August, 2016
www.us-tech.com Scalable Automation a Path to Turnkey Success Continued from page 20
tomating in weeks; to move from manual operations to multiple dial assembly machines while reusing the capital from the semi-automatic benchtop phase of the project; to de- velop high-impact processes first to improve quality, yield and through- put; to reduce operator ergonomic challenges found within manual as- sembly; and to reduce end-of-line de- fects by improving processes and eliminating operator inconsistencies. Processes included such tasks
as ultraviolet (UV) gluing and cur- ing, electrical testing, label applica- tion, clip attach, and core assembly.
Implementation In order to understand the cur-
rent assembly process and the nu- ances of production that the opera- tors were experiencing, Demco Au- tomation and the customer identi- fied several key steps in the process that were causing particular pain during operation. Demco’s patented Wedge® Modular Assembly Platform was used as a baseline for creating a scalable and modular approach to the custom assembly process. The application of modular
equipment provided an avenue to re- cycle the benchtop units into the fi- nal, fully-automated configuration. Not only was the modular approach able to reuse equipment and in- crease the ROI, but it also allowed for the equipment to be upgraded quickly in the field without exten- sive retrofits and rework on the cus- tomer’s production floor. To install the stations into the base machine, the control harness is plugged in and the baseplate is connected with a docking mechanism and one shoul- der bolt.
Semiautomatic Benchtop Units In the initial phase, process
stations were used as semiautomatic benchtop units. The goal was to first identify processes that were the most difficult during production. For example, UV adhesive and curing were incorporated into a two semi- automatic stations manually loaded by one operator. Rather than incon- sistent manually deposited adhesive by the operator, the new benchtop station immediately eliminated process variability with the added benefit of a shorter cycle time for the adhesive dispense sequence. The label application process
was a quick upgrade from attaching pressure-sensitive labels by hand to a repeatable and centered product label. In this instance, an off-the- shelf label applicator was selected and designed directly into the bench- top phase with the intention of being inserted into the automated dial as- sembly machine in the turnkey sys- tem. In other words, the same label applicator was used in both the man- ual and automated processes. This approach enabled the cus-
tomer to purchase only one label ap- plicator for all phases of the project for a sizable reduction in capital budget. Another benefit to starting
with a benchtop unit is that it may make workers more comfortable with complex assembly tasks. In this project, outsourced
stamp ings were being received from an offshore location with significant
non-conforming parts. The inventory being shipped to the customer would take weeks to arrive. Good parts within these ship-
ments had to be used in order to keep production moving until the supplier
implemented corrective actions. If the stamped component was assem- bled in a fully-automated system with unacceptable quantities of de- fective parts, the station would jam, create a fault and significant down-
time until the fault or jam was cleared. Conversely, in a benchtop situa-
tion, the operator can clear jams quickly since they are interacting di- rectly with the mechanism every cycle to keep producing good assemblies.
From Manual to Full Automation While benchtop production con-
tinued at the customer’s facility in semi-automatic mode, dial base ma- chines were being constructed at Demco’s production facility to create the complete system for full automa- tion. The dial machine base chassis, additional process stations, and of-
Phase 2 — plug stations into system for automated assembly. Continued on page 26
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