Challenges

“The addition of new workpieces required modification of the current line, but a major modification was difficult due to budget constraints.’’

⚡Points of the problem faced by the customer⚡

(1) It was necessary to add a process of inverting the workpieces, but there was no sufficient budget to purchase new equipment.

(2) It was possible to perform the additional process by using existing manual machines, but automation was inevitable due to the required production volume and operating rates.

Solutions

💡What we can do for the customer💡

Muratec’s flexible loader can support the workpiece transfer cycles that have become more complex due to the addition of the new processing step!

Our proposals to solve the customer’s problems are as follows.

📝Proposals

- First, we began considering processing options that would allow the customer to add the additional process to the current machining line within the investment cost limit. As a result, the new workpieces can now be processed with the current machine configuration by simply changing the transfer cycle as shown in the figure below.  By performing the additional OP15 process on the same axis as OP10, it has become possible to process the new workpiece on the current line without adding any additional axis. Although the additional process makes the workpiece transfer cycle a little more complicated, Muratec’s loader is controlled together with the machining system itself, so that the transfer cycle can be switched smoothly.

- Moreover, Muratec’s loader has a workpiece status monitoring function, and even in the case of short time breakdown during the complex transfer cycle, it can be restarted midway. Generally, when an automatic line stops, it is necessary to remove the workpieces remaining in the entire process and return them to the origin positions when restarting, but this work can be significantly reduced. This function, which improves the stability of equipment utilization, is also a feature of Muratec’s loaders.

*Click here for the explanatory video of the mid-start loader cycle.

https://youtu.be/EHQsHg5xiRM

Effects after introduction

✨Higher Productivity

- It has become possible for the customer to produce the new workpieces with limited investment costs without making major changes to the conventional machining line.

- The three-step machining process has been achieved with the existing two-axis system, resulting in great space saving.