The Expanded Reach of Automation

March 10, 2011

Automation can help companies be more productive while remaining flexible.

As automotive production requirements evolve to suit the market’s new economic realities, shops need to become more flexible while at the same time reduce costs. Today’s automation systems can help the whole automotive supply chain run leaner and create a new type of worker. Canadian Industrial Machinery asked Methods Machine Tools Inc. Automation Manager John B. Lucier to explain.

As production requirements change, shops need to become more flexible and reduce costs. Automation, like this automated cell with a robot tending three FANUC RoboDrills, is one example.

CIM: Automation often forces culture change. How can shops prepare?

Lucier: They can prepare by becoming more knowledgeable about automation.

It’s surprising how many similar operations machining and automation share. For instance, when we are machining, all parts must be held with enough force for the part to be machined. In automation, we also need to hold and pick up parts.

The pneumatic grippers we use in automation look very similar to chucks on a lathe; both need jaws to hold parts. Additionally, both pieces of equipment need to be programmed. The languages are different, but, the theories are similar.

CIM: How do you fight the stigma that all automation does is eliminate human workers?

Lucier: The first thing to point out is that all industries are undergoing critical challenges with more and more machining work being sent overseas.

The reduction in the numbers of trained machinists is well-stated, starting with the lower numbers of students enrolling in formal machinist training. Vocational programs also are reducing or eliminating the machining programs due to lack of enrollment.

If we are going to attempt to hold on to these jobs for this industry in North America, we must do something to make our industry more competitive.

Automation is the key.

Just like the industry changed with the advent of numerical control [NC] and then computer numerical control [CNC], the industry is changing now.

Automation takes many forms but, for some reason our industry readily accepts the idea of a barfeeder on the back side of a lathe loading bars as needed, yet the sight of a bright yellow robot arm doing the same with slugs of material sends everyone scrambling for their jobs.

Automation, whether it’s a barfeeder or a robot arm, requires well-trained machinists — knowledgeable tradesmen who know how to effectively cut metal, pick out tools, set up a machine, and program that machine to cut.

Automation, however flashy it may look, is nothing but flash unless the machine can effectively and efficiently produce the part in a repeatable manner.

CIM: So, this technology can create a new breed of machinists?

Lucier: I believe that machine tool automation is creating a new opportunity for machinists and a demand for better-trained machinists. This new machinist not only has to tool up, set up, and program the jobs as before, but now must do it at a more advanced level so the job can run for longer periods of time without machine tending.

Just as CNC changed the machinist’s job by adding the task of machine programming, automation presents a new opportunity by allowing the machinist to set up and program a robot.

From personal experience, I can vouch that programming robots, for the most part, is more straightforward than machine programming. The days of minimally trained machine operators loading parts in and out of machine tools and pressing the green button are going the same way of turning handles on the machine. 

CIM: Are some types of automation better suited to certain types of machinery?

Lucier: Yes. For instance, vertical machining centers [VMCs], by nature of their design, give robots access from the side of the machine, which keeps the front door and control open to the operator.

This arrangement lends itself well to a floor-mounted articulating-arm robot or some sort of hard automation.

CIM: How about horizontal machining centers (HMCs)?

Lucier: HMCs have always been popular because of their multipallet capabilities. 

Automating a process, such as this FEELER turning center, requires knowledgeable tradesmen who know how to effectively cut metal, pick out tools, set up a machine, and program that machine to cut.

Given the industry’s push toward automation, HMCs are being introduced to companies that previously refused to use them because of their significantly higher cost when compared to other machines.

With the need to reduce labor costs to maintain profitability, the shops are now looking at HMCs as a financially viable alternative. These machines may be tooled up and scheduled to run at night, unattended in some cases, utilizing standard, existing technologies instead of custom solutions. 

This places automated systems within the financial reach of a vast market that was previously unobtainable.

CIM: How can a turning center take advantage of automation?

Lucier: With their single front door, turning centers lend themselves to a robot on a rail.

This allows the robot to vacate the front of the machine fully to facilitate setups and tool changes. In a small, automated cell  having several machines in a circle, a floor-mounted robot can be effective, but a rail-mounted robot has more travel and will allow for more machines and ancillary processes, such as measuring, washing, and marking, when a larger cell is required.

CIM: How does a shop decide what kind of automation it needs?

Lucier: The type of automation recommended to a potential user is engineered based on several factors: size and weight of parts, number of different parts we are asking the automation to handle, lot size, number of changeovers per day or week, machine type and size that the automation will handle, and the longevity of the job; for example, will the job last five years without changing, or does the customer have a one-year contract and require flexibility?

CIM: Part volumes in this industry are not at the same levels as they used to be. Can a shop with a high mix, low volume take advantage of automation?

Lucier: Both high part volume, and high mix and low-volume jobs are good candidates for automation.

Obviously, the high-part-volume jobs traditionally were considered for automation first, but, with a properly designed generic cell, high-mix, low-volume and even job shop-type of work can be set up and run using automation.

CIM: Does part size and weight affect automation?

Lucier: Yes. Articulating-arm robots are chosen based on lifting capacity and reach. Part size affects the automation by dictating the end-of-arm tooling required to manipulate the part.

A larger part requires larger tooling, and this larger tooling is normally heavier. This tooling weight, together with the part weight, is the basis for choosing the proper capacity for the robot. In addition to the part and tooling weight, the process needs to be considered as well.

The preferred method of loading a machine is to make one trip into the machine with the robot, unload the finished part with one gripper, rotate to a second gripper, load a new part, and move out of the machine. This method uses two sets of grippers and forces the robot to hold two parts at the same time.

For more information, visit www.methodsmachine.com.