Providing MIG Welding Automation Solutions with Speed and Efficiency
At Melton Machine & Control Company, we know that any amount of downtime can be detrimental to our customers' operations. That’s why we offer swift design and building of automated systems that prioritize fast delivery and integration without sacrificing quality and efficiency.
We demonstrated this ability when one of our clients, a major manufacturer of refrigeration and air conditioning products, had a sudden, unexpected problem that resulted in severe damage and delays to their production line. Our automated MIG welding system and collaboration robot designs helped them get back on track in less time and run smoother and faster than they had with their previous production line processes.
The Problem
With a large portion of their facility damaged or destroyed, the manufacturer had a shortage of space by which to place replacement equipment. They had to find a way to get back to producing their variety of products in a much smaller area with new equipment.
Additionally, they had to overcome the skilled labor shortage that was already straining their production before the fire. The skill set needed by the welder who would manually weld the parts is also very high.
These two criteria make for an expensive part with many hours of labor input to produce high-quality parts.
MIG welding is hard to master because it requires precise control. The welder needs to keep the torch at a consistent distance from the surface, maintain a steady angle, and move the torch at a constant speed along the joint.
They also must be able to add filler wire to the plasma arc and pull it back out partway to keep the filler metal inside the gas shield of the arc and use a foot pedal to control the current output from the power supply.
This expertise is in short supply in the Midwest and can become the limiting factor for companies wanting to grow their product lines, as was the case with this customer.
The Solution
Melton had been working with the company to assist them with adding more automation, so they were familiar with our capabilities and value, and asked us to help them with the problem.
With their shortage of space and skilled labor, our CoboWeld Systems were a perfect solution. We recommended a package that consisted of six Universal Robots (UR) UR10e cobots on a CoboWeld cart/system.
Five of the systems had Miller MIG power supplies with wire feeders, shielding gas, and water-cooled torches. A few had torch cleaners and one was equipped with a sanding system for post-weld cleanup.
Another one of the systems had a Miller TIG power supply with cold wire feed, shielding gas, and a water-cooled torch. Special tooling was created and installed to ensure repeatable part placement. This includes using an automated cobot to position the torch in the same spot every time.
The customers’ part tolerance was tight enough to allow the tooling to compensate for small tolerance mismatch issues.
The company ordered six of our CoboWeld Systems. Each system includes intuitive programming that makes it easy to create the weld paths required for all its applications. The flexible automated systems had a small footprint that would enable them to start running production again right away, even within the smaller space.
We were able to deliver three of the units in just a few weeks, with the additional three coming down the pipeline shortly after. With the CoboWeld Mig Systems in place, their skilled welders were freed up to perform more demanding tasks.
We customized our CoboWeld systems to their varying assemblies by adding tabletop positioners, torch cleaners, and water-cooled torches. On the final cell we shipped, we also added a grinding system for post-clean-up.
When designing a welding process for a cobot or a traditional robot, it is very important to understand the fundamental raw material tolerances that will need to be joined through welding. An example that is used often is the case where, in a manual welding cell, a part tolerance issue comes up, and the welder cannot put a weld bead large enough to join the parts across this large gap.
Most of the time, the welder will get a big hammer and beat the parts into submission so the gap in the joint shrinks and can be welded. For obvious reasons, this is impractical in an automated system.
Part of the value of working with an experienced integration team is that the integrator can find ways to help the customer get better control of tolerance issues and allow for an automated process to join their welded parts.
This can be through superior tooling and fixturing, or cobot programming to better allow for a weld joint to move out of the expected position. For this customer, both methods assisted in the solution. An additional part of the solution was to have the finished machine checked out and run off at the integrator before taking delivery.
This customer requested that multiple pieces be welded by their newly trained staff on the integrator's floor. They also wanted to switch to a different part model and run more parts. This proved that multiple parts can be run on a machine and shows the ease of changeover.
It also showed the ease of changing back to the original part. All of these are key components to having a successful implementation in the customer’s factory.
Advantages of the Custom Cobot System
The most obvious advantage of this system is that a person can get training on how to program a cobot and be operational within an hour. This is incredibly fast compared to a traditional robot that may take two weeks of training and many hours of hands-on experience regularly to maintain proficiency.
The next big advantage is that the cobot system has great control over the taught torch distance, the torch angle, the welding speed, the exact wire feed speed, and the ability to push and pull the wire to properly create an exact weld “puddle” in the joint.
With these variables automatically controlled, the welding power supply current does not need to be adjusted on the fly as with manual welding. All of this equates to a high-quality weld joint with very low errors.
Automating the welding process would free up existing welders to work in areas where their expertise is more valuable. For example, the current welders could build test parts for newly designed products, repair badly damaged parts, or teach machines how to weld existing parts more efficiently.
Results
Thanks to our quick turnaround time, this company was able to restart production only a few weeks after the fire that damaged their equipment. With our automated systems in place, they were able to restart production in a much smaller space while their facility issues and damages were addressed.
The CoboWeld Systems we installed also affected their rate of production, dramatically increasing the production rate and drastically reducing the hours to produce a single part. Thanks to the precision and efficiency of our machines, their scrap numbers also decreased.
Contact Melton Machine & Control Company Today
This manufacturer is very happy with the solution, the technology, and the training they received from Melton Machine & Control Company. Without our help, they may have experienced extensive production delays that had long-term negative effects on their business and production line.
For more than 50 years, our fleet of engineers and other team members have put our in-depth understanding of our manufacturing clients to work to improve production processes and safety with customized automation solutions.
We want you to be our next success story! Contact us today for a free assessment.
