Robots and machining centres won't replace people, but they will help

16. října 2022

The knives made at the Mikov factory, as well as the chisels produced at our Narex Bystřice plant, are tools that have remained virtually unchanged over the centuries. Of course, new designs and better materials are used for knives, but the principle remains the same - a comfortable handle and a sharp tool.

The vast majority of our products are based on the fact that they contain a significant proportion of expert craftsmanship - in a good sense, literally, every piece is an original. On the other hand, even with such tools there are many repetitive operations to be performed where any deviation is detrimental. Ideal assignments for automatons and robots.

A good example is the refinement of the shape of a knife blade from a piece that is cut in a press from a sheet metal strip. An automatic grinder has been performing this operation accurately for many years, for example with Rybička blades and a CNC grinder with UTONs or Predators. Also, the production of the M1 bayonet for BREN submachine guns for the Czech Arms Factory - Colt or, for example, Pocket design knives would not be so precise and efficient without modern programmable machining centres. These allow a number of operations to be performed simultaneously with a precision that conventional machine tools could not achieve.

In the 21st century, however, technology is advancing even further. Software connects production machines with precise measurement of results, and finished blanks are stacked on metal pallets to be ready for further automated operations. It can't happen that a single piece that is even a hundredth of a millimetre outside the required production tolerance goes through to production.

Therefore, in the robotic CNC grinding workstations that we put into operation this year at Narex Bystřice, robots grind the chisel blanks to the exact shape without being touched by a human hand. They work absolutely precisely 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. And the result of their work is then handed over to an expert, who only breathes life into the semi-finished product and creates the right tool for woodworking.

The introduction of new robotic workstations, machining centres and CNC grinders is a long-term project of Mikov and Narex Bystřice. It is the only way to cope with the persistent negative legacy of the past decades, when almost no investment was made in production. The results confirm that it is a meaningful and successful path.