Robotic solutions for loading and unloading of CNC machines
John Hart draws upon a heritage of more than 70 years in machine tools and close to 40 years in automation and robotics to deliver Australian-designed and Australian-made agility to robotic machine tending under the Agile Robotic Systems brand.
Click here to see the robotic machine tending systems for CNC machines from Agile Robotic Systems offering unrivalled ease of use, flexibility and efficiency.
All of these Agile machine tending systems have delivered outstanding machine tool utilization rates, and dramatic increases in the number of parts produced without the need for additional staff.
The benefits of robotic machine tending
The machining industry including equipment such as lathes, mills, machining centers, forges, presses, and injection moulding machines, is the backbone of manufacturing. Automating these machines gives manufacturers clear advantages in terms of utilisation, secondary processes, labour resources, and productivity. Anytime a machine sits idle or an operator isn’t available to support it, that equates to lost productivity and profits.
Increased machining throughput
Robotic machine tending offers maximised speed, reliability, and performance, which leads to increased throughput. Automating these tasks also increases the quality of output thanks to precise, consistent movements that result in reduced variation in finished products.
Lights-out manufacturing
By automating machine loading processes, machines can run for longer periods of time without needing operator intervention, including second and third shifts as well as weekends.
Unmanned machining lowers costs
The cost of operating a robotic machine tending solution is generally lower than the cost of using labour to perform the same tasks. Robots don’t require breaks, vacations, or health insurance. Automating industrial applications like unloading and loading also cuts back on costly errors thanks to consistent precision and repeatability.
Employee safety and satisfaction
By automating the strenuous and repetitive tasks of loading and unloading with CNC machining operations, the risk of employee injury is reduced. When employees don't have to manually handle these arduous duties they can instead focus on higher value tasks.
Increased OEE
OEE (overall equipment effectiveness) can be increased by including secondary tasks. While the machine tool is in service, the robotic machine tending system can be utilised for a range of additional cell-related tasks such as:
- Deburring
- Cleaning
- Quality control
- Specification checks
- Gauging
- Surface vision inspections
Agile manufacturing
The implementation of robotic machine tending can help create an agile manufacturing environment because the systems can be quickly reprogrammed to handle different parts, and they do not require skilled labour to operate. As a result, machine tending systems can help manufacturers respond rapidly to changes in