Page 31 - MetalForming November 2015

Besides robotic welding, Quality Industries’ capital program includes investment in a new powder-coating line (right), CNC punching and laser-cutting machines (top), stamping presses and more.
“We are trying to be smarter on the fixturing side, making sure that the fixtures change out easily and fre- quently, but that they also are inex- pensive to make,” he explains. “As we run parts through the shop, we want to run them as smoothly and quickly as we can from start to finish, so we can’t have multi-hour setup times. We must build these fixtures to have the parts in and out in 15 or 20 min., weld a batch of parts, know that they are consis- tent, and then move on to the next batch.”
Robots Assist in Low-Volume Work
Though robotic welding is thought of as most applicable to higher-vol- ume applications, Quality Industries also has incorporated the technology into a low-volume workcell.
“A single robot handles three work zones in this cell,” says Ham. “We con- structed the cell so that we can weld in any one of the three zones with changeover and setup taking place simultaneously in the other two. This allows us to run lower-quantity jobs across a robot and still stay efficient.
“When we have huge volumes,” he continues, “we can justify building $30,000-40,000 weld fixtures for robot- ic welding. With this cell, we build less expensive fixturing to make robotic welding economical instead of just sending these low-volume jobs to a bench and performing manual weld-
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MetalForming/November 2015 29
ing. We will continue to look for ways to build fixturing and employ robots for lower-volume jobs throughout our operation.”
Capital Program Tackles Various Processes
The enhanced welding capabili- ties are part of Quality Industries’ $12.5-million company-wide capital program, undertaken to significantly bolster efforts to better serve cus- tomers and achieve growth, while improving overall quality and effi- ciency.
Recent updates also include a com- plete stamping-press rebuild and installation of a quick-die-change sys- tem. Also, the company acquired a new Stamtec OCP-260-L 286-ton single- point gap-frame press. The press is served by a Tomac TLN2-300 compact servo-driven feed line. Stamtec sup- plied and installed the feed line and press.
Investment doesn’t end there. Qual- ity Industries also added a new pow- der-coating line and Trumpf TC5000 CNC punching machine. And, the company soon will be installing an Amada EMK turret punch press at its Denton, TX, facility. MF