Phil 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 on his desk from an LB6 machine
and advised that LCC and LCS machines with OGL
robotics would go on to produce well in excess of
three million pistons per annum.
Okuma gantry loaders come in capacities from 3kg
up payloads and Ken Horner’s KH Equipment has
installed LB3000 lathes with OGL 10kg units attached
in his advanced engineering shop.
“Basically the integrated OGL units allow us to
reach higher levels of productivity without the usual
expansion of overheads that were always necessary
when you wanted to get more out of the day,” says
Ken Horner, director at KH Equipment. “They are a
good piece of well supported technology that is simply
built yet so sturdy that they are extremely reliable –
just good engineering.
“Today we have medium sized production runs
and once the operators are familiar with the set-up,
changeovers are completed quickly and efficiently.
Like all advances in manufacturing, it is necessary to
help yourself and take ownership of the future,” says
Ken.
“No longer is this technology ‘unreliable black art’ it
is seriously efficient from two of the most important
viewpoints – productivity and financial,” he says. “It
has changed the dynamics of the work flow with the
machine cutting out three operations and it is virtually
handling the work of five people. The machine is consistently
accurate to within 1,000th of an inch which
we have complete confidence as this is proven with
regular concentricity batch tests.”
The stand-alone floor robots are even more flexible
physically but in reality are more likely to be dedicated
to a wider range of throughput, handling parts of
more than ½ a tonne in weight. These require safety
cells and compliance with strict safety standards and
the cell itself may also be somewhat complex as the
part may have to be washed, deburred, measured,
inspected, packaged and quarantined. All this can
be completed in one combined cycle and set up by
a creative skilled operator who is likely to be tending
three or four of these cells at once.
One of Melbourne’s well-known and best engineering
jobbing shops, GW Kewder Engineering defeated the
theory that long runs were required to justify robot
installations.
“The installation of robots enabled us to close down
the night shift yet still run the machines overnight. Text
messages are forwarded automatically by the machine
to key personnel at any time of the night should a
malfunction or out of tolerance occur,” says Kewder’s
managing director, Derek Warrington. “Robots have
allowed us to reduce times on batch runs of 200-250
complex components from two weeks to 4-5 days.
We now have three trained robot operators and this
SPECIAL FEATURE:
KIWI MOTORSPCORNTC F E A T U R E
NEW WAY O F
D O I N G T H I N G S
Robots in the workplace do present
a new set of operational criteria that
needs to occur:-
1) Ownership of the ‘system’ - now
and in the future. It is not the
suppliers ‘system’, it’s the business
owners.
2) Robots go to exactly where they
are told to go to. But that’s the
extent of it. Vision and tactile
sensing is an all new ballgame.
“Consistent” raw material (size/
shape-wise) is mandatory. The
fixtures/nests of the raw parts have
to be accurate and bullet proof as
they will be subject to relentless use
and must be supervised until totally
trustworthy. Weak tooling stops the
complete system and can ruin the
total investment.
3) Whilst we like to think it’s a ‘set and
forget’ process, inspections are
a must. All peripheral equipment
requires an inspection routine to
avoid mishaps. It can always be
done at part changeover.
4) Don’t forget the machine the robot
is serving. There is often no one
watching and listening to what it’s
doing and what’s happening. The
regularity of maintenance may be
increased due to relentless work
with a robot.
5) Not least is safety. The single
most important matter is that
the machine, robot and lockout
systems are on the same communication
channel. For that reason,
there is no better way than to
seek and install the official Robot
Interface from the machine tool
manufacturer. This is important.
Don’t proceed with robot cells
without the right interface. In
addition to that operators must be
trained to run a robot cell.
6) Protective fencing must be sturdy.
Fencing solutions must be affixed to
the floor, the correct door locks for
robotic cell doors installed and clear
signage affixed with appropriate
warnings and instructions.
7) For cell fixtures and nests, fork
lift-able pallets can be used and
allow quick removal of a finished
pallet of parts and delivery of a
fresh pallet for machining.
“ N O L O N G E R I S T H I S T E C H N O L O GY ‘ U N R E L I A B L E B L A C K A R T ’ I T I S
SERIOUSLY E F F I C I E N T F R O M T WO O F T H E M O S T I M P O R T A N T V I E W P O I N T S
– P R O D U C T I V I T Y A N D F I N A N C I A L . I T H A S C H A N G E D T H E DY N A M I C S O F T H E
WO R K F L O W W I T H T H E M A C H I N E C U T T I N G O U T T H R E E O P E R A T I O N S A N D I T
I S V I R T U A L LY H A N D L I N G T H E WO R K O F F I VE P E O P L E . ” K E N H O R N E R
26 May 2018