GERMAN AMERICAN - Strothmann

12
Features
STROTHMANN
facility at Schloß
Holte-Stukenbrock,
Westphalia, Germany
Company Background
W. STROTHMANN GmbH &
Co. KG has been a force of
innovation in transport and
handling facilities ever
since the company was
founded in 1976. With 86
employees worldwide,
STROTHMANN manufactures
linear and rotary robotic
components and systems,
including end of arm tooling,
employed for handling
a host of materials in a wide
variety of process applications.
STROTHMANN feeders
and shuttles are typically
used in sheet metal destacking
and stacking,
bodyshop transfers, part
and pallet racking and
stacking, inter-press
automation, linear and
gantry robots for transferring
parts and machine tool
load and unload systems.
STROTHMANN is also the
inventor of the patented
Round Rail Floor System.
Due to an extremely low
rolling resistance, it allows
for simple and inexpensive
planar transport of large
loads within a production
site. Running on concave
roller profiles, even 10 ton
devices can easily be moved
by hand by a single person
along a round track protruding
only millimeters from
the floor.
advantages have gotten around millimeters from the ground,
in the meantime, I don’t expect and is therefore no hindrance
any more mix-ups”, Mr. Clark to persons or vehicles.
believes.
Cleaning is also simple.
Ever since its introduction,
On the RoundTrack
the system has proven its suit-
The RoundTrack floor rail ability for daily use, be it at the
system also embraces the KISS- Airbus facilities in Hamburg /
principle. Key elements are a Germany, where body parts of
round rail made from hardened up to 25 tons are moved via
and polished steel, and rollers carts of about 69 ft. length, or
with a “gothic-arch-shaped at various press lines for metal
profile”, which together pro- sheet and die transport. Here,
vide for an extremely low the combination of
rolling resistance and high RoundTrack-based blank carts
durability. One single person and fast destackers ensures a
can move 10
tons of equip- STROTHMANN is
continuous “head of
line” material feed.
ment by hand, the right partner Whenever classical
and carts with
geared motors
can carry
to get things
moving quicker
band-conveyors are not
applicable, the
RoundRail system can be
weights up to 50 and smoother
used to establish flow
tons. The system
production assembly
is easy to install: An aluminum lines and improve in-house
profile is inset and cast flush logistics. The international oper-
with the floor, in which the ating Trumpf Company, which
round rods are laid in. With is well known for its machine
crossover tracks and platforms, tools and laser technology, man-
a complete logistical concept aged to further improve produc-
can be designed around the tivity and quality by introduc-
system. The round upper edge ing a RoundTrack-based flow
of the rail protrudes only a few production system.
German American Trade · Vol. 15 · No. 3