforehand and also programme safety properly. That already allows you to avoid a lot of errors, which in turn saves time during physical validation,” Van Noord explains. The conversion is scheduled to take place this summer during a short production shutdown.

Benefit for all parties

For the supply of the automation and electrical components, itsme is the preferred supplier for VDL Groep. Leuze has also chosen itsme as its preferred reseller. “That’s going very well. I regularly visit customers together with the itsme staff from Hengelo and Groningen; we strengthen each other and both benefit from it. That’s when you know you’re doing things right,” Jaegers adds. Veldhuis concurs. “Our strength lies in good cooperation with customers as well as suppliers. This culminates in informed advice for the customer, where they can always be confident that the best solution is provided.” Like many other companies, Leuze has been affected by component scarcity and associated escalating delivery times. “We make all the parts ourselves, but we buy components on the market. Fortunately, availability is getting a little better now. And in case of emergency, we have a separate line to deliver critical parts quickly,” says Jaegers. Veldhuis provides his client VDL Weweler with yet more reassurance here. “If a customer is in danger of missing out, no matter the component, we will source it so they can still deliver their machine.”
 

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