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MOTOMAN ROBOTICS (UK) LTD |
Press Release
AUTOMATED WELDING HELPS SUBCONTRACTOR TO FIGHT OVERSEAS COMPETITION
Sandwich-based sheet metalworking subcontractor, Stevens & Carlotti, is coming under increasing pressure from competitors in low-wage countries such as Poland and China. To help counter the threat, the UK firm has invested heavily in automation to reduce manufacturing costs. Latest acquisitions are a Prima Industrie laser cutting centre fed from a material storage tower, and an automated welding cell supplied by Motoman Robotics UK.
Franco
Carlotti is sales manager of the family-run firm, which specialises in supplying
the power generation industries in the UK, France and Belgium. He commented,
“The robotic welding cell is about four times as productive as a manual welder
for a batch of, say, 50-off relatively simple components. This is exactly this
type of work that tends to be lost to overseas subcontractors.
“The Motoman welding cell is helping us to retain such contracts, as it enables us to quote more competitive prices to our customers and still make a reasonable profit. “Then we have the edge over foreign competitors, which need to supply a large quantity of parts to make the business worthwhile and take many weeks or months to deliver. We can economically supply small batches just-in-time, so our customers’ stores and shop floors are not cluttered with unnecessary stock and work-in-progress.”
Installed in mid 2004, the robot welding cell is a standard ArcSystem 2300 comprising a Motoman UP6 robot, all-round guarding with roof, pneumatically lifted access door, and a servo-powered, one tonne payload, rotary turntable that allows virtually uninterrupted production, as unloading and loading take place while welding is in progress.
Moreover, the whole cell is pallet-based and can be positioned on site quickly by a large lift truck. Mr Carlotti saw the cell at a Weldex exhibition in Birmingham and was impressed by the all-in package, including torch cleaning and a rotary axis on the tables – equipment that other suppliers normally charge extra for.
There are 20 or so regular jobs put through the cell, mostly repetitive batch runs of components that need a lot of welding, which would be arduous to complete by hand day after day. These jobs keep the cell occupied for only 30 hours a week, as a majority of the subcontractor’s contracts are for one- to five-offs, which are more expedient to weld manually.
Most
of the work going through the robot cell is mild steel from 3 to 15 mm thick,
cycle times varying from two to 12 minutes. Return on investment will take
about four years at the current level of activity. Extra throughput will
shorten the payback period, however, so Mr Carlotti is actively seeking
additional work that can be cost-effectively welded robotically.
He also pointed out that, in addition to being four times as productive as a skilled manual welder, the ArcSystem 2300 can be run by one semi-skilled operator costing less to employ, so savings are even greater, especially as he is able to carry out jobs such as cleaning and deburring in addition to loading and unloading of parts.
“Weld quality is first rate and repeatability and cosmetic appearance are significantly better using the robot,” continued Mr Carlotti. “There can be a tendency for manual welders to cut corners by holding parts in place, whereas you have to jig a component properly for robotic welding, so a consistent result is always achieved.”
The Motoman system, together with an array of other modern CNC sheet metalworking equipment on the Sandwich site, are helping the subcontractor to sell its service and win new business. The robot generates a lot of interest when customers visit and creates a particularly good impression, confirmed Mr Carlotti.
For More Information Contact:
Motoman Robotics (UK) Ltd
Johnson Park, Wildmere Road, Banbury, Oxon OX16 3JU
Tel: 01295 272755
FAX: 01295 267127
E-mail:
information@motoman.co.uk