‘Our pain was the handling of the cabinet. It weighed more than 80 kg and it was hard to integrate the various components’. Sébastien Gord is Sales Manager for Tôle & Design, and he found a solution to his problem at Neoditech – a French specialist in ergonomic movement solutions for industrial manufacturing. ‘Thanks to their ERGO360 assembly arm, we can now adapt the working height to make our assemblies, and load and unload the cabinet on a pallet without strain’.
Anyone working in a workshop or an industrial production appreciates optimal ergonomics. It often takes an agile body to position a screw correctly or to assemble components. If you can adjust your work station you can always work in the right position, comfortably and ergonomically.
Yet, the number of adjustments is often limited to height. But, the French company Neoditech has gone one step further and has developed a multi-functional supporting arm. This is not only height-adjustable - it can also be rotated in all directions. Enabled by three electric actuators from LINAK®, it provides the necessary movement.
Ergonomics truly matters
The high number of musculoskeletal diseases (MSK) clearly shows how important it is for industrial workstations to be optimised from an ergonomics perspective. The number of sick days increases with the age of the employee. Incorrect posture, for example, puts a lot of stress on the spine.
In short, if you need to adapt your body to your work, sooner or later you will have health problems. Conversely, if you have a workstation that adapts to your body, you will work more healthily, more comfortably and more efficiently.
Neoditech has recognised this and offers the right products for operating in industrial manufacturing and working in a workshop.
‘Our assembly arm ERGO360 can lift workpieces weighing up to 200 kilograms,’ Sebastien Guegan explains. He is the Product Manager at Neoditech. ‘For this movement, we were looking for powerful actuators able to deliver precise but also soft movement.’
For the company Neoditech, hydraulic or even pneumatic movement solutions were out of the question. The eliminated risk of leakage and the simple integration spoke in favour of electric actuation. The accuracy of positioning was also crucial. And thanks to the actuator’s integrated controller and sensors, it is really easy to connect to the control system of the assembly arm.
LINAK had the necessary product
The LINAK® actuator LA36 comes in various versions. Movements are allowed with a thrust of up to 10,000 N. But what also convinced Neoditech was the soft start, preventing any rocking when handling even very heavy parts and also helping to protect the entire structure. The handset can be used to save the different positions – with up to five operators possible. Each operator can save up to three positions.
According to Guegan, Neoditech got the idea for such an ergonomic assembly arm many years ago.
‘Awareness of ergonomic workstations has grown in the past two years. Today, companies know that with an ergonomically established workstation, they can work more efficiently and therefore more cost-effectively,’ he says.
The assembly arm offers another great advantage. Earlier it took two employees to do most activities. Thanks to the multi-functional adjustment possibilities, many activities can now be completed by a single employee with the ERGO360 assembly lift.
There were several reasons for choosing a LINAK actuator. Other than the integrated controller, the high thrust and the reliability of the actuators, it was important to Neoditech to have a local point of contact.
More than just a supplier
The Danish company LINAK® is active worldwide and employs more than 2,300 employees. Having 30 subsidiaries around the world, LINAK is always close to the customer.
‘We do not simply sell a component. We also provide competent advice and a partnership,’ says Oliver Laonet, who is Sales Engineer for LINAK France. ‘The objective is to support our customers so that they can launch the best application to the market’.
