Bahadır Kılıç, Robotics Division Manager at Stäubli

We conducted a pleasant interview with Bahadır Kılıç, Head of Stäubli Robotics Division. Kılıç provided detailed information about the technologies developed by Stäubli.

Could you briefly tell our readers about yourself, your education and professional background?

Middle East Technical University graduate in Electrical-Electronics Engineering. Later, I completed my master's degree in Mechatronics Engineering. After military service, I began my career as a software development specialist in the R&D unit of a well-known white goods manufacturer in the private sector. In 2005, I began working as a Service and Applications Engineer at Stäubli. Later I moved to the sales department. Since 2009, I have been serving as Head of the Stäubli Robotics Division.

Could you provide information about Stäubli's founding process and the stages it has gone through to the present day? What is Stäubli's current structure and how long has it been operating in Turkey?

Stäubli is a family-owned company founded in 1892 in Horgen, Switzerland, with a 127-year history. It began with textile machinery. Later, the Fluid Connectors division started operations in 1956, and the Robotics division in 1982. In 2002, the company entered the photovoltaic industry and electrical connectors for general industry through an acquisition, establishing the Electrical Connectors division. It employs more than 5,000 people worldwide and, according to 2018 data, has annual revenue of CHF 1.4 billion. It continues operations through 29 business units and 14 production facilities spread globally. As a family company, Stäubli has inherited an understanding of sustainability that we carry forward as the Stäubli family. Stäubli is a firm dedicated to providing innovative mechatronic solutions to all sectors it serves. It stands out with its high-quality and high-performance products. Stäubli's activities in Turkey began in 1996 with textiles. Operations continued with the addition of the connectors division in 2002 and the robotics unit at the beginning of 2005. We currently have approximately 100 employees. Our headquarters is located in Istanbul Tuzla Organized Industrial Zone. Besides that, we have offices operating in Bursa, Denizli and Antep. In 2017, Stäubli transferred the photovoltaic, or solar panel connection junction box assembly line from Germany to Turkey, beginning production operations. Junction box shipments worldwide are supplied from our country.

Could you provide information about the products, brands and services offered by Stäubli Robotics for painting processes?

Stäubli is a robot company with a very broad product range. We manufacture robots suitable for every sector, every challenging condition and the most sensitive environments. Paint environments are, as you know, challenging environments that can pose risks, particularly for operators from a health perspective. We can also say that these environments are quite demanding in terms of equipment. Within this scope, Stäubli currently develops closed-body products with IP 65/67 protection class for these and similar sectors. For the paints sector, we have a broad robot product range that can be used in EX PROOF Zone 1 and Zone 2 gas and dust classes for both solvent-based and water-based applications, ranging from 1 m to approximately 2.6 m and above. Thanks to this product range, through feasibility studies conducted by our application engineers, we are able to select the most suitable robot for our customers' needs according to the determined specifications. Through our integrator partners, we provide installation of robots with the performance desired by the companies. We have many installed systems currently operating for years at very important customers, particularly in automotive supply industry, both worldwide and in Turkey.

Are your products customized according to customer requests from both physical and software perspectives? Are modifications performed?

We do not make many physical changes, but if there is a certain volume demanded by the customer, we perform modifications to our existing standard range and develop customized robots suited to customer needs within mutual partner and confidentiality agreements. Beyond that, in standard applications, as I mentioned earlier, through feasibility studies we conduct, we can select the most appropriate robot. For example, we perform analyses most suitable to our customers' objectives such as cycle time, accessibility and robot lifespan, and we prepare a report. In this way, your customer obtains satisfactory information regarding robot performance before the project is even realized. Of course, we also provide support in activities such as programming and commissioning during installation. After the customer moves to production, we continue to support our customers through activities such as fault detection, troubleshooting and preventive maintenance in case of malfunction. If modifications to the program are required, we are able to respond to these needs either with our own team or together with integrator partners we support.

Stäubli Robotics delivers leading technologies in industrial automation. Could you provide detailed information about Stäubli Robotics' Industry 4.0 perspective and the technologies offered within this scope?

Robotics is one of the indispensable core elements of Industry 4.0. As a robot manufacturing company, we have been updating our product range according to Industry 4.0's requirements since the early days when Industry 4.0 became popular. We are a company that loves to be pioneers in every sector we operate in and to set standards. We always set the highest quality and standards as our target. Within this scope, we first launched the new generation TX2 robot series capable of working in collaboration with humans in accordance with the Industry 4.0 concept in 2016. With the TX2 series, we can guarantee the SIL3/PLe standard, which is the highest safety standard. This standard completely eliminates safety concerns of our customers. Thus, when our customers and business partners use a Stäubli robot, they are assured they are using a product at the highest standards. Currently, there is no other product on the market capable of reaching this level. In this sense, we started with 3 series and 5-6 robots with internal versions as a result of our R&D work in 2016; we are now extending this product range across all of our 6-axis product lineup. As of 2020, our entire product range will consist of robots at this standard. Today, the fundamental problem in Industry 4.0 is that although there are various collaborative robots manufactured to certain standards, due to their design, they cannot reach high speeds. Consequently, when necessary, we cannot respond to applications where cycle time is demanding due to production conditions. Because they cannot be made sufficiently rigid, they also have disadvantages in applications requiring precision. You know that in production, needs can change every day. Your need today might be very different tomorrow, or your production capacity requirement might increase. When you perform a risk assessment, you might not be able to solve this with the current system. You might make a choice for your current need, but when any change occurs tomorrow, you might be forced to make another major investment. However, this is not the case with Stäubli. You will be able to use the same robot in both situations. When you use the Stäubli TX2 series, you can perform both a very precise application with the same robot and, depending on the situation and risk assessment to be conducted, a very fast application, as well as guarantee safety when human interaction is required with the same robot.

