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Gearbox producer SEAT Componentes wanted to automate the unloading of 18,000 machined gears a day at its plant in Spain to ensure the standard of the components. The corporate built-in 10 collaborative robots from Common Robots utilizing solely inside assets.
This system made it doable for SEAT to maintain know-how on cobot configuration in-house, eliminating additional programming and upkeep prices. The do-it-yourself set up was finished with out altering the present manufacturing facility format, permitting new functions to be configured in lower than 1 hour.
In consequence, the firm has lowered errors, improved employee security, and now has a staff ready to tackle new automation tasks.
The enterprise problem
SEAT is a producer of gearboxes for the Volkswagen Group crops in Europe, Asia, and America. It provides them for quite a lot of automobiles made by each Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT S.A., and Skoda.
At its plant in Barcelona, Spain, SEAT manufactures gearboxes, starting from the casting of the aluminum to the meeting of the housing, which incorporates gears, shafts, synchronizer, and the differential gearbox.
The corporate additionally performs the next high quality management. It’s a very specialised and complicated course of by which high quality and precision are vital to ensure right operation and noise discount of the gearbox.
Unloading the components and making them accessible for the gearbox meeting course of was once carried out fully by hand with operators unloading and transporting the components on trolleys. A course of SEAT needed to automate to scale back errors and enhance security.
“The intention is to make sure that from the machining course of to meeting, the operator touches the half as little as doable,” defined Fonseca, senior supervisor of technical providers at SEAT.
Cobots to the rescue
SEAT’s upkeep staff based mostly its automation strategy on expertise gained from an earlier venture from 2015 by which it put in UR cobots at its shotblasting and washing stations. The corporate realized that cobots had been straightforward to put in, keep, and combine without having security measures comparable to fencing based mostly on carried out threat assessments.
Since utilizing cobots simplified and streamlined the shotblasting and washing course of, the staff really helpful integrating cobots once more to unload components within the manufacture of gearboxes.
SEAT determined to combine 10 UR10e collaborative robots to hold out the unloading. The corporate may undertake that job with out the providers of an exterior integrator because of its earlier expertise with the cobots. This assured price financial savings each on the time of set up and in future upkeep duties.
Performing the combination of the UR cobots with SEAT’s assets concerned two levels of coaching and preparation. First, the SEAT Componentes Upkeep staff skilled throughout the firm, beginning with the free UR Academy on-line coaching modules.
Second, the staff carried out a pilot venture by which it built-in an preliminary cobot.
Cobots provide small footprint and ease of use
Throughout this pilot check, SEAT studied the prices and implementation intervals of a collaborative robotic, the security necessities that the expertise required, and the technical feasibility of the operation.
The cobots handed the check.
“We determined to make use of robots from Common Robots on account of their straightforward programming and integration within the line, and above all due to their low footprint,” mentioned Francisco Pérez of the SEAT Componentes Upkeep Technical Workplace. “We had been capable of set up them with out altering the present layouts, permitting the robots to work alongside the operator.
No mounted installations
The UR10e cobots presently serve 10 totally different machining traces. They don’t seem to be mounted installations, however they’ll simply be tailored to mannequin adjustments.
“In lower than 10 minutes, we will adapt a cobot to switch from unloading one half to a totally totally different part,” Francisco Pérez identified.
Elevated machine uptime
Utilizing the PROFINET protocol, the cobot communicates with the PLC and receives directions as to when there are already machined items in order that it may possibly carry out the associated operation. When that’s the case, the cobot unloads the components onto trays.
As soon as the tray is full, the PLC communicates with the autonomous cell robots (AMRs) to take away the total tray and insert a brand new one, thereby minimizing machine stoppages.
Simply-in-time manufacturing eliminates surplus inventory
The AMR transports the components to a warehouse that’s crammed simply in time in response to manufacturing wants, avoiding surplus inventory and the prices these entail. Having reached this level, the whole lot is now prepared for the gearbox meeting line: The gears are positioned on a particular meeting tray, and thru a collection of automated operations, the remaining gearbox components are connected.
Inside this synchronized course of, the cobot complies with SEAT’s cycle instances to realize the plant’s each day manufacturing targets.
Cobot No. 11 used for testing and validation
A further eleventh UR10e has joined the cobot fleet on the SEAT plant. This robotic arm is meant for in-house coaching and is mounted on a cell platform to get near machines and work facilities.
The UR10e permits operators to familiarize themselves with programming collaborative robots. Moreover, it permits idea exams and validations of latest installations to be carried out earlier than their integration into the road.
3D printing of gripper fingers
One other key issue within the integration of UR cobots by SEAT is that the plant is self-sufficient in printing the “fingers” of the collaborative grippers, in response to every want and the extent of safety required to keep up the security stage of the applying.
This makes it doable to have nearly quick spares with out the necessity for inventory and to carry out idea exams in lower than 45 minutes, mentioned the firm.
Information of cobots saved in-house
“Performing integration in-house has allowed us to maintain the know-how of programming and integrating the cobots throughout the upkeep space, which implies that throughout any stoppages, we could be extra decisive and the prices of machine downtime are decrease,” mentioned Manuel Gómez, upkeep supervisor at SEAT Elements.
Intuitive gripper configuration
This ease when adapting to manufacturing was bolstered with the intuitive configuration of the cobots and their peripherals, licensed by way of the UR+ platform.
“Now we have been capable of implement functions in lower than one hour,” Francisco Pérez emphasised. Furthermore, SEAT Elements can implement these adjustments with out having to name upon the providers of an integrator, which might enhance prices.
Cobots assist upskill operators
One other advantage of the applying is that the operators have been relieved of manually unloading 18,000 components a day.
“Through the use of collaborative robots, we have now managed to make sure that operators can commit their time to duties that add worth to the product, comparable to high quality points or course of enhancements,” famous Gómez. He added this is the reason “the operators see the cobots as an additional instrument to do their work.”
All in all, SEAT has modified its angle, permitting its staff members to tackle future automation tasks in-house.
“Now, any automation venture is conditioned not solely by its contribution by way of profitability, but additionally as a result of it gives us with know-how that we didn’t have earlier than,” Gómez mentioned.
To sum up, the venture “is worthwhile, productiveness is greater, and high quality has been consolidated,” concluded Eduardo Fonseca. He mentioned the automation venture has gotten the approval of the SEAT group.
Editor’s observe: This text was syndicated with permission from Common Robots’ weblog.