No More 2:00 A.M. Phone Calls

by Chuck Boyer
ABB Inc. Posted 04/18/2008

Situation: 
Leading manufacturer of automobile axles producing over a million axles each year wanted to eliminate emergency early morning calls. Also, rear suspension technology has gotten more complex with odd-shaped brackets requiring a more flexible welding system.

Problem: 
Complicated and intricate fixtures made it difficult to move the robot to a service position when an error occured.

Solution:
Purchased several specially engineered ABB systems that include an ABB IRB 1400 robot, S4 Controller, BullsEye calibration unit, AWC Advanced Weld Control and Error Handling.

Now when an error occurs the operator doesn't have to take the robot out of automatic mode. They simply use the error handling process that allows the operator to move the robot to a safe position using easy to understand instructions and preprogrammed escape paths.

Advanced Weld Control has helped by allowing the setting of limits on how far the robot can track from the programmed path. If a bracket is missing the robot will stop and alert the operator with a tracking fault and eliminates the loss of expensive components.

The eight robots operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week producing 1500 to 2400 parts a day. Production time has increased from an hour and a half to three hours per robot within every 24 hour period.