Automotive giant benefits from new automation line system

Results

• Real-time tracking of manufacturing progress along with live production data
• Reduction of labour costs
• Increased production output
• Fully compliant with safety regulations

 

Project overview

A global market leading Tier 1 automotive manufacturer needed a pallet-based automation line system to pick and place aluminium cast parts to and from supporting processes.

Within it, a pallet-based automation line system allowed the pick and placement of aluminium cast parts to and from supporting processes, such as straightening, grinding and CNC machining.

iconsys was commissioned to design and manufacture a dual lane pallet conveyor system and integrate two 6-axis robots into the process in order to pick and place the parts into the requisite processes. We were also responsible for the control system integration of three independent process cells to allow the automation line to run as a complete cell.

The three supporting processes were a straightening press, 6-axis grinding cell and a high-speed CNC Machining cell.

The automation line, controlled by a Siemens Safety PLC, is part of the fully automated process which would reduce labour costs whilst increasing production yield. It also needed to be integrated into the site MES system for real-time production data and part traceability to be sent to our client and end customers.

 

Our Solution

Each lane would be used for a specific hand of the same product. The conveyor system would be designed to run even numbers of left and right-hand product through each process, or independently if required.

We also partnered with client specific straightening press, grinding cell & CNC machine suppliers. Fully integrating their equipment meant one point of contact.

The collaborative effort between various supplies, resulted in a final turn-key solution custom-built to the specific requirements of our client.

Finally, we fully integrated each assembly cell into the client’s MES system, which allows real-time tracking of manufacturing progress along with live production data on the status of each part leaving the cell area.