For more than 40 years, Aço Peças Demore has manufactured precision components for customers such as John Deere, Jacto, Marcopolo, Randon and others. The company supplies demanding industries where productivity and repeat accuracy are essential.
“As a company providing services to third parties, we need innovative partners who help us improve our productivity,” says Rudimar Demore, Founder of Aço Peças Demore. “SCHUNK has been our innovation partner for more than 10 years.”
Complex geometries and varying batch sizes characterize our production. To remain competitive, Demore needed a solution that combined flexibility with high productivity.
Large components for the agricultural and road construction sectors require robust clamping. At the same time, changing product variants require frequent setup adjustments. Manual setup changes waste valuable machine time and limit overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
“Our customers are very demanding,” explains Demore. “We need partners that allow fast setups and help us stay productive.”
The objective was clear: Increase machine availability while maintaining flexibility for non-serial production.
Together with SCHUNK Brazil, Demore implemented an automation concept based on the VERO-S quick-change pallet system. The central idea: Workpieces are prepared and aligned outside the machine while the machining process continues. A 200 kg robot performs the pallet exchange between two machining centers.
“We developed a project with a 200 kg robot to change the pallets on the machine,” explains William Gobetti, Automation and Control Engineer at Aço Peças Demore. “It doesn’t matter which product is on the pallet — the robot performs the complete pallet exchange.” Since only standardized SCHUNK pallets are used, no or only minimal adjustments to the gripper system are required. This enables different part families to be changed over quickly and reliably. “We use several SCHUNK products, especially clamping solutions that allow us to achieve fast setups with excellent repeatability,” adds Demore.
With the fast pallet exchange, the Zero Setup principle became a daily practice. While one pallet is being machined, the next one is prepared externally, thereby significantly increasing productive spindle time. The spring clamping system ensures secure fixation even in the event of pneumatic pressure loss, enabling stable and reliable 24/7 operation.
The automated pallet changes reduced setup times and increased machine utilization. By optimizing existing equipment, Demore spared itself immediate investments in additional machine tools. “We must innovate —with solutions that allow us to produce more in less time and with higher quality,” says Demore. The standardized interface ensures consistent repeat accuracy for customized batches. The close cooperation between Demore’s engineering team and SCHUNK Brazil played a key role in implementing a stable and scalable solution.
“We continue investing in SCHUNK because they support us in good and in challenging times,” Demore concludes. “Only this way can we remain competitive in a demanding market.”