Speed, efficiency and cost savings result from robot installation

Citation

(2001), "Speed, efficiency and cost savings result from robot installation", Industrial Robot, Vol. 28 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2001.04928aaf.007

Speed, efficiency and cost savings result from robot installation

Speed, efficiency and cost savings result from robot installation

Keywords Robotics, Injection moulding, Automation

Two servo robots designed and manufactured by Leicester based robotics specialist ATM Automation Limited are at the heart of a highly sophisticated injection moulding and assembly line manufacturing ice-cream pack and dispense units at the County Clare operations of AJ Precision Limited.

The ATM installation incorporates a number of features that have been custom designed for the application – notably a loading fixture and a rotating pick-up head – which permit the complex assembly of a cone into the moulding while it is still within the tool.

As a result of its investment in robotics, AJ Precision has considerably increased its productivity and is able to load, unload and assemble the dispense units (or tubes) within a cycle time of 13.5 seconds.

AJ now has the capacity to manufacture 20 million tubes a year and, as a result of automation, the savings in labour and optimised health and safety conditions are significant in comparison with the previously labour intensive methods of manufacture.

After making the decision to opt for robotics on its high speed billion injection moulding lines, AJ made use of ATM's considerable expertise and experience in high volume manufacturing operations to create an environment that precisely met the required volumes while offering flexibility of supply to customers. The project – from initial concept to installation – was undertaken in just eight weeks.

The cone assembly operation within the tool uses design techniques unique to ATM Precision and involved the manufacture of a custom-designed gripper which holds and positions the part within the mould tool.

Both billion lines are equipped with state-of-the-art ATM Automation ES2000S robots controlled by the ATM "ES" control system which comprises a touch screen programmer and stand-alone operator station.

The ES2000S has recently been updated by ATM to offer a more streamlined appearance and make use of light alloy for all of the moving components – resulting in a substantially lighter unit offering high speed cycling.

The ES2000S uses the latest control technology (with a microprocessor update time in nanoseconds) to move in "timesave" mode in which the integral robotic intelligence can calculate and programme for forthcoming movements.

This results in a smoother, rounded movement when performing operations demanding a change of direction, thereby saving precious milliseconds on a conventional robotic movement.

The ES control system is the first from a European manufacturer to offer a robot controller with fully integrated PC, full sequence/program simulation, on-screen fault diagnostics and on-board technical manual. The controller features an updated PC-based touch-screen programmer with off-line capability and an operator station.

Either of these elements can be connected to the robot for online programming and offer the ability for a real time modem link with the robot controller.

After leaving AJ Precision's manufacturing operations in sterile packaging, the ice-cream tubes are filled and sealed with the appropriate flavour and supplied to a wide range of vendors throughout the UK and Ireland.

Tony Lang, AJ Precision Components' managing director explains that speed and efficiency of operation are essential in such a high volume operation:

We were very keen to automate our loading, un-loading and assembly operations in order to meet growing demand and robotics seemed the logical move. We have been pleased to work with ATM because of their technical expertise and of course because of the sophistication offered by the robots and controllers.

For further information, please contact: Robert Hopper, ATM Automation. Tel: +44 (0)116 277 3607.