Wittmann Inc. is boosting its service capabilities to handle increased business generated by its larger manufacturing capacity and wider equipment offerings.
During a Dec. 21 tour of the Torrington facility, Wittmann President David Preusse said that a recently completed, 20,000-square-foot addition is giving the company more flexibility in terms of what it can do for its clients.
``We've expanded our sales - there's 24 percent growth in shipments over last year. That's growth in all areas,'' Preusse said.
Overall, it means that the 70,000-square-foot facility has boosted its manufacturing space by 60 percent. In the first quarter of 2006, Wittmann will move its training area to another part of the building to create a two-room area for demonstration and training. Preusse said the demonstration room will offer customers a chance to try out new equipment.
At the same time, more office space will be added in the front of the building, which currently houses the training area. He estimated that 14-15 cubicles will fit in the space. The company has 100 employees, but Preusse expects to hire 15 more in the next six months. He said that Wittmann is planning for at least 15 percent growth in 2006.
He said that growth is fueled partly by globalization, as customers want the products manufactured by parent firm Wittmann Kunststoffgeräte GmbH in Vienna, Austria, to be the same as in Connecticut and at a recently opened facility in Kunshan, China.
There's more space for building robots and more room to customize the robots or build systems. Wittmann also offers auxiliary equipment such as granulators, temperature-control device dryers, materials-handling and water systems.
He pointed out that Wittmann is able to process North American customer orders faster by having parts on-site and by being able to customize a system more quickly.
The company is expanding its midsize robot offerings in the 7 series. The newest offerings are: W731 C with a 22-pound payload, W733 C with a telescopic vertical arm and a 33-pound payload, and W743 C with a 77-pound payload. The 743 is for molding machines with up to 1,200 tons of clamping force. A W732 C robot with 44 pounds of payload is available for insert applications or for use on end-of-arm tools with shorter vertical strokes.
A new standard feature of the 7 series is a programmable disengagement of the kick-stroke axis for easy removal of plastic parts. The robots also use compact servo-modules, which are integrated into the robots, eliminating external control cabinets.
The company also has a new M7-Touch materials-handling network control system. It handles up to 240 network nodes from conveying and drying components.
Wittmann also showed a small microprocessor-controlled temperature controller, the Tempro Plus Direct 250, for small- to medium-range machines and for applications requiring high cooling capacity.
