Product category:
Press shop and sheet metal working automation, slitting, shearing
News Release from: AP and T AB, Automation, Press and Tooling | Subject: Power press handling automation - Ataca Steel
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 29 August 2007
Power press automation uprates
output/safety
A US presswork subcontractor's decision to automate was based not only on raising production efficiencies and cost savings but improving operator safety too.
Ataco Steel Products saw power press automation as as a 'key' to not only the company's continued competitiveness, but even its continued survival Located in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, USA, Ataco faced intense competitive pressure from low-cost stamping (sheet metal press work) operations world-wide
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Sep 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Ataco's manager of Manufacturing Engineering, Jim Meyers, said, "We and our domestic competitors basically have two choices for the future: automate, or close down." ** Company origins - concentrating on the larger stampings, the 1946-founded Ataco has grown into a company with a unionized workforce of more than 100 employees.
Production facilities include more than 20 hydraulic and mechanical presses They range from 1,000 to 15,000kN (100-1500 tonf).
Over the years, the company has built a reputation for producing large deep-drawn parts, predominantly for the lawn-and-garden, agricultural and construction markets.
In its stamping operations, the firm regularly deep-draws 6mm mild carbon steel to depths of 275 to 300mm, and has produced single stampings as large as 1750 x 1980mm x 25mm depth of draw.
Traditionally, producing these big stampings was a slow, labour-intensive process.
Some parts, such as blanks for riding-mower engine frames, can easily weigh over 50kg.
As many as six operators were needed to wrestle some stampings in and out of the press dies (tools) and from one die station to the next.
Safety was also a critical issue.
Operators, who have to reach into the presses and lift heavy stampings - and remove scrap - were faced the constant risk of injury.
It was precisely these limitations that led Ataco to completely automate one of its stamping lines several years ago.
Working with AP and T, the Monroe, NC-based supplier of hydraulic presses and automation systems, Ataco set up a dedicated production line for lawnmower decks.
The line began with unwinding a 7 ton steel coil, which was fed into an AP and T Model ZM-4000 hydraulic press for blank and draw.
The part was then automatically unloaded from the AP and T press and fed into a 9,000kN (900 tonf) mechanical press, which performed three trim and pierce operations.
A 3-axis unloading system removed the part from the mechanical press and sent it out through a window into a packaging line.
The line operated "incredibly smoothly", as Meyers remembered, and efficiently, too.
In 1 min, the line transformed sheet steel into six finished lawnmower decks - a production rate 267% greater than the previous manual operation.
The new automated line used 50% fewer personnel than its predecessor.
It meant that per worker productivity increased by an astounding 525%.
It took three or four semi trucks each day to haul away the 4,600 decks the line produced.
But then Ataco's customer transferred its entire lawn mower assembly line to Mexico - and the additional cost of shipping all of those trailer loads of mower decks over 2,400km to the new assembly plant simply proved too expensive, even for a high efficiency operation like Ataco's.
So the contract moved to a Mexican stamping operation, and the highly specialised automated stamping line was left idle.
Nevertheless, their first experience with an automated line was very promising.
Ataco's management decided that if another opportunity to integrate automation presented itself, they would take full advantage of it.
** Deck and frame stamping - "We had looked at automating the press we used for deck and frame stamping for years," Meyers said, "But we just didn't have the production volume to justify the investment." Then the company had the opportunity to bid on a large contract for riding-mower components.
Management knew it couldn't bid low enough to win the contract without automating its 15,000kN (1500 tonf) press.
One of the prime criteria for the new system was flexibility.
Meyers explained: "We wanted a system to handle the same types of parts, but the frames and decks come in a variety of sizes, shapes and weights.
So, we knew that whatever we chose, it had to be flexible".
Easy programmability, teachability and operation were other essentials.
While other sources were also considered, AP and T was awarded the project, based in part on Ataco's positive experience with the first AP and T system it had installed.
** Old press automated - AP and T developed a robotic system for Ataco's 1945-built, 15,000kN press.
It consisted of the following.
* A SpeedFeeder 120 press robot with 3-axis movement.
* A single-axis shuttle system for moving formed parts into the automation cell.
* A conveyor and associated safety systems.
The infinite 3-axis flexibility allows the SpeedFeeder to precisely place any current (or proposed) part in any position inside the mechanical press' 1820 by 4620mm bed.
With lifting devices installed at both ends, even the largest, bulkiest parts can be handled quickly, accurately and safely with as few as two operators.
Every programming and operation function of the systems LOGOS control system, including its teach-in function, can be operated using one operator's pendant.
"The whole system has proved simple to understand, run and learn," Meyers reported.
Installation of the system took place in the summer of 2006, a time of the year when the highly cyclical lawn-and-garden industry experiences its slow season.
The project was handled by an AP and T team from Monroe, North Carolina.
Meyers recalled installation and start-up as especially smooth.
"By the second day, everything was pretty much in place," he said.
"By day four we had the power on, and within two weeks we were starting to program our first sets of tooling and moving our first parts".
** Positive automation results - when Ataco set up the first two parts - a riding mower engine frame and mower deck - on the automated press, it achieved positive results from the very first run.
The number of workers needed to tend the press during engine frame production dropped immediately from four to three, and soon thereafter to just two, while maintaining 100% efficiency.
Results for the mower deck were even more dramatic, as follows.
* Press crew size dropped from five to two - a 60% reduction.
* Production rates doubled - creating a significant increase in per-worker productivity.
Meyers expected these results to be typical.
"On the first parts, we're showing a 15% improvement in labor costs alone.
We expect to show similar savings on other parts we automate.
The exact percentage will vary based on current crew sizes and the number of operations we can combine, but it's safe to say we expect the savings to be significant across the board," he said.
Meyers stressed that Ataco's decision to automate the press was based on more than production efficiencies and cost savings.
Improved operator safety remained a constant goal for the company.
"While the automation helps us stay competitive it's also helping to keep our workers safe," said Meyers.
"The mix of large, heavy parts on this press always posed injury threats to operators.
With the automation, operators no longer have to reach into the press to load, unload or move parts from one die station to the next.
As a result, operators work with not only a greater efficiency, but with a much higher margin of safety".
Based on the clear success of the first production runs, Ataco is preparing to run another set of engine frames and decks on its newly automated press: this time for an advanced-design zero-turn mower.
In addition, grippers and fixtures are being developed for a host of other large, bulky, hard-to-handle parts.
** Automation meant survival - Meyers pointed out that automating the plant's largest press was a simple matter of survival, holding the key to Ataco's ability to compete for critical contracts.
Recently, the plant scored another major contract that will increase total sales by a double-digit percentage - and the new automation capabilities played a key role in winning that contract, too.
"Thanks to automation, we're in growth mode," Meyers said.
"And hopefully, more automation will help us grow even further.".
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