Cuts Production Time by 90%
Fern Engineering Systems Ltd are a leading supplier of bespoke Automation and Welding Systems based near Blackburn in the North West of England. Working together with experts from LC Automation, they recently designed and built an innovative new welding machine for Cell Security Ltd in Bolton, Lancashire.
The Cell Security Application;
Cell Security supply welded cell doors for prisons, police stations and a range of other security applications worldwide. Business is good, but they have one major problem; in most situations it takes only 8 hours to construct a cell, whereas it can take 10 hours for Cell Security to construct and weld each cell door by hand!
This leads to time delays because it isn't really practical for Cell Security to hold large stocks of very heavy doors. Another major issue is the large number of customers that have completely different door specifications. In fact, Cell Security have over 100 standard door types and sizes and that doesn’t include special custom sizes and designs. This makes automated production very difficult, because the machines need to be as flexible and easy to setup or change as working by hand.
Cell Security approached Fern Engineering Systems Ltd to design and build a new robotic welding machine that would produce doors quickly, but in a small space that would fit into their existing compact workshop.
The Fern Engineering Solution;
After an initial visit, meeting and consultation period, Fern Engineering Systems designed a totally bespoke, self contained robot cell including a Mitsubishi FX3u PLC, MR-J3 Servo and E1000 Series HMI. They showed Cell Security what the machine would look like, what it would do and how long it would take to build - which was only eleven and a half weeks from the initial call to the robot cell being delivered on site!
Although a smaller servo would have done the job, Fern Engineering Services and LC Automation Servo Specialist Adrian Mincher calculated that the 250Kg robot would be too heavy to guarantee the required accuracy. Specifying a 1kW Mitsubishi Servo, attached to a ceiling mounted linear track gives an overall accuracy of just 0.02mm – which is even better than welding by hand. The machine also includes a host of high-spec features such as automatic torch cleaning and Thermal Dynamics Synergic Mig and Plasma welding sets.
Fast design, fast build and even faster installation
The whole solution was built in just eight weeks. In fact the time from the initial phone call from Cell Security to the machine arriving on site was only eleven and a half weeks! But the real bonus was the fast installation. Paul Morrison, Production Director of Cell Security explains; “The machine was delivered at 11.30am and was actually running by 4.00pm! It was fully operational within a couple of days, minimising disruption to our production because we needed to continue working at full capacity throughout”.
Reducing production time by up to 90%
The new robot cell has reduced production time for cell doors to as little as 40 minutes. But it’s in flexibility that the new machine really wins, because the tooling plates can be changed in just 10 minutes, allowing different designs of doors to be produced quickly up to a maximum size of 2.3m x 1.7m.
Safety built in as standard
Obviously, safety is a major consideration with any machine and Fern Engineering designed safety to be an integral part of the solution without slowing down production. Both horizontal and vertical safety light curtains protect employees from the dangerous moving parts rather than using mechanical guards while rolling curtains help to protect against weld flash.
Fern Engineering Systems; Background
Fern Engineering Systems design, build and install self contained machines across the UK. They are a specialist Robotics and Automation company based near Blackburn in the North West of England and have an enviable reputation for high quality, innovative manufacturing solutions. Concentrating on long term relationships and not only meeting, but exceeding customer expectations, ensures that the majority of Fern business comes from word of mouth referrals. And it’s a trend that is set to continue, as Andrew Beckley explains; “We rarely advertise because we have more than enough work coming in from referrals, especially in the North West (of England).”
Fern ensure they recruit high quality, experienced staff and focus on long term training and ongoing development. Although their engineers specialise in certain areas, they also have the flexibility and knowledge to cover any part of the design and build process, if required to keep jobs moving along smoothly.
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The setup of the robot cell can be changed in just 10 minutes
Welding time has been reduced from 10 hrs to just 40 mins!
Fern Engineering focus on recruiting, training & developing the best expert engineers
Paul Morrison, Cell Security Production Director, Inspecting the Machine with Andrew Beckley
Paul Morrison is obviously impressed with the new Robot Cell
Another satisfied customer!
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