Haiger, 11/2025 By investing in a state-of-the-art robot system from CLOOS, HUCH has taken a decisive step towards the future. In a market environment characterised by increasing competitive pressure, a shortage of skilled workers and high quality requirements, the company is relying on consistent automation to make its series production of buffer tanks more efficient, flexible and future-proof.
HUCH GmbH is a traditional family business based in Märkisch Linden, Brandenburg. Since 1928, the company has been developing and manufacturing high-quality storage tank and container solutions made of steel for a wide range of applications - from heating and air conditioning technology to customised industrial solutions. With a volume of up to 25,000 litres per container and a high degree of customisation, HUCH is one of the leading suppliers in Europe.
"With the new production line, we at HUCH are consistently taking a new approach to automating our entire production process for series storage tanks," explains David Kubitzki, Head of Container Production at HUCH. "Whereas previously many work steps were still carried out conventionally using muscle power, modern robots and handling systems are now taking over a large part of the work and transport processes for series production. As a result, we expect significantly higher quantities with the usual high quality."
Continuous production process - from sheet metal to tested memory The new production line at HUCH is divided into several coordinated process steps that enable a continuous production process - from the raw sheet metal to the tested end product. Each stage is designed to maximise efficiency, precision and automation. At the beginning, the shell plates are prepared: They are measured and provided with openings for the subsequent connecting pipes. A portal carriage with suction gripper then takes the sheets from the warehouse and feeds them to the bending station. Automatic threading and bending take place there. A longitudinal carriage with a mechanical gripper, consisting of four clamping fingers and an opening stroke, transports the formed sheet metal to the welding cell, where a QRC 350 welding robot welds the longitudinal seam with an extraction torch.
The heat exchanger tube coils are then manually inserted and welded on - a deliberate manual intervention that requires flexibility and manual expertise. In the next step, the boiler shell is connected to the two floors. A handling robot places the shell in the welding device, where it is automatically centred and joined with up to two tonnes of pressing force. Two robots perform the circumferential seam welding in tandem. The seam is detected using online laser sensors, which ensure consistently high quality.
The final processing step involves attaching the connection pieces: A QIROX QRC-350-H robot works here with an intelligent gripper system equipped with the ICSE system. This uses an offline laser sensor to recognise the exact position of the socket openings and aligns the components precisely. The sleeves are removed from a magazine, positioned, tacked and then welded - an average of eleven sleeves per store.
After welding, a leak test is carried out. The storage tank is "pressurised" with water to ensure that all connections are absolutely tight. Intelligent handling systems take over the transport between the individual sections and ensure a smooth flow of material along the entire line.