XCMG: one offline programming platform for 100+ welding robots from different brands

The customer

XCMG is the world’s third-largest construction machinery company. Its lifting machinery division, Xuzhou Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd., runs 100+ industrial robots from different brands for arc welding.

The challenge

Robots from several brands are normal for large manufacturers, but they bring a core problem: the company needed one platform for unified digital offline programming of every brand, instead of learning and buying each manufacturer’s own programming tool.

The FASTSUITE solution

CENIT gave XCMG a tailored offline programming solution with four key engineering elements:

1. Seam-finding algorithms adapted to arc-welding robots of different brands
2. A simplified user interface that lowers the entry barrier
3. Automatically generated welding reports to support production decisions
4. A dedicated downloader for every robot brand, so switching between machines is seamless

Results

Programming efficiency at least doubled. Robot programs are ready before the material for a new product reaches the shop floor, which greatly shortens the start-up of new projects.

What the customer says

“With intelligent manufacturing as the big trend, industrial offline programming software like FASTSUITE has very broad prospects.”

— Mr Lü, project lead, XCMG Heavy Machinery

Continuing engineering partnership

CENIT and XCMG have jointly registered four Chinese software copyrights, covering seam-finding assistance, program migration, automatic point stitching and offline programming for stud welding.

The partnership is now in its third phase, covering crane structure welding, special-vehicle lines and more. The project reel below cuts between FASTSUITE simulation and footage from the XCMG shop floor.