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13 sizes across four product lines
A manufacturer of bathroom stall partition hardware needed more capacity for its partition shoes. Its main automated line was already running, and the extra volume was being formed and welded by hand. That meant repetitive handling at the press brake and welder, operators working close to both, and no backup if the main line went down. The new cell had to handle the same high mix: 13 sizes from 3 to 24 inches across four product lines.
We built a cell that takes flat blanks all the way to finished, welded parts. An operator loads blanks onto a servo turntable. Light curtain guarding lets loading happen while the cell runs, so the robot isn't waiting on anyone.
A FANUC M-10iD/12 robot picks the top blank and sets it on a positioning table, which squares every part before it's formed. The robot then presents the blank to the press brake to form the shoe. From there, it tends a resistance spot welder, which welds one side, then the robot rotates the part 180° so the other side can be welded too. Finished parts leave the cell on a discharge conveyor.
High mix comes down to tooling. An automatic tool changer switches between two end-of-arm tools, so changeovers between sizes and product lines stay quick and handling stays consistent from part to part.
The design matches the cell already running in production. That adds capacity and gives the plant a backup for the main line. Both cells share common spare parts, which keeps maintenance simple, and operators already know how to run the equipment.
Once the cell starts, there's no operator handling at the press or the welder. Work that used to be done by hand now runs in the cell, and skilled people are free for higher-value work.
