Page 34 - MetalForming March 2015

Robotic Welding
Gives “Hit-‘n-Ship” Stamper a New Look
Tier One/Tier Two automotive metalformer Wellington Industries leverages its “manufacturing IQ” to become a prominent supplier of robotic-welded (resistance and MIG- braze) front-end modules for some of the most popular platforms.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
Chris Richards, director of engi- neering at Wellington Industries, Belleville, MI, calls the company a ‘go-to’ stamper for side sills, A and B pillars, reinforcements and more,” not- ing how much takeover work that has landed at the company in recent years. The shift began during the automo- tive downturn, and continues today through the industry’s recovery.
But more significant to the growth of the company—over the last few years and projected on for the next several years—is Wellington’s expansion beyond just, as Richards says, being a “hit-and-ship stamper,” and becom- ing a go-to source for welded automo- tive assemblies. To be more precise, it’s supplying welded front-end mod- ules and bumper assemblies to OEMs as well as to Tier One suppliers. That move started in 2010-2011.
At the entry end of Wellington’s latest ABB robotic-welding cell, used to assemble bumpers, a series of resistance-welded subassemblies make their way down a conveyor belt. An operator loads the subassemblies into a large turntable positioner (seen here just over his right shoulder), which indexes the fixture assembly into the welding cell. The cell welds a reinforcement plate and an array of clips and nuts to the boron-steel bumper beam.
32 MetalForming/March 2015
www.metalformingmagazine.com
“They (the Tier One companies) brought the design intelligence to the table, and we developed the manu- facturing IQ needed to engineer, stamp and assemble new front-end mod- ules,” says Richards. We’re talking sup- porting production of the higher-vol- ume models.
High-Volume Assembly Provides a Makeover
Wellington operates out of a pair of side-by-side facilities in Belleville—its
original 150,000-sq.-ft. stamping plant outfitted with 15 big-bed mechanical presses, and a neighboring 100,000- sq.-ft. assembly facility the firm took over in 2010. This facility is home to eight robotic-welding cells. It’s this more recently inhabited assembly plant that “represents the new look of the company,” Richards says.
The firm’s foray into high-volume assembly dates back to 2010 when, responding to a request from a Tier One supplier, it took over front-end