LONG RUNS REQUIRED TO JUSTIFY ROBOT INSTALLATIONS At the forefront of these enormous changes thanks to leading edge technology is Okuma, according to its managing director Australia and New Zealand, Phil Hayes. Mr Hayes recalls a study at the Ford Motor Company in Victoria, Australia some years back that identified that a part sat on a pallet for almost six hours before its next machining operation. He also recalls the successful transition from a line of eight machines, each machining two features of an oil pump body at one set up, to two machines machining every feature at 64 units at one set up, commenting at the time, the maths were not difficult. He says Ford Motor Company implemented a huge number of efficient new processes and methods but this did not save them from the short-sighted industrial climate of the time, which had nothing to do with the object of making parts 16 May 2016 efficiently and profitably for the companies who had invested heavily in new technology. Today, there are so many options to achieve greater efficiency however these require some form of investment and modest and sometimes higher levels of capital. Coupled with this is the single most important challenge of being a change in the philosophy of who should do what and the most effective utilisation of skilled labour. Before the Holden Adelaide plant introduced robots to the chassis underbody welding line, Mr Hayes had watched big men wield 100kg+ spot welding guns as they welded their designated section all day, every day. The introduction of robots in this area was a great win for efficiency, accuracy, consistency and physical health and safety. With this change the valuable experience of the welders was not lost as they continued to contribute in identifying welding improvements, inspection, maintenance and other creative functions within the plant. “Whilst not all companies can invest in plant and equipment to the level of major international corporations, the same benefits apply when applying robots to repetitive tasks such as loading and unloading,” says Mr Hayes. “It dramatically reduces mental strain on employees, eliminates safety risks and the cost of labour which is increasing every year." “On top of this there is also the book write down value every year on capital items. Mr Hayes notes the smallest machines at the once-known PBR Automotive operation were Okuma LB6’s, LCC’s and LCS’ with tiny on board Okuma gantry loader (OGL) robots to load and unload disc brake calliper pistons for mirror finish turning. These were destined for auto makers both here and overseas. He has the one millionth part C A S E S T U D Y MULTIFUNCTIONAL MACHINING TURNING TO ROBOTICS ONCE ‘UNRELIABLE BLACK ART’ LEADS A CHANGING MARKET ENVIRONMENT Okuma MD warns of more change at even greater rate beyond the old school conventional turning operations with added milling of less than 10 years ago to multifunctional machining with robotics; increasing machine utilisation, freeing up skilled workers from routine work and up-skilling for even higher levels of efficiency.
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