Improving weld seam quality and lowering production costs – furniture manufacturer Embru reaps the rewards of CMT

Embru Werke AG is a traditional, medium-sized furniture manufacturer. Headquartered in Rüti in the Swiss canton of Zürich, the company specialises in manufacturing high-quality furniture for offices, schools, medical facilities and nursing homes. One of Embru’s particular innovative strengths is its “eQ” office furniture range – a modular system that the user can assemble and arrange flexibly without even needing any tools.

Welding challenge

The top-quality furniture is mainly made from steel profiles. The challenge the firm faces is welding the intersections and joints so that they are as stable as possible, with no spatter to rule out the need for any mechanical reworking. In addition, if the heat input is too high when welding the sheet-metal surfaces of drawers and other external parts, heat distortion ensues, which is clearly visible after painting. Conventional arc welding processes such as TIG or MAG welding are therefore unsuitable due to their high heat input.

“By using the CMT welding process we save hundreds of hours of manual rework every year. This has also had a positive effect on our bottom line.” Fabian Süess, Foreman at Embru 

Solution

The furniture manufacturer has been reaping the technical, economic and quality-related rewards of the innovative CMT process from Fronius since the end of 2007. The stable arc ensures there is a permanently robust join between the steel profiles. Thanks to its low heat input and spatter-free material transfer, CMT welding leaves the critical sheet-metal surfaces distortion-free and even, ruling out the need for subsequent manual surface finishing. Not only does this save time, it also has a positive impact on the quality and profitability of the company’s manufacturing processes.