BWI Group, a supplier of chassis, suspension and brake products to major automotive OEMs, has deployed a collaborative robot (cobot) at its Luton plant.
Supplied by RARUK Automation, the Universal Robots UR10 cobot is currently employed tending a blow-moulding machine, where completed dust cover parts are extracted every 25 seconds and placed in containers ready for shipping.
“Previously, the parts would just exit the machine and land randomly on a conveyor, which although a bit messy was fine when we used the dust covers in-house,” said Mike Hathway, industrial engineer at BWI Group.
“However, the dust covers are now sent to another facility for assembly, so shipping them in a tangled, random way would render them unusable.
“If we didn’t deploy the UR10 here we would need a full-time operative at the end of the machine to pack the parts neatly.
“This job would be particularly dull, comprising five seconds of work and 20 seconds of waiting – hardly an efficient or cost-effective use of labour.”
According to Hathway, BWI Group is now looking at introducing further cobots, having identified a particular interest in the larger UR16.
“Aside from the flexibility and reliability, the collaborative capability means we don’t need guarding and can create a far more compact cell – with due care relating to speeds, motion and grippers,” added Hathway.
“Our factory is highly utilised and we don’t have sufficient space to be adding large guarded robot cells. Guarding also adds to the cost of a project.”
BWI Group said it is also currently in the process of creating a new business venture, Open Automation, that will semi-integrate UR cobots on a stand complete with PLC and programme, ready to sell to other end users.
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