Automation improves key figures at Husqvarna

Husqvarna, in Sweden, manufactures and develops professional chainsaws and cutting tools. They have already automated many parts of their production to enable high productivity and quality in a highly competitive market - but also to create an attractive workplace.

At Husqvarna, engine parts are first die-cast, and then go straight to the metal cutting process, to finally be assembled into chainsaws for professional use. The cutting process is highly automated with 3D vision systems, robots and automatic tool changes to obtain a high and stable OEE-value. OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness, which is an important key figure in processing to achieve good profitability.

Operators, technicians and work management can in real-time track the current OEE-value and find possible causes for deviations.

During analysis, they noticed that the operators did not have enough time for the manual work of managing the metalworking fluid, because one operator often manages several CNC machines. This had a negative impact on detail quality, machine park and processing tools, with a direct impact on the OEE-value. They therefore decided to automate the handling of metalworking fluid with FluidWorker 150.

Automated metalworking fluid handling

FluidWorker circulates and UV-treats the metalworking fluid 24/7. Integrating FluidWorker with the processing machines at Husqvarna increased the quality of the metalworking fluid. At the same time, the CNC operator got more time left to put into other productive work tasks instead of manually handling the metalworking fluid. 

Production engineer at Husqvarna summarizes:

“In order to further increase the OEE-value, we needed to optimize all production parameters. With FluidWorker 150, the concentration of the metalworking fluid is now within ± 0.5% with an even tank level, and we avoid disturbances with running dry or getting flooded."

Productive since 1689

Since 1689, Husqvarna has developed and manufactured leading products in several areas. From its Swedish origin it is today a multinational company with products for the construction industry as well as outdoor machines for forests, land and gardens.