Bäumle, a digital joinery workshop with an eye on the future
Furniture Technologies
Harald Bäumle and his team of just five people produce highly bespoke furniture and interior design projects. A small joinery workshop which has always kept a keen eye on the most advanced technologies, as is the case with the purchase of an automatic SCM “morbidelli x400” for nesting machining.
Modernity and efficiency: these are the objectives which Harald Bäumle has always set out for his joinery workshop. An example of a contemporary design artisan company looking to the future; a story which has been ongoing since 2004 when Mr Harald founded his business in Gallmannsweil, not far from Stockach in the borough of Costance.
The transfer to the new plant at the start of 2022, is further proof of how this Master joiner-entrepreneur wanted to improve and modernise his methods.
Nowadays, Digitalisation and automation are the real strong points in this business with just six employees: a wood specialist, master joiner and technician, a young master joiner, two specialised workers (one of whom is a woman) and an apprentice.
Small in size but with big ideas, so much so that Zimmerei Bäumle managed to increase its productivity and efficiency, while maintaining its uniqueness and the quality of its products.
The catalogue includes a wide selection: ranging from single pieces of decor and furniture (mostly wardrobes, tables, chairs, benches and kitchens) to the production and delivery of doors, windows, staircases and floors. And that’s not all because Mr Harald and his team even deal in bespoke furniture for shops and trade fair stands, complete interior design projects, restoration of old buildings and bowling alleys. Being fast and meeting delivery deadlines is a real challenge, but this joinery workshop has managed to find the technological solutions to achieve this.
The first step towards automation: an SCM nesting cell
As well as the standard joinery machines, the first thing you spot in the new Bäumle plant are the hi-tech solutions. We are met with the machine which allowed Bäumle to make its first important step towards automation, precisely while it is operational: a cell for nesting machining purchased from the Italian SCM group.
The plant has a “morbidelli x400” CNC machining centre particularly suited to “batch 1” machining. Indeed, it creates a variety of different shapes with high flexibility and, at the same time, productivity levels which are difficult to imagine with this kind of technology.
Furthermore, SCM’s exclusive X-Vacuum system allows for a dynamic vacuum activation, assisting with holding and machining the smallest pieces.
There are all the advantages linked to the automatic movement of the panels. The operators no longer need to perform low value work and the company can, therefore, further increase its own production efficiency.
The machining centre is integrated into a 3-axis, “flexstore elr” storage which optimises the panels’ movement, even when we’re talking about different size and shape stacks, unfinished wooden panels or panels that are up to 3 mm thick. The pick-up table has been designed by SCM to maintain the surface quality of the panels. And that’s not all. The cell also includes an automatic labelling system which is done before the panel enters the machining centre; this ensures the individual pieces can be fully traced.
Lastly, the Maestro active software store optimises the storage and subdivision of the material based on the order and available space.
Depending on the actual production needs at the joinery workshop, the “morbidelli x400” machining centre can also machine in standalone mode. A Smart&Human solution therefore: automatic and intelligent, but always flexible and user friendly, as is the style of the smart manufacturing developed by SCM.
“We are always on the lookout for material and equipment which can improve our processes” says Harald Bäumle. The love of wood, creativity, attention to the tiniest detail and state-of-the-art digital technologies: this is how every order becomes a work of art in this German joinery workshop.
Photos by Martin Maier Photography BFF
Bäumle
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