Fanuc Europe picks Filtermist to be its filtration supplier

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Fanuc Europe has named Filtermist Limited as its official filtration supplier for the Robodrill range of vertical machining centres.

The Filtermist team met with Fanuc Europe’s sales and technical network in July and Filtermist oil mist collectors and accessories are now live on Fanuc’s internal ordering system.

This collaborative partnership is the conclusion of an 18-month project led by EMEA business & OEM development manager, Alison Green said: “Fanuc Europe has been tasked with sourcing clear partnerships for all peripherals and accessories - part of this project included filtration of oil mist for all Robodrill models.

“A label on every Fanuc Robodrill advises customers to ‘prepare a mist or dust collector for each machine to prevent machine troubles when the top cover is installed’, and as an industry leading machine tool manufacturer, protecting machine operators from exposure to airborne mist particles is very important for Fanuc. The selection process to become a supplier has been detailed and carefully structured to guarantee the best possible solution for Fanuc and its customers.

“We initially met with Fanuc in Spring 2023 – in that meeting we discussed the values of each company, and it quickly became apparent that we share many commonalities. We sent a trial unit to Fanuc Europe’s Luxembourg HQ and the project went from there.

“Our UK team has worked very closely with Fanuc Europe to ensure we are providing the best possible solution for Fanuc customers. For the D14 and D21 Robodrills, we have standardised on the Filtermist FX4002 oil mist filter with a high efficiency after-filter.

“The Filtermist units are RAL7035 (grey) but can be supplied in FANUC yellow if the customer prefers. The units can be direct mounted, or they can be supplied with an extendible floor stand, ducting and clips for off-machine mounting.

“We have created a bespoke mounting interface for both direct and off machine mounts - this means no cutting on site is required and disruption is minimised. This approach also offers a time saving of around 30 minutes per installation.

“The project team has also created an electrical interface specific to Fanuc for the Filtermist unit to be fitted – this goes directly into the machine and gives a signal to the CNC that is visible on the programming screen.

“A similar interface has also been designed for the Filtermist F Monitor 2 – a monitoring device which can be supplied as an optional extra with all Filtermist units. F Monitor 2 monitors measure airflow and time, enabling operators to easily see if the oil mist filter needs servicing or if there is an issue which may affect performance.

"The new interface allows the F Monitor 2 to be wired directly into the Robodrill - this gives a signal to the machine, enabling connectivity to central systems to monitor performance of the filter; many customers require this, especially in countries where Industry 4.0 is incentivised.”

Filtermist and its global distribution network already work with Fanuc subsidiaries throughout Europe and further afield.