Steel Strapping: A Challenge Overcome
FROMM and Yaskawa: System Expertise and Drive Technology for a Compromise-Free Solution
Speed, repeatability, and reliability: FROMM relies on Yaskawa technology to transform an automatic steel pipe strapping machine, addressing the challenges of previous systems and modernizing the setup.
In the industrial packaging sector, automatic strapping is a crucial link in the production chain. When dealing with long, heavy products—such as 6-meter steel pipes—the challenge becomes even more demanding. FROMM, a leading multinational company in the strapping sector, chose to tackle this challenge by integrating Yaskawa robots and Sigma-7 drives into a highly customized automatic machine. The result is a solution that combines precision, speed, and operational reliability in a highly demanding production environment where temperatures can drop as low as -20°.
- Industries
- Packaging
Swiss Tradition, Global Reach
FROMM is a family-owned multinational company founded over 75 years ago in Switzerland. The company entered the Italian market in the early 1950s, when a subsidiary was established by former employees who had returned to Caprino Veronese. Since then, the group has expanded worldwide, serving end customers and system integrators in sectors ranging from the metalworking and wood industries to all sectors where strapping is the most effective, safe, and cost-efficient system for packaging and handling industrial production.
The company’s core business is strapping systems: from manual strapping tools to the most complex automatic machines. FROMM operates a research and development center in Germany, strapping production facilities located across various continents, and a global distribution and service network. In Italy, FROMM manufactures standard components and custom-designed automatic strapping machines tailored to all customer needs.
The Application: Automatic Pipe Strapping Machine
The machine featured in this application case is an automatic strapping machine designed to strap steel pipes up to 6 meters in length. The solution involves the use of two strapping machines, each with a robotic unit positioned at opposite ends of the pipes; these units move along tracks to perform the strapping and apply identification labels to the bundles.
Each robot picks up a label—printed on the spot—from a printer and positions it precisely where the strap will pass. As the strap wraps around the bundle, it physically secures the label without the need for adhesives: a design choice that eliminates the risk of chemical residues or stains on the pipes and ensures stable marking in the desired positions.
In Search of Speed, Precision, and Repeatability
The collaboration with Yaskawa stems from the convergence of two parallel needs: identifying drives capable of enhancing the performance of the strapping head, and at the same time finding a compact, precise, and powerful robot to operate in a confined space next to the head itself. In fact, before arriving at the current configuration, FROMM’s path toward the optimal solution went through several phases. The challenges lay with both the robot and the drives.
The range of heads developed over the years has, in fact, relied on traditional motors as standard, which now show significant performance limitations, especially in terms of response speed, repeatability, and torque control.
For this reason, the strapping heads of the machine in question were redesigned to incorporate Yaskawa Sigma-7 series brushless motors, which have made it possible to increase sensitivity and control levels beyond what was previously achievable with standard motors. The result is a system that responds more precisely to load variations during the strapping cycle, improving both the quality of the strapping and the overall speed of the operation.
When Steel Strapping Puts the Robot to the Test
On the robotics front, the main obstacle was the physical behavior of the steel strapping: once cut, it snaps back elastically, exerting an unexpected force on the robot. Previous solutions failed—either the system would go into safety mode and interrupt the cycle, or collaborative robots capable of absorbing the force were used, but these were oversized for an application that did not involve any human-robot co-operation and were costly.
The Yaskawa robot solved the problem at its root: it manages the strap’s elastic recoil without triggering a safety shutdown, ensuring cycle continuity and consistent repeatability—with the performance and cost efficiency typical of an industrial solution. A precise solution to the need, without compromises or unnecessary features.
Beyond the Individual Project
FROMM is currently evaluating, in collaboration with its German R&D center, the extension of brushless technology to its entire range of strapping heads, with the goal of replicating the benefits achieved on this machine across all new installations and existing ones through targeted modernization efforts.
The medium-term outlook is to standardize Yaskawa as the preferred supplier of drives and robots for Fromm’s entire machine portfolio, with potential spillover effects into other international markets as well.