Product category:
Handling and automation equipment
News Release from: Sandretto UK | Subject: Robots for injection moulders
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 05 August 2003
Moulder's robots reduce cycle times and
scrap
Not only have robots effectively substituted operator skills, they have also made an economic case by giving a subcontract moulder reduced product cycle times and reduced scrap ratios.
Not only have robots proved themselves in substituting effectively for operator skills, they have also made an economic case for usage by giving L and D reduced product cycle times and reduced scrap ratios Yorkshire-based L and D Moulding has added a 2nd Sandretto UK-supplied robot to its increasing production capabilities
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 May 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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According to managing director, David Kendall, the family-owned business has been growing at an average rate of some 15% since its foundation in January 1992.
'We needed to automate to keep pace with our ongoing business demand,' he says.
'After visiting Interplas 2002 and comparing some options we decided to go with Sandretto UK.
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Our first robot then paid for itself within six months.
The only downside is that we probably should have done it sooner.' Not only have the new Sandretto UK-supplied robots proved themselves in substituting effectively for operator skills, they have also made an economic case for usage by giving L and D reduced product cycle times and reduced scrap ratios: The first installation lowered the previous product cycle time by over 20% and virtually eliminated a scrap ratio of about 1% from the previous production pattern.
The 2nd installation demanded some ingenious programming from the Sandretto and L and D team.
The requirement was to automatically stack an output of 99mm, 14gm circular closures from a 8 impression tool into a 5-row box carton, 34 layers deep.
'Our box packaging format was set and unchangeable,' said Kendall, 'and for a time it seemed that four into five would not go evenly - at least on a simple basis.
We needed a production system that could tackle the logic required and also deliver the cost-effectiveness.' L and D set Sandretto UK a challenge to build a system to pack the caps into a box.
L and D also needed to use the system for standard pick and place applications when this particular job was not operating.
The solution used a standard servo-drive linear robot equipped with a vacuum gripper that gripped the eight caps and reconfigured them within the constraints of the box.
A carefully worked programming sequence ensured an even filling of the carton to capacity and the automatic removal of the finished carton from the loading area.
The newly supplied robot has also reduced a previous cycle time of 16.5 seconds by over 12% - freeing additional capacity from the moulding press - and has also eliminated scrap issues.
The new system is now playing its part in delivering the 20 million plus caps and closures that L and D produces annually.
Chris Whitlam, national sales manager for Sandretto UK's robots and ancillary range believes that the classic design and ease-of-use of the Dal Maschio robots has played a key role in their success.
'There are a set of simple and effective set up procedures that require little interference and maintenance once the job is running.
The robot is easy to use - but at the same time can be deployed to handle a complex stacking task such as that recently required by L and D,' he says.
L and D, based in Mytholmroyd, West Yorkshire, employs 28 people and operates a three shift, 24h system across its 13,000ft2 site.
L and D moulds all kinds of polymers for markets in caps and closures; white good components and houseware items.
The company sources all its tooling from local suppliers, Yorkshire and Lancashire.
The business is family-owned.
Terry Kendall, with 41 years of trade moulding experiences, supervises technical and production details.
David Kendall his son, with 20 years moulding experience, is managing director with primary responsibility for commercial and business activity.
Kendall's wife Marian, a designer by trade, services the CAD expertise and produces product and component designs to client needs.
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