Heinz Berger Maschinenfabrik GmbH & KG
About us
The Berger Gruppe develops and manufactures CNC-controlled grinding machines for various industries, such as the cutlery, tooling, automotive, and aerospace industries.
Each year, out of a total of 80–110 new systems, 10–12 new machine types or new production processes are completed. As an ABB and KUKA robotics system integrator, the company primarily uses robots to automate its machines. The robots are employed for both handling and workpiece or tool guidance.
A key factor in the implementation of automation is the feeding technology for the components to be machined. Consequently, the development of workpiece feeding systems and interfaces for other production steps is an important area of focus for the company.
Thanks to the latest advancements in broadband connectivity and digitalization in manufacturing, the company has developed interfaces for Industry 4.0 applications featuring networked sensor technology, signal evaluation, and the integration of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) for the machines.
Over the past two decades, under the operational leadership of Heinz Berger Maschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG, the group has grown through the acquisition of five additional mechanical engineering companies. These have been merged as brands within the Berger Gruppe.
The growth in the number of employees and the expansion of the product range led to a facility expansion at the Wuppertal-Cronenberg site. Today, the group employs 195 people across 9,000 m² of production and office space and generates annual revenue of approximately 27 million €.
The product portfolio consists primarily of approximately 250 CNC-controlled machine types and over 1,100 robot integrations.
Products & services
Fully automated machining of large-volume castings
Deburring of large-volume castings The fully automated robot cell is designed for deburring large-volume workpieces – e. g. made of grey cast. The feeding is carried out by the customer via a loading and unloading position. From then on, the workpiece is machined fully automatically. The workpiece is positioned on a CNC rotary table for machining within the production center. The rotary table axis is fully integrated into the robot control system. The workpiece is machined with various rotating tools such as grinding wheels or milling cutters. Depending on the machining task, a tool change is carried out and takes place from a change magazine. The machining is prepared by means of offline programming – e. g. via RobotStudio. The robot is equipped with a force-torque sensor, so that an almost seamless machining of contours is possible. Thanks to additional measurement technology, this robot cell can be offered as a turn-key solution.
Berger Automation Cube
The Berger Automation Cube (BAC) is a flexible automation solution for production facilities. It can load and unload production machines or, as a processing robot, guide workpieces during machining. The Cube can be flexibly deployed across different machining cells and can also be retrofitted into existing production cells. The integrated sensor system—a laser scanner—scans the cobot’s predefined workspace to provide an additional safety feature. Thanks to this system, the cobot can be operated without protective enclosures, unlike industrial robots. Depending on requirements, it can be used as a pick-and-place system or as a solution for feeding raw parts. When operating as a standalone machine, the BAC can also deburr or sharpen workpieces. To do this, raw parts can be placed in the storage compartments or drawers and processed individually. The integration of the camera—both hardware and software—enables the use of native vision tasks on the robot controller. So-called landmarks (orientation markers) allow the robot to seamlessly reference its environment. For example, when loading or unloading a machine, the position of a fixture or magazine can be determined by detecting a landmark, ensuring the task is executed reliably. This simplifies the operator’s work with the BAC. In addition to landmark recognition, many other vision algorithms can be used. Pattern recognition, for example, can be used to identify recurring patterns. AI algorithms—such as those for detecting misaligned parts using backlighting—can also be programmed and used directly on the controller.
Robotic cell for the fully automated machining of knife blades
The machining cell shown here grinds and sharpens blades for sports and kitchen knives in a fully automated process. The raw parts are fed into and removed from the system via two magazine systems. Four robots pick up the workpiece, load it into a Flat bevel grinding machine, and then process it at a belt grinding station and a polishing station.
