Product category:
Automatic and robotic welding systems
News Release from: Motoman Robotics (UK) | Subject: Robotic welding cell
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 08 December 2004
Robotic cell does the work of three
welders
Robotic welding is more than three times as productive as a manual welder, according to a major European manufacturer of agricultural and equestrian equipment as well as steel railings and gates.
Robotic welding is more than three times as productive as a manual welder, according to Industrial and Agricultural Engineers (IAE), a major European manufacturer of agricultural and equestrian equipment as well as steel railings and gates Based in six locations around Leek, Staffordshire, the company took delivery of its first automated welding system in July 2004 comprising two Motoman 6-axis robots configured for MIG welding and a three metre wide, twin-station servo positioner with integral glare shield that allows production to continue while the next parts are being loaded
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 21 Mar 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Despite IAE having more than 500 mild steel products that need welding, batch sizes are high for some stock items, especially in the run-up to the winter season.
For example, a year's production of 650 sheep cradles generates 2,000 separate items for welding, while 700 sheep round bale feeders require 1,400 ends and 2,100 ladders to be welded.
These were among the first to be put through the Motoman cell, which is set up to operate continuously for two or three days on such long-running jobs.
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Said Works Manager, Andy Ball, ³We have trouble finding skilled welders in this area yet we need a lot of staff to fulfil our production requirements.
Nearly 20 people weld gates and other stock items at our Barnfields factory in Leek where the robotic cell has been installed.
There are a further 40 welders producing special gates, doors and troughs plus scheme jobs such as cattle markets at our Macclesfield Road plant and these are just two of six locations currently being consolidated onto a new, purpose-built site at Longton, Stoke on Trent.
"We have 25 acres of manufacturing and storage and have just built a seven acre stock yard at Stoke capable of holding £2 million of products.
When it is on stream, it will be full in September at the start of a season with production running flat out through to the following April to keep stock levels topped up.
We sell 3,000 gates alone every week at the peak, which gives an idea of the scale of our operation.
We see round-the-clock robotic welding as playing a major part in our production strategy going forward, although there will always be a place for good manual welders to carry out smaller batch work and specials." Ball went on to comment that accuracy and repeatability of products produced in the robotic cell are superior to those welded by hand.
However, the quality of fit-up must be better for automated welding.
To this end, IAE has also invested in an automatic saw and a CNC laser tube-cutting machine from BLM-Adige (UK).
Not only are the resulting products to within closer tolerance, but there is also minimal porosity in weld beads laid down robotically.
The result after galvanising is a better cosmetic finish, which is important even in the agricultural sector, especially when supplying prestige projects like cattle markets.
A further advantage of automating the welding function is the small footprint of a robotic cell compared with that of manual welding benches needed to yield equivalent output.
Automated production also results in a cleaner working environment, as efficient fume extraction can be strategically located above the robots.
Manual welding tends to be a monotonous job, especially for large-batch production such as at IAE, where a welder might be deployed on a popular standard product for weeks if not months on end.
Fewer and fewer people are prepared to do this type of work so it is likely that robots will increasingly fill the need for additional capacity.
IAE is a privately owned, 460-employee company chaired by David Klucznik, son of the founder.
Business has doubled in the past 10 years, despite BSE and the foot and mouth crisis, and the manufacturer claims to have won market share.
Adoption of advanced manufacturing disciplines such as robotic welding and CNC machining look set to increase the firm's lead still further.
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