WELDING
manufacturing operation with limited production space, we need to have maximum flexibility in our operations and to make best use of the facilities we have available,” says Scarfe. “Having a combination of automated and manual production facilities really gives us the best of both worlds; the robotic cell gives us fast, accurate automated production in a compact footprint, whilst our skilled manual workforce enables us to produce high quality welds on our other products where using a robot is not practical. “Our two team members who’ve been trained in operating the cell have really taken to their new role, says Scarfe. “Moreover, their expertise and knowledge of welding processes has been invaluable in helping us to get the most from the robot cell. Far from
being wary of the robot taking their jobs, our team have been actively looking for new ways in which it can be used.” The benefits brought by the robotic cell have also had knock-on effects on other areas of the business, including the way that new products are being designed. After being shown what can be achieved with the cell, the company’s design team has started to design its products to make them more suitable for automated production. One example includes the ‘strongbacks’ used in the manufacture of the hedge trimmer and the other products which have been transferred to the robotic welding cell. “Our long term aim is to introduce another cell to help us further expand our production capabilities,” explains Scarfe. “For
now though, we want to find as many ways to use our existing cell as possible. We’ve already got five products on it and want to keep adding more until it is fully utilised 24/7. The Flex Arc cell is ideal for short batch manufacture with quick fixture changes, making it an ideal match with our Just-In- Time (JIT) manufacturing and reduced inventory philosophies.” A passionate advocate of automation, Michael Scarfe is no stranger to robotic production, having been involved in robotic welding production projects from car seat manufacture in the early 1990s to more recently electron beam welding of turbo chargers. ABB helped to play a key role in optimising the cell’s performance from the outset. Using ABB’s RobotStudio software, a simulated
Large touch-screen panel for resistance welding
Miyachi Europe, a leading supplier of laser and resistance welding systems, laser marking products, and hot bar systems, announces a new display for convenient, modern and reliable resistance weld monitoring with the Active Welding System 3. The AWS3 provides precision real-time dynamic measurement of all welding variables, remote services, and the ability to save and transfer critical parameters to a USB flash drive. Now available in both standard and large touch- screen versions, the AWS3 Control Panel is a plug and play device, which can be used to upgrade existing AWS3 Active Welding Systems. The AWS3 Control Panel
responds to the increased emphasis on full process accountability, and offers a host of tools required for process development, production monitoring, data collection, and analysis to support all ISO, GMP and TQM requirements. It features two independent measurement
30 IMT April/May 2014
channels, oscilloscope functions with zoom and cursor modes, and full on-screen statistical process control (SPC) capability, including run charts, histograms and analyses. Pushing a button only saves screenshots. The system can be
configured the way that it saves data automatically to an USB flash drive or a location on the local area network. The control panel has multiple language capability, contains an integrated clock and date for weld reporting and traceability, and can handle up
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to 99 schedules with password protection.
More information on Miyachi Europe Corporation +49 (0) 89 839403-50
contact@mec.miyachi.com www.miyachieurope.com
version of the cell was created which enabled programming and testing to be performed in an offline environment. This reduced much of the set-up time when the actual cell was assembled on site, allowing Shelbourne to commence welding operations within just three days. The installation is also supported by an ABB remote service technology. This technology sends data on the robot’s performance remotely to ABB via GPRS technology. The information can then be stored and used for reference, and alarms can be directly monitored. Trends can also be spotted before problems become evident. More information on ABB’s FlexArc
t: 01908 350300
robotic@gb.abb.com.
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