Axioma Metering has invested 5.4 million euro to a new meter production line
Lithuanian meter manufacturer Axioma Metering, in cooperation with KTU scientists, the Swiss company Mikron and the Danish company Bila, has developed and installed a new robotic meter production line. The second line, which started in the factory operating in Kaunas FEZ, will double the production capacity of Axioma Metering meters from 1.1 to 2.1 million. meters per year. The company has invested 5.4 million euro in the new line, which will produce two different diameter ultrasonic water meters Qalcosonic W1.
“The production line with robotic solutions, created with our own help together with partners, is a fundamentally new product with a new design and technology. We have come a long and difficult creative and engineering journey, but the move has confirmed it self. Not only have we achieved the planned line production performance. We are considering starting to provide the service of installing similar production lines, ”says Ignas Vosylius, CEO of Axioma Metering.
According to him, new technological solutions have made it possible to increase the efficiency of the line and improve product quality management. The productivity of the technical packaging line is 1.5 times higher than the first Axioma Metering robotic line, which launched in 2019.
The company started developing the new line in September 2020, and the implementation was carried out in stages. At the beginning of the project, the focus was on the analysis and increase of efficiency of existing lines, and the evaluation of price optimization opportunities. Later, new mold manufacturers, equipment and automated line manufacturers were gradually added to the project.
The concept of the equipment was developed by the company together with the internationally well-known companies BILA and Mikron. “By creating production lines of this level, we are realizing our potential not only ourselves, but also raising the level of highly qualified Lithuanian engineers. Partners - company Bila plans to employ a team of Lithuanian specialists who will be able to service automated lines of this level in the future, ”says I. Vosylius.
Axioma Metering specialists are currently developing additional metrology and testing equipment for meters, which they both design and automate on their own. "Investments in this equipment reaches an amount to almost 1 million. EUR, without estimating the costs of our developers, developers and the project team, ”says I. Vosylius.
Marius, the head of the production department, emphasizes that “working with a project of this level, the competencies and functions of the production department have been expanded. Training was provided to manage high-level projects that were only run by the RnD department a few years ago. The acquired competencies in the production department will allow to carry out future projects even more efficiently and with higher qualifications.
Axioma Metering, a developer and manufacturer of accounting devices, operates one of the most modern factories in the Baltic States, in which it invested more than 15 million euro in 2019.
Although the efficiency of production is still significantly affected by the significant shortage of components in the market, the company sees this as an opportunity to introduce a new component in production, which will allow a significant increase in production volumes. This year, Axioma Metering has sold more than 70,000 innovative Qalcosonic W1 water meters and heat meters of various sizes. The largest sales are in Italy, Germany, France and Finland.