Machine-tending
robots boost production
CNC Robotics adds robotic machine-tending system to its portfolio
to help manufacturers boost production. The company is helping
customers from different sectors, to drive operational effi ciency and
grow their businesses
CNC Robotics ( www.is.gd/7I79GP)
has added a robotic machinetending
system to its range that
will allow precision engineers and similar
manufacturing organisations the opportunity
to boost their production.
The Liverpool-based company is principally
known for projects in which robots are used
for machining, but has also developed
systems that can be used to increase the
productivity of conventional machine tools.
“One of our customers has tripled
production by adding one of our machinetending
systems alongside a Mazak Integrex
machine during the lockdown period,” says
chief technology of cer (CTO) Jason Barker.
“The company works nine and a half-hour
shifts and expects each machine to work for
around eight of those hours. After adding the
robot, production can be maintained for up to
24 hours a day and across the weekends.”
A typical package from CNC Robotics
includes the robot, its enclosure and a
purpose-designed xture to load and remove
the parts, together with the programming and
installation. The resulting increase in
productivity means that the systems can
repay the investment in a few months or even
a few weeks.
The increased production can
necessitate additional investments in swarfhandling
equipment, such as a
high-capacity swarf conveyor to remove all
the excess material that will be produced
and a swarf compactor to compress the
chips down to a more manageable volume
when machines are running over the
weekend.
LONG TERM COST SAVINGS
Many manufacturers are looking into the use
of Cobots alongside their machine tools, but
Barker believes that an industrial robot is a
more cost-effective choice in the long term.
“The cost of a Cobot isn’t much less than
the price of a system based on an industrial
robot,” he explains. “Industrial robots are
more robust, an important consideration for
companies whose staff have no previous
experience in operating this type of
equipment. They should also be faster, which
could be important when making parts with
short cycle times.”
Industrial robots can be just as quick and
easy to install as Cobots. “At one customer
site, we completed the testing on a Friday
afternoon and left the new system to run over
that night,” notes Barker. “By the end of that
weekend, more than 300 components had
been produced, all to the high standards
expected at the customer.”
30 January 2021 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
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