“Yeah, but how do I know if automation will actually work for my applications and business?”
We recognize how important it is for you to get straight answers to this big question. Below, we’ve compiled our insights gained from a combined 200+ years of experience in welding automation.
This information is intended to be universal across multiple types and brands of automation (hard/fixed, robotic, and cobotic) - we mean for it to be genuinely educational, not a sales pitch for our product. We’re also here to help answer any questions you have about your specific application - click below to get in touch with us.
1. Consistency is King
Automation thrives on consistency: of parts, fixturing, joint cross-section, material condition, consumables condition, weld wire, etc.
Why is repeatability so important? Because automation is programmed on a “master part” - weld paths and parameters are manually taught by the programmer on this master part, and then simply repeated by the cobot welding or cutting system to achieve production. If the part location or weld conditions change on production runs, the cobot welder/cutter does not inherently know - which will likely cause a degradation in quality.
Some adapting technologies like touch sensing, vision, and thru-arc seam tracking exist to help manage these inconsistencies, but their use is typically limited to certain joint types and conditions; plus they tend to add cycle time, cost, and complexity. Repeatability is more important than accuracy, so the best way to manage inconsistencies is to improve upstream processes to make them more consistent!
2. Crawl, Walk, Run - start with the Low-Hanging Fruit
While the temptation may be to automate the large, complex parts that create a significant labor drain whenever they go through the shop, we've seen the most efficient deployment of automation to be on smaller, simpler parts. Let cobot welding take care of the repetitive parts, and leave the complex components to your skilled manual welders. We’ve also seen success with customers breaking down larger components into separate cobot-ready subassemblies.
Here are a few common aspects of most low-hanging weldments, though we encourage you to reach out to us to evaluate your specific application.
- GMAW (MIG) fillets and bevels (TIG is possible but significantly more difficult)
- Steel or stainless steel (aluminum is possible but trickier)
- A relatively "open" design for torch access
- A relatively small number of welds that constitute a relatively high amount of arc-on time
- Part fits in an existing manual weld booth, doesn't have to be repositioned multiple times, no overhead welds
3. The Right Champion holds the Key to Success
An integrator can give you all the components for success - even go so far as to provide you with a turnkey solution. But without the right “Automation Champion”, as we call it, your potential for long-term success is limited.
From our experience, the best Champions have a high sense of ownership and are eager to make it work. We’ve found these “soft” attributes to be more critical in determining success than the “hard” technical aspects. The technical aspects can be easily taught to an eager Champion. We’ve seen successful Champions from all backgrounds - owners, owners’ children, engineers, welders, machine operators, foremen, apprentices right out of trade school. The common denominators leading them to success were ownership and eagerness.
An important note here: your Champion (programmer, overall owner) can be your day-to-day Operator (part loader), but doesn’t have to be. Some end-users separate the roles - oftentimes when the Champion wears multiple hats in the shop - while some combine the roles.
Types of Welding Automation
Awareness of the different solutions available in the marketplace - along with their pros & cons - is critical to selecting the right type of automation to fit both your technical and commercial needs. The three primary types of shop welding automation are summarized below.
Cobot Welding
Our product is a collaborative robot (cobot) welding/cutting system powered by the industry-leading Universal Robots arm. The cobot arm has internal safety sensors that allow it to work in close proximity to humans, eliminating the need for permanent barriers. Cobots do not require a dedicated footprint and are portable; but are limited in reach and external axes - requiring smaller parts, manual re-positioning of parts, and/or repositioning of the cobot welder system.
This solution is geared primarily towards lower-volume smaller manufacturers who need quick deployment, flexibility, and ease-of-use at a low cost and risk level.
Traditional Robot Welding
Traditional robotic welding systems come in all shapes and sizes, and are provided by a large number of robot suppliers and integrators. Traditional robots require external perimeter guarding and/or safety equipment to protect humans from robot operations. These systems all have dedicated footprints and range in size from small pre-engineered cells up to massive custom systems. A wide variety of robot capacities, external axes, and part manipulators are available.
These solutions are primarily geared toward manufacturers with larger parts, unique welding needs, and/or higher-volume operations.
Fixed (Hard) Automation
In contrast to the flexible nature of cobotic and robotic solutions, hard automation is typically custom-designed for a particular part number or part family. As a result, fixed automation is oftentimes the most effective and efficient way to tackle a very specific application, but re-purposing can be costly and impractical. Examples include a dual-torch system for welding heads onto shells, many submerged arc welding systems, linear track welders for long seams, etc.
These solutions are primarily geared towards specific high-volume and/or high-arc-time applications