Page 22 - MetalForming March 2012

Data Collection
Accountability at every level is the mantra at Northern Stamping, where real-time monitoring of robotic-welding cells has led to improved throughput, quality, machine uptime and a host of other measurables.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
Management at automotive supplier Northern Stamping, which operates stamping and robotic-welding facilities in Northeast Ohio, has negotiated production stan- dards with its union as a condition of employment. Workers pledge to be per- sonally responsible for throughput and quality. In return, management pledges its full support to maintain produc- tion equipment to run at peak per- formance levels.
We visited the firm’s 141,000-sq.-ft. robotic-welding facility in Valley View, OH, where technicians devoutly mon- itor all welding and automation equip- ment, fixtures, etc., to ensure optimum performance. Management also has instituted individual production incen- tives to encourage performance above and beyond the negotiated standards.
Accountability at every level is what has allowed the plant, primarily a sup- plier to General Motors, to eliminate two-thirds of its indirect labor related to quality monitoring and control.
“We’re gathering production data straight from the PLCs on each of our robotic-welding cells,” says Scott Sheffield, vice president of operations.
Sparks Weld-Cell Performance Boost
20 MetalForming/March 2012
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Trailer-hitch work from GM, as well as
takeover work from other hitch manu-
facturers, has fueled Northern Stamp-
ing’s growth. The firm operates 70
welding robots working in single-, dual- and quad-robot cells. Every assembly carries an individual lot-traceability stamp (shown here) — the weld-cell operator’s signature.
“We launched the tracking system in 2003 to address downtime issues, and it became fully integrated in 2007. Before that, we had no comprehensive way of controlling what each operator made in a shift.”
Robotic Welding
a Core Competency
Northern Stamping made its first foray into robotic welding in the mid 1990s when it dove headfirst into Gen- eral Motors’ GMT800 program, accord- ing to company president Matthew
Friedman. Among its work for the proj- ect was stamping and welding cross- members and torsion bars, which led to the company opening the Valley View welding facility in 1997. Stampings for the welded assemblies come from the firm’s original plant, a 161,000-sq.-ft. facility in nearby Cuyahoga Heights, OH. The stamping plant was known as Variety Stamping until Friedman’s father and a partner took the company over in 1989.
GMT800 business ramped up at Northern Stamping in 1998 and fueled