"One robot for all human-robot collaboration levels within Industry 4.0"

Instead of increasing the number of robots, you can meet your needs with much minimum investment by increasing capacity and performance with the same robot. The advantage we provide here is that you can use these robots both in environments requiring the most precise and delicate human-robot interaction and in the most challenging and demanding environments. It does not make a cost difference to the customer. We offer these types of robots at the same prices as those in our standard product range. Therefore, our slogan is: one robot for all human-robot collaboration levels within Industry 4.0. In other words, we combine the advantages of a collaborative robot with the advantages of an industrial robot. Stäubli provides technology that can respond to today's and tomorrow's needs and changing expectations by integrating the highest safety standards without compromising the high-performance precision offered by its standard robots throughout their service life. I must also emphasize another point in terms of Industry 4.0. In addition to the developments we have made on the robot side, we have made major developments on the controller side. We have integrated OPC UA, which has become a standard in terms of communication in Industry 4.0, into our newly released CS9 series controller. Thanks to the OPC UA protocol, the robot can connect all peripheral equipment connected in its vicinity to the ERP system, thus allowing you to collect data about them and analyze whenever you wish. In addition to OPC-UA, our controller is supplied with all hardware and software integrated with the latest fast ethernet technologies that may be needed for IoT (Internet of Things) and FsoE protocols for field safety. As part of preventive maintenance and predictive maintenance, with software we have newly developed and continue to develop, the system can monitor data during operation of our robots and notify you in advance which component might fail. Some of our developments within these systems are ready now and we continue new developments to offer them to the advantage of our customers.

What kind of work do you perform at Stäubli in the areas of innovation and R&D?

As a result of our R&D work, our most recently developed product is our HelMo mobile robot system. HelMo is a mobile robot with SIL3/PLe safety standards that we have integrated our TX2 robots onto an automatically guided (AGV) platform. It is a 7-axis system with a 6-axis robot on top and an external axis rotating around its own axis below. HelMo has special tool changer systems developed by Stäubli. The robot can automatically charge itself at the stations it visits, perform IO communication and fill its own pneumatic tank. It is currently the highest precision and safety class mobile robot system integrated into industry that can be supplied. It has capabilities such as easy installation, commissioning and operation that will allow its use in all sectors. From the metal sector to the food sector, from the pharmaceutical sector to automotive and automotive supply industry, it can be used in every sector. Additionally, last year, we launched our new generation 4-axis TS2 SCARA robots. By adding the JCS technology we use in 6-axis robots to these robots, we have made our 4-axis robots more ambitious in terms of performance. The TS2 SCARA series suitable for all your applications; the TS2 SCARA series that does not compromise on performance and speed also stands out with its modular design. Having 360-degree free assembly capability and closed body provides different advantages for manufacturers in both challenging and sensitive environments. The new TS2 SCARA robot family consisting of four models—TS2-40, TS2-60, TS2-80 and TS2-100—offers its users more flexibility in factory layout and integration with its compact structure and fully cylindrical working area. With ESD compatibility and HE (Hygienic environment) version, even in sectors with very challenging and sensitive environments such as food, production can now become much smoother with 4-axis TS2 SCARA robots. With different hardware and options, we can easily say that the TS2 generation is the highest-performing SCARA robot on the market.

Is there a message you would like to convey to the sector?

The most important message I can give to our sector is that when making investment decisions regarding their own production, they should carefully evaluate all available options and not act thoughtlessly. Sometimes decisions made following what others did, like following a trend, can lead to serious regrets later. Although everyone's needs seem fundamentally similar, when you get into the details, you can see they differ greatly. It will be beneficial to properly analyze needs, establish correct strategies and evaluate all options available in the market on that basis. As industry professionals, we are ready to provide all kinds of support to the sector on these matters. In addition, companies must definitely invest in people. Because Industry 4.0 is developing and people are perhaps worried about becoming unemployed. However, this situation does not actually reduce the need for people; it changes the form of the need for people. Therefore, more development of skills is needed. My recommendation to companies is to invest more in the development of their employees' skills, educate their workers and care for them. Investment in people, not just equipment, is very important. Because there will always be a need for people who can initially select and use the correct equipment.