How about one unique car – unusual, exceptional, special, in a class by itself – having automation systems designed, developed and manufactured in Malta?
German company IBG Automation can make it happen.
IBG Automation is part of Goeke Technology Group, established in 1982 in Neuenrade, not far from Düsseldorf. Its work started in Germany, but it kept growing round the world and can be found in North America, Japan, China and Malta with more than 250 employees.
Malta Enterprise established the first contact with IBG Automation during the previous edition of Hannover Messe, the most prominent industry fair in the world. IBG Automation settled in Malta and had its grand opening last March.
Goeke Technology Group designs customer-specific-production-systems. The main focus lies on innovative robotics and automation systems for assembly or inspection tasks. The applications developed by IBG can be found in nearly every industrial sector as automotive, pharmaceutical/chemical industry, food, aeronautics, electronics, energy, consumer goods, furniture, communications and other sectors.
In the sector of electric vehicles, IBG developed automated manufacturing concepts for the series production of newly developed electric vehicles and their components in conjunction with research centres and universities, considering ecological responsibility as a fundamental part of IBG.
The service package ranges from development, design, engineering and prototyping to series production of complex carbon fibre reinforced plastic structures.
Moving to Malta, IBG brought with itself well-known robot names as KUKA, ABB, Bosch, Siemens and Festo, who fostered successful cooperations with companies like BMW, Bayer and Miele.
The company plans to start with small-sized projects that involve lightweight parts and robots. It also plans to set up a machine design and simulation cell for the design of larger machines and to insert the fourth industrial revolution, Industry 4.0, to its work. This revolution is about introducing cyber-physical-systems that blur the line between operator and machine and dramatically increase manufacturing efficiency.
Pallets and reclaimed wood make up the majority of our materials when creating our DIY projects.
More often than not – the one question we get hit with is: “Where do you guys find free pallets?”
Here are six tips and hints that have
worked best for us – including specific details on the best places to
look for those elusive materials to recycle into your next project:
1. Think Small
The smaller the business – the easier it
will be to get quality materials to make your craft or project. Large
businesses tend to have processes already in place to handle their waste
materials. On top of that, for safety and time saving reasons – they
are not fond of letting people in to take one or two pieces of scrap
material. So think small business. They usually don’t have the
resources or volume to unload scrap and spare materials to big haulers –
so more often than not, it ends up in their dumpster.
2. Learn The Art of Asking
Always, always always ask! Just because there are some pallets piled up
against a wall – or some leaves bagged on the road – it doesn’t mean
that they are “free” for the taking. In fact, in some cases – stores
that take deliveries on pallets pay a deposit on them – and are charged
if not returned.
In the case of items left at the curb – asking is always the safe and
courteous thing to do. For a business – first thing in the morning or
late in the day are some of the best times to stop in and ask. Why?
Those times tend to be the slower periods – and they are much more
likely to take the time to talk to you. And when you ask – be sure to
share your plans for it with them. Trust me – when people find out your
building a coffee table, a desk, a chicken coop or playhouse for your
kids – they are much more likely to be on board and help. It also goes a
long way to our next point:
3. Develop A Relationship
If you do find a business or a builder
that has available items – work on developing a relationship with them
to get materials as they become available. Exchange email addresses and
stay in contact. Over time, we’ve developed a network of people who
are on the look out for items we use. We make it a practice of emailing
back a photo of the finished project we made from their “junk”. This
works great for more than just pallets and wood – we have people that
call us when they have left over stone, garden materials, etc. because
of the relationships we have built. We have even gained some loyal blog
followers now from our suppliers – wanting to see what we are building
next.
So enough of the how to ask – here are some of the best places to find those materials.
4. Where To Find Free Pallets
Pallets are one of the hottest materials
used right now – and you can find a myriad of projects all over the web
to make from them. The key in making great projects is finding nice,
clean and damage free pallets.
Our secret? First – we forget about looking at those big commercial and manufacturing businesses.
Almost all of them have recurring
contracts with pallet pick ups and deliveries – and you never know what
chemicals or materials have been used near them or spilled on them.
Instead – we concentrate on small stores that get a small but steady
supply of pallets.
The best places? Small Garden and Hardware Stores, Motorcycle Shops, Lawnmower and Power Equipment stores.
