ROBOT PROGRAMMER, FLT
SPOTLIGHT ON RENE SCHÄFER

Profile

Rene Schäfer

At FLT since November 2013

My tasks

Commissioning industrial robots.

 

Describe your career up to now.

I finished college and then went to university. I studied mechatronics with a focus on information and automation technology and joined FLT in November 2013, straight after finishing my studies.

 

What does your day-to-day work involve?

There is no such thing as a “typical” day as this field is so varied.
I create concepts and processes or assess technical components which are suitable for an application. Later in the project, I carry out the virtual commissioning on the computer, which is when we test the programming.

I work either in a team or alone, depending on the size of the project.

 

Can you imagine working in a non-technical role?

No, I can’t imagine it at all, just because my job is so varied and interesting. I find it fascinating when I see the movement, the dynamics of a robot system. What’s more, when a system does exactly what I want it to, then I feel very proud of my work at the end of the day.

 

 

Where would we be without automation?

Life would be much more difficult for mankind if we didn’t have automation. People would have to do a lot more manually. Automation primarily provides support in day-to-day work and therefore offers lots of advantages.


You mentioned that you are responsible for commissioning robots. What exactly does that involve?

We receive the concepts outlining how the final product should look and develop the system around those. We put the system into operation and oversee it until the final inspection. We develop a concept from the initial idea right through to successful commissioning.

 

 

Which topics are current and relevant to the future in your field?

Industry 4.0 – in other words, networking systems – is already playing a major role and will continue to gain in importance in the future. To remain at the forefront of Industry 4.0, we need to collect as much data as possible from the systems so that we can analyse them as effectively as possible. For this, we need to be aware of the expectations and recognise where quality has perhaps slipped and needs to be improved. That is our goal and that is what we want to bring home to our customers.


What are the advantages of virtual commissioning?

Virtual commissioning is extremely important to us. It gives our colleagues on the construction site peace of mind if the system has been tested virtually beforehand. There are fewer outstanding issues to be resolved, plus the system can be commissioned – and therefore the job can be completed – as quickly as possible.

 

What are the advantages of being part of the LÄPPLE Group?

The special thing about the LÄPPLE Group is that we have both the system supplier and the component supplier within the same group. This is really advantageous because the skills are on hand in all departments and are also exchanged between departments. As a result, we learn a lot about optimising our systems.