TZ Joinery looks to the future with the integration of a robot developed in Valais

Taking heavy wooden panels and laying them correctly on a CNC machine, then putting the final panels back on a trolley. On paper, it's an easy job, but it's very repetitive and, above all, very painful. In order to increase its productivity and limit the strain on its employees, the Sienna-based company TZ Menuiserie called on the start-up Workshop 4.0 to install a robotic arm capable of performing this work. The system, which was partly financed by an innovation project of the Ark Foundation, is now in the final stages of development. It allows the Valais-based SME to anticipate future needs.  
TZ Menuiserie has been active in the windows and joinery sectors in Sierre since 1939. This family-run SME is now in its fourth generation. It also relies on innovation to improve its work processes and its final products, always with a view to industrialised craftsmanship. It is in this quest for performance and rationality that it has decided to equip itself with a customised robot-loader in 2021, at the same time as it has invested in a new CNC machine to shape its joinery parts.  
Robots can lift much more weight than humans, without risking back injuries. "We chose to get involved in robotics, first and foremost to safeguard local jobs. Thanks to the robot, we are more efficient, especially since it often takes longer to place the panels in the CNC machine than to shape them," says Jacques Tschopp, director of TZ Joinery. "This means we can achieve a higher output and reduce the workload for our employees, without replacing them. In addition, the robot and the CNC machine can work independently, even in the evening or at lunchtime, if necessary.

Collaboration with Workshop 4.0
The Sierre-based SME, which employs around 30 people, opted for proximity for the creation and installation of the robot, awarding the mandate to the start-up Workshop 4.0, also based in Sierre. "The project started in March 2021, during a Covid context where supply chains were already well disrupted. It was an additional challenge for a small structure like ours, especially as it was our first application in an industrial environment. We learned a lot and are happy to have reached the end of this project," says Nicolas Fontaine, founder of Workshop 4.0. 
The implementation of such a robot in a factory is indeed more complicated than it seems. "We had to integrate a computer vision system, using lasers and cameras. These algorithms, developed by our partner Tooploox, enable the robot to pick up the wood panels from an unsorted pile of different types of wood, with different dimensions and textures. Once identified, each panel is accurately fed into the CNC machine. The machine transforms the raw wood into doors or objects of artisanal quality. Once the job is done, the robot takes the panel and places it on another pile. 

The robot as a flexible solution 
"The integrated robot developed by Workshop 4.0 has the advantage of being able to adapt to our current needs, but also to respond flexibly to our future needs," explains Jacques Tschopp. He imagines that the robot will eventually be able to pick up all kinds of panels, not just rectangular ones: cabinet panels or much smaller elements. "It will thus be able to work autonomously on a kitchen or other furniture. The robot is extremely flexible and adapts to requirements. "In today's carpentry, we know what we have to produce now, but we can't yet imagine the products of tomorrow. For us, it was important to have the most versatile machine possible.  
The creation and installation of this robot was supported by The Ark Foundation, which helped finance the feasibility study and the installation at TZ Joinery. Through this type of action, The Ark hopes to encourage industrial SMEs to make the best possible use of this type of collaborative tool and the related digitalisation.