Around 300 billion medical rubber gloves are needed worldwide each year. Production has increased significantly due to the pandemic. Generally, a ceramic hand mold is dipped somewhat awkwardly into a liquid latex, vinyl, or PVC compound. The KUKA KR Iontec handles this process more efficiently.

Since 2013, the Malaysian company Le Inoova in Selangor has been supporting glove manufacturers. "We offer consulting and solutions for the glove industry. We've noticed that many in the sector face the same problems," says Khoo Siong Hui, CEO of Le Inoova. He's referring primarily to the development process and the testing phase before actual glove production. This is precisely where Le Inoova comes in, having developed a new, more cost-effective method. This method reduces material waste from approximately 2,500 kg of latex to 30 kg per day.

Together with KUKA system partner IDEA, also from Malaysia, the company developed a robotic solution for the glove dipping process in its development department. "Normally, we spend a lot of time on the manual dipping process because we can't precisely control the dwell time and temperature. This delays the final product," explains Hui. The goal was to reduce dipping time, potential errors, and uneven latex distribution. "We believe that automation is key in every industry," says CY Ching, Managing Director of IDEA. "And that includes the glove industry."

Now a KUKA robot takes over the work. The mixing containers with the liquids are arranged in a semicircle in front of it. The ceramic mold can be quickly and easily attached to the robot by an employee or chemist. The robot then automatically dips the mold into the individual containers. After firing in the oven, the chemists can perform a quality check – and immediately adjust various parameters, such as the immersion time or angle, for the next test run. If everything checks out during product development, it's a thumbs-up for series production.

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