![]() Given the cost of the transition, a lights‐out automation program will not pay for itself in less than a couple of years.Īnother argument for introducing lights‐out automation is improved capacity, for example, saving space with auto‐retrieval. During last year’s shutdowns, manufacturers that enabled lights‐out manufacturing shined as positive examples of business continuity.īecause robotics and other machines can run in the dark and under a wide range of temperatures, one frequently cited benefit of lights‐out automation is savings in lighting, heating, and cooling. Automation increases the visibility of operations at critical points of the manufacturing process. Lights‐out automation - where machines run unattended and/or remotely - makes it possible to maintain production with minimal or zero human involvement. As COVID‐19 capacity constraints and social-distancing requirements seem to be fixtures in manufacturing now, there is a new interest in lights‐out automation. You can achieve full lights-out machining for that machine, without waste and scrap.We are a full year into the COVID‐19 pandemic and its related impact on manufacturing, and we are starting to see a return to normalcy – a new normal – that includes social distancing and safer‐at‐work strategies. Rather than throwing alerts when the workpieces hit an upper or lower tolerance limit, the CNC mill, lathe or other machine can automatically adjust offsets and compensate for tool wear and drift based on real time data, keeping all dimensions closer to nominal. While measuring every part as it comes off the CNC machine, the Q-Span Systems can feed measurement data into automated tool wear compensation software and then to the CNC control. Scrap is limited to one bad part, and labor is still kept to a minimum.Īutomated tool wear compensation – the final step Any dimension out of tolerance can be used to trigger an alert and stop the run.Ī machinist can respond by changing the machine tool, adjusting an offset, fixing any other issues, and restarting the program. Each workstation comprises a collaborative robot from Universal Robots mounted on a sturdy mobile workstation table, along with teachable software for handling parts, making measurements, and collecting data.Īs it unloads a machine, the Q-Span System measures each part – either by using its robotic caliper, or by placing the part into a standard gauge such as an LDVT or bore gauge. Machine shops are resolving this problem by using cobots to do QC measurement checks on every part, after it is unloaded from the machine.Ī cobot system designed for this purpose is the Q-Span Workstation from New Scale Robotics. Machine tending with in-line QC checks – a necessary second step And production often does not have the time to wait for the QC check before starting the next run. QC teams are short-handed, too they will measure one in ten as required, but probably only at the end of the run. Production teams are short-handed and have all they can do to manage new machine setups, plan new jobs, train new people, and keep product moving on the floor. ![]() The CNC mill or lathe will carry on for the rest of the hour, producing 30 more parts that will have to be scrapped or reworked.Įven if the process calls for QC to measure an AQL sample of one in every ten parts, realistically, manufacturing and QC are rarely going to be able to efficiently coordinate a QC person to walk over to the CNC several times during the one-hour “lights-out” run. Now suppose the outer diameter goes out of spec 30 parts into the run. But if you still need a QC inspector to walk over and check the parts that come off the machine, the benefits of automated machine tending are limited.įor example, a CNC mill or lathe running a cycle time of one minute per part produces 60 parts in one hour of unattended, “lights-out” machine time, with almost no labor overhead. ![]() Loading and unloading CNC mills, lathes, mills, press brakes and other machines is one of production’s biggest time sinks. Machine tending is a natural first step for automation with cobots. They can easily teach cobots to perform additional different tasks, depending on production needs.Īutomated machine tending – a natural first step They can configure, purchase and teach cobots to perform production processes in less than three months, for budgets in the $100K range. Manufacturing teams can deploy cobots without the help of a systems integrator. With this first step, they may be closer than they realize to achieving “lights-out” operation on a particular machine.Ĭollaborative robots (cobots) are ideal for high-mix production environments. ![]() Many manufacturers have started their automation journey by using collaborative robots to automate simple production tasks, such as machine tending for CNC mills, lathes, plasma cutters, EDM machines, multi-spindle screw machines, press brakes, punch presses and other equipment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |