A new “worker” that doesn’t need breaks or vacation time and can work around the clock—that’s the robot operating the chisel grinder in the Narex Bystřice production hall, which until now had been one of the so-called “bottlenecks” in production.
“Ever since Mikov purchased the Narex Bystřice factory in 2019, demand for hand chisels for carpentry and woodcarving has been rising sharply. Given the situation in the labor market, we had no choice but to automate and transition to so-called Industry 4.0,” said Karel Ježek, owner of Mikov.
However, the added value of all Mikov products—especially cutlery, but also chisels—still lies in the irreplaceable contribution of skilled human craftsmanship. Machines are not yet capable of fully replacing this. However, they can flawlessly replace humans when it comes to mechanical work requiring a high degree of precision.
“The robotic arm feeds the grinding machine at an ideal pace, giving the chisels the desired shape. Using optical measurement, it also immediately detects any deviation from the specified tolerance during the operation. This has not only increased productivity but also improved the quality of the work,” said Marek Kocáb, director of Narex Bystřice, adding: “Of course, this isn’t the last robot in our company. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be installing several more robotic workstations.”
Mikov is a company based in the heart of Bohemian Switzerland. It is the largest Czech manufacturer of cutlery, office equipment, industrial fasteners and nailers, and—through Narex Bystřice—hand tools as well.
The project, titled “Robotized Workstation for Chisel Production,” was supported by the Entrepreneurship and Innovation for Competitiveness Operational Program under the TECHNOLOGY – XIII Call for Proposals.