THE AUTOMATION IS RUNNING FAST
Mr. Mikkel Bjerregaard, CSO and co-owner of Gibotech, what does your company do?
At Gibotech, we develop and install automation solutions; also including robots and CNC machines. The company started in 1984 as a small business selling CNC machines. Later on, robots were added to the portfolio, and eventually, automation solutions were introduced. Our products are primarily for hospitals where we specialize in solutions, especially for the sterile processing departments. We have 40 years of experience in this field, so we believe that we have built up a large knowledge base and competencies to draw from.
What is your flagship product?
Our flagship product is without a doubt automation solutions, particularly for the hospitals but also for the industrial segment. We can provide you with the CNC machine itself but we can also automate the flow around the processing. For one of our customers, we made a flow where a roller conveyor brings stacked components to a robot. The robot then picks up the components and places them in the CNC machine. When the processing is finished, the robot takes the components and stacks them on a pallet at another roller conveyor. Once the pallet is full, the roller conveyor brings it further on.
For the hospitals, it might be a flow where a storage robot picks up a container with sterilized surgical equipment and places it on a free shelf in the storage. The system keeps track of the shelves and what is placed on each of them. And which ones are free, of course. When the equipment is needed for surgery, the storage robot collects the container and brings it out of the storage. These sorts of flows are quite characteristic of our automation solutions. They are, of course, always tailored to each company and its specific needs.
When and why did the partnership between ISB and Gibotech come about?
We started our cooperation with ISB because we needed a reliable supplier of slewing bearing units for our Gibotech Turning Conveyor Station for case carts. ISB was able to provide our engineers with test data which is always a great advantage for us and our further developing of the automation solutions.
A case cart can weigh up to 800 kilos, so we need components that can handle this kind of weight and at the same time have a service life that is compatible with the customer’s requirements. The chosen slewing bearing unit from ISB can handle this heavy load and enables a 360-degree rotation for an efficient and safe operation.
What are the ”pluses” of this partnership with ISB?
The cooperation with ISB allows us to purchase quality products directly from the manufacturer and this for us is of fundamental importance. Another plus we appreciate, as mentioned above, is the direct technical support ISB is able to provide us with technical data sheets.
What are your plans for the future?
Our plans for the future are to let Gibotech and our automation solutions expand even more to new markets. We are well-established in Denmark and on our way to becoming a well-known brand in Germany and the Nordic countries. The two last-mentioned are our current primary focus, and we are looking to cooperate with more hospitals to distribute our solutions.
