A good order book and a need for higher capacity in the dock were the basis of STX France purchasing more welding automation for their shipyard’s panel welding.
STX France is one of the top cruise ship and navy ship builders in the world. In a highly competitive market of shipbuilding, STX France needed to modernise their panel welding machinery and also have more efficient and productive equipment for the shipyard. They needed more capacity, better quality and faster performance, assisted by new technology.
STX France decided to turn to Pemamek after a competitive offering round, and purhased the PEMA Integrated One-sided Laser-Hybrid Welding and Milling Station, with extensive conveyor solution for welding deck plates together.
To secure fast and reliable delivery of the welding line, STX France included in their order also installation, training and commissioning of the complete solution.
"For us, this clearly puts PEMA in a special position, because PEMA’s heavy duty laser-hybrid welding solution and the milling station were a unique proof of their technology and enhanced with a great reputation on shipbuilding business," emphasises Mr. Florent Camaret, Project Manager of STX France.
"We have a need for welding thicknesses up to 25 mm with one pass. We need a solid quality – and PEMA could provide us this technology."
To improve productivity and quality, STX France is now able to reduce man hours. The quality of deck panels improves, which makes block manufacturing easier due to less deformation on panels.
The Challenge
The shipyard has a good order book and a need for higher capacity and also better quality. They aim for less rework after welding, since panels require a lot of fairing afterwards to get rid of deformations. That takes time and resources.
The Solution
A PEMA Laser-Hybrid Welding System together with integrated heavy duty milling process ensures minimized distortion for the deck panels. The purchased system is capable of feeding two of their existing panel lines a special conveyor solution.
Results
STX France gets with PEMA Welding Solution minimszed distortion on butt-welded panels, less re-work like fairing and with less man hours.
We are welding thicknesses up to 25 mm with one pass assisted by PEMA technology. Conveyors surrounding the station are tailor-made for this specific customer case, considering existing systems.