Manufacturing challenges come in all sizes, shapes and degrees of complexity, and sometimes it's easy to dismiss an application as too simple to warrant robotic automation.
What intrigued us about the proposal from Gosiger Automation was the inclusion of a robot arm for loading and unloading the parts integrated into a custom machining center. They also felt this would beat our cycle time requirement and it has. In the end it was the best combination of performance, quality and initial cost. It also fit into our plans to integrate this work station with future automation projects.
According to Engineering Technician, Doug Frazier, This new work cell improves cycle time by 25 percent largely because the previous loading process required more operator time and dexterity. Now the operator simply places the parts into a vibratory conveyor and the Fanuc robot arm loads them into the fixture. Plus, having two drill stations means that while one part is being machined another is loaded into the second fixture.
