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Robotic Automation Helps North
American
Manufacturers Stay Competitive
by Kapyoung Choi
 Program Manager
FANUC Robotics America, Inc.
As the economy makes a recovery and foreign competition, particularly in China, continues to gain momentum, North American manufacturers are realizing that robots are more than just a piece of manufacturing equipment. Robots are key business tools that provide a means for companies to fight back, win orders and remain profitable. In fact, since the first industrial machine-tending robot was introduced in North America in the 1960's, the industry has grown to more than 135,000 robots in operation. (Robotic Industries Association (RIA).
Many companies now realize that in order to
stay competitive, they must have the manufacturing flexibility
to respond quickly to market demands. As manufacturers strive
to enhance their time to market, the role of robots becomes
particularly critical for companies facing ergonomic issues
and absenteeism problems that impact the bottom line.
By
implementing robotic solutions, manufacturers are able to
increase their revenue per production employee by 50 percent,
and reassign workers to less hazardous and repetitive tasks.
Also, robotic automation helps companies streamline operations,
and realize a quick payback.
The following provides pointers
on how manufacturers can take full advantage of the benefits
of robotic automation.
Understanding your needs
An effective automation
supplier is one that understands its customers' process
needs. By performing a needs analysis to evaluate current manufacturing processes
and business priorities, the automation supplier can make recommendations
that will provide efficient and cost-effective results.
Because
the day-to-day activities of running a manufacturing operation
often prevent production managers from evaluating manufacturing
alternatives, it's best to find an automation partner
that uses a needs analysis process along with an automation audit.
Advantages
of robotic automation
Industrial robots are more affordable than
just 10 years ago. With competitive leasing programs offered
by some vendors, even small shops can find alternative ways
to finance robotic systems at low monthly payments.
In addition,
robots are extremely easy to install and operate. Many pre-packaged
cells are available that allow customers to integrate the robot, tooling,
part delivery unit, cell guarding, and control interface
to the peripheral devices/machinery in a matter of hours.
For
all types of applications, including machine tending, robots
are much more sophisticated than earlier models. There are
several choices of industrial robots with capabilities to
meet a wide range of payload, reach, speed, and flexibility
requirements. Typically, robots can handle payloads that
range from 3 kg to as much as 600 kg, and offer reach capabilities
of 700 mm to more than 3000 mm. Servo-controlled industrial
robots are used to tend all sorts of capital equipment, such
as press brakes, CNC lathes, mills, machining centers, drills,
grinders, EDM's, etc. They are accurate enough to
load three jaw chucks, live tooling, fixtured tombstones or pallets, collets,
and press brakes.
Robots help manufacturers optimize equipment
cell layout, floor space usage, and work piece flow. Robots
can be mounted on the floor, upside down, on a machine tool,
or on a floor track.
Speed is another advantage of robotic
automation. The chip cutting machine tool load and unload
cycle time for robots is just five seconds or slightly more.
The time is based on how long it takes for a robot to move
into the machine, exchange a part with the machine's work-holding
device, and for the machine door to open and close. Throughput
and part quality is improved, even for applications such
as press brake tending, where a robot holds the sheet
metal until the required bends are completed. Robots produce
accurate bends consistently, thus reducing scrap rates.
Press brake utilization is increased since operator fatigue
and machine idle time resulting from operator breaks
is eliminated.
Of all the forms of automation equipment,
robots are classified as the most flexible. Six-axis robots
offer coordinated motion that can duplicate human motions.
When a robot is coupled with an intelligent device such as
a 2-D or 3-D vision sensor, or a force sensor with six degrees
of freedom, its applicability is almost limitless. Even
picking parts from a bin is possible. Intelligent robots
offer more opportunities for companies to create a lean
manufacturing operation.
Selecting a robot for machine
tending applications
There are several items to consider
when sizing a robot to a machine tending application.
The robot supplier will assign a team that will help evaluate
the application during the needs analysis.
Survey
parts and group them into families based on size, weight,
production requirements, machining time, and machining
operation. First time robot users should not expect to
automate all parts at once. It's best to start with
one part family, develop a good understanding of the automation and gradually
automate additional part families. Starting at a slower pace will allow
companies to thoroughly evaluate the benefits of robots and streamline the implementation
of future automation projects. Determine
the best route for parts to move into and out of the
robotic system. Many part delivery systems are costly;
however, the robot supplier will be able to recommend
the most efficient and affordable delivery system. How
long does the cell need to run unattended? What is the
profile of the part or the part family? How much is in
the budget? What is the expected return on investment?
Answers to these questions will help narrow the choice
of part delivery methods. End-of-Arm-Tooling
(EOAT) design is defined by part size, weight, gripping location,
gripping surface quality, throughput, and work holding device
interference zones. Many grippers used for machine tending applications are off-the-shelf
pneumatic parallel motion types with two or three jaws depending on the
part's
shape at the gripping location. Others have customized fingers and pneumatic
valve systems, which control the EOAT. For sheet metal fabricators wanting
to automate a sheet-handling process, the robot gripper is designed with
simple vacuum cups mounted on extruded aluminum frame. Based on the requirements
of the application, some gripper modules are assembled with part-present
sensors, vision, and/or part orientation mechanisms. Application
software has also been simplified to the point that users
with little or no experience can program a robot. Today's
programs are provided in plain English and use drop-down
menus to select commands or functions. A robot's
teach pendant can be used for programming, to jog the robot, and to monitor
and control the robot cell. Guarding
and safety is an important aspect that should be reviewed
and understood by everyone involved in the design,
implementation, and production of a robotic system.
The American National Standard for Industrial Robots and
Robot Systems - Safety
Requirements (revision of ANSI/RIA R15.06-1986) was approved August
19, 1992 and is available from the Robotic Industries Association.
Today's
robots provide maximum flexibility and are often capable
of duplicating human dexterity. With six axes of coordinated
motion and a programmable machine controller, robots can
be used to automate an existing or new machine. In either
situation, the machine tool must be updated to accept robot
automation with features such as an automatic door, automatic
work-holding device, physical I/O points to control the external
device, and logic in the PMC to interface with a robot.
With
the ability to perform a variety of tasks and achieve a mean-time-between-failure
of more than 60,000 hours, robots are also more advanced
than traditional automation process systems such as linear
gantries.
Faced with global competition, North American
manufacturers are reinventing their factories, and building
manufacturing systems using robotic technology that help
produce high-quality products at a reasonable cost. If a
company's objective is
to achieve one or more of the following competitive advantages,
then robotic automation is the right business tool for their
success:
Increase incremental productivity Flexible and predictable production Improved part handling Labor savings Eliminate monotonous tasks
Provide safer working environment (hazardous environment,
back injury and carpal tunnel syndrome) Improved machine utilization (30% or more) Improved quality (reduce or eliminate the risk of defective parts) Less work in process and production downtime inventory
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Volume
14 Issue 1 -
July 2004