Reconstruction of robots in the processing workshop
The new robot is extremely compact and provides the perfect solution to meet the automation needs of the shop floor, automatically exiting the job site when it is not needed or used.
Sequoia Automation has a CNC precision CNC machining shop that provides secondary and tertiary parts for the automotive industry. They need to reduce production costs, increase productivity and maintain a competitive edge in this industry. In order to solve these problems well, we need to improve the automation level of the double-tray vertical machining center in the company's production workshop, and design and install small and exquisite robots to meet the loading and unloading requirements of a large number of workpieces on the machine. The company's executives noted that the application of robots is the key to maximizing the potential of the shop floor, which can increase the productivity of the shop by more than five times.
Sequoia Automation specializes in the manufacture of automotive air conditioning system connectors. In general, these connectors are small and are mounted in 2 to 2.5 in tubes. They first saw off the aluminum rods produced by the extrusion process and then processed them in a vertical machining center. The processing station mainly includes the aperture and Other internal parts, and its shape usually maintains the original shape of the original extrusion.
The shop has 34 vertical machining centers, most of which are equipped with indexing tables. Since the parts in the fixture are in full load during the long processing cycle, an operator can generally operate two vertical machining centers. Although this saves a certain labor cost, the competitiveness of the machining center is relatively insufficient compared to the rotary combination machine operated by competitors of Sequoia Automation.
In order to improve the productivity of the machine tool, the shop began to replace the old machine tool with a double pallet vertical machining center. The company's general manager, Dennis J. Burke, explained: “Now, old-fashioned machines are placed aside and discarded, the operator removes the finished product from the fixture of the new machine and replaces the new one. To reduce During the standby downtime, we started to replace the old machine with a double-tray machining center, so that when the workpiece loaded on one pallet is being processed, the operator can load and unload another workpiece on the fixture of the other pallet. We have purchased 7 double-tray vertical machining centers. On these machines, we can exchange two pallets in just a few seconds, which greatly reduces downtime."
The application of the two-tray machine tool has taken the company a step in the right direction, but there is still much work to be done. Cheryl Schraut, director of the company's quality control department, added: "Because of global economic problems, we not only compete with the workshops on the same street in the region, but also compete with companies in South America, India, the UK and the world. The cost of the operators required to operate each machine is getting higher and higher. Obviously, we must find some practical ways to improve the automation level of the processing technology. The problem is that we are just a processing workshop, there is no long-term production business. So we The challenge is the automation revolution of the process, not the automation of itself."
How to automate?
According to Mr. Burke's prediction, the use of robotics is the best solution to automate the revolution in their shop's machining operations, although he is not sure which type of robot is best suited for their job.
Mr. Bruke has researched a variety of automation solutions and hopes to find the best solution for the most suitable machine tools and existing machining processes. With the continuous research of a series of options, an ideal robot solution has finally surfaced. Such robots must be small, lightweight, and cost effective. It should be dedicated to a vertical machining center rather than serving several machines at the same time. When the robot is not required to provide service, the robot can be taken out of the work site, allowing the operator to operate the machine in a normal working manner, that is, manually loading and unloading the workpiece.
So Mr. Burke described his thoughts on the required robots to Mr. Gary Kowalsiki, regional sales manager of Fanuc Robotics.
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