Metos Oy manufactures stainless steel kitchen equipment for large central, hospital, and school kitchens, the defence forces, and the food services industry in general. Metos has implemented a cobot welding system consisting of ABB’s GoFa cobot, Kemppi’s Master M 358 MIG/MAG welder with remote control, and Kemppi’s GXe-C cobot torch. The system enables demanding 360-degree welding and facilitates the production of even rapidly changing small series.

Metos manufactures professional kitchen equipment, specialising in comprehensive deliveries

“We take care of the entire lifecycle service of the equipment from start to finish: design, installation, customer training, after-sales, and decommissioning and recycling,” says Risto Koskelainen, Production Manager at Metos Oy.

Metos' customers include large central, hospital, and school kitchens, the defence forces of various countries, the marine industry, and the hotel and restaurant sector.

Its flagship product is the Bratt pan, which is exported all over the world—even to the Antarctic research station. The Kerava plant manufactures 700–800 pans each year, most of which are exported.

"We are not aiming for market leadership with an affordable mass product, but as the market leader, we want to compete, above all, with quality. It comes from design, the right materials, and using the right equipment and the expertise of skilled people."

Kemppi’s cobot solution makes demanding 360-degree welding possible

Metos adopted a cobot solution from Kemppi and ABB, consisting of ABB’s GoFa cobot, Kemppi’s Master M 358 welding machine with remote controls, and Kemppi’s GXe-C cobot torch.

"We were convinced by the cobot’s fast programming and new features, such as wire search, beam detection, and tracking. Thanks to automation, we can produce even small batch sizes quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively," says Risto Koskelainen.

With wire search, the cobot automatically finds the correct position of the workpiece seam, and there is less need to use welding jigs. This speeds things up.

"We have demanding all-around welds where you have to change position when welding by hand, which inevitably causes breaks. For example, our pans have round shafts, and our products have tubular pieces with rolling seams. A cobot can do all of this in one go."

Some of Metos’ equipment uses high pressures, which is why the weld seams are pressure tested.

"Welding equipment plays a key role in the high quality of seams. We achieve the required quality with Kemppi’s equipment and special processes. For example, WisePenetration ensures welding quality even in difficult positions where the free wire length is not always optimal."

Kemppi's and ABB’s cobot solution ensures top quality at Metos

The cobot process began with a one-week trial period. At the beginning of the trial, ABB introduced the use of the cobot to Metos employees. One of them was welder Jani Paahtama, who has been closely involved in the implementation of the cobot.

"This has been an interesting process, and I have learned many new things. When questions have arisen through practice, ABB and Kemppi have been very helpful."

Paahtama already works smoothly with the cobot.

"This has made the products consistent, and the cobot makes the welding even demanding and sometimes monotonous series easier. The different settings are easy to memorise, and new programming is quick."

Metos, Kemppi, and ABB developed the cobot solution together.

“Metos' cobot solution is typical for a company that wants to improve the efficiency of welding and improve and standardise quality,” says Juha Mainio, ABB Area Sales Manager.

"I like seeing how Kemppi's machine’s log search and tracking work. The cobot’s fast programming enables even small batch sizes, and the fast welding also makes the process more productive."