Forging the Factory of the Future for Olofsfors

Founded in 1762, Olofsfors AB is a successful Swedish developer and manufacturer of boron steel products for forestry and construction industries. Its headquarters and sole factory are located in the city of Nordmaling, some 600 kilometers North of Stockholm. Here a fleet of over 30 ABB robots are involved in material handling and arc welding.
     ABB has a long and successful relationship with Olofsfors which has steadily grown since the company purchased its first ABB robot, an IRB 2400, some 15 years ago. In 2016 Olofsfors contracted ABB’s service team for a lifecycle analysis to uncover the robot fleet’s service needs. Robot service had earlier been handled internally or via non-ABB vendors. The study found four arc welding IRB 1400 robots in the obsolete life cycle phase, which means that neither this robot model nor spare parts are being manufactured. Following ABB’s performance improvement advice, Olofsfors placed a replacement order for four brand new IRB 1600ID robots and positioners. 
     Impressed by the results of the robot lifecycle analysis, ABB’s service recommendations and thorough service protocols, Olofsfors awarded ABB a three year service agreement for improved performance, availability and extended robot fleet lifetime. The contract covers preventive maintenance, six hour guaranteed onsite response time, Life Cycle Management and ABB Ability Connected Services.
    We set up a meeting between Olofsfors and one of our largest automotive Tier 1 customers that had connected their robot fleet to ABB Ability Connected Services and asked them to share their experiences. Listening to the perceived benefits from another ABB customer helped Olofsfors quickly see the value of ABB Ability Connected Services in optimizing the performance of their own robot systems,” says Anders Lundkvist, a Regional Sales Manager, Sweden, ABB.

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