PROCESS EQUIPMENT UPDATE
AUTOMATION FORGING
IN
Exploring how the automation of material handling plays a key role in today’s forging equipment solutions
T
he industrialisation of our economies around the world owes a debt to forging and the men and women who operate forging
equipment. Without the ability to forge steel and other metals over the past century and a half, we would not have
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had the parts needed to manufacture cars, build aircraft, drill for oil, mine for minerals or lay down rail tracks. However, as with any process
involving manual labour, automation is changing the game. Despite lagging behind many other industries, the
forging industry is now increasingly requiring significant automation upgrades for both new equipment and remanufactured/rebuilt models of everything from horizontal forging machines and vertical presses, to hammers and solid ball die forgers. In doing so, tasks that were once performed manually – such as moving heavy steel rods, pipe and other stock in and out of equipment – are now automated to improve worker safety. Gone are the days when three men would lift a heavy steel rod with a glowing end into, and out of, a horizontal upset forging press. Today, many of these manual tasks
are instead being replaced with the mechanical “hand” of a robot or by integrating servos that can lift, insert and deposit materials. Even tasks such as automated tooling changes can be completed with the push of a button. Not only does this create a safer environment for forging operators, it also increases productivity. By automating forging operations to
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