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While the development of process- es and procedures is ongoing, initial results using the new robotic-welding system are exceeding expectations. Thus far, non-value-added labor has been reduced, and consistency of qual- ity has improved.
“We know how much time these buckets take us to weld manually, and we know how much time they’re parked on our factory floor,” says Zeno. “Instead of parking there for 5 weeks, as they have in the past when we were welding them strictly on a manual basis, they’re usually only there for a matter of days. So the reduction in non-value-added labor is significant, exceeding 60 percent. That’s enabled us to offer quality products in a price- competitive way, and in most cases at a significant pricing advantage over our competitors.”
“Our efficiency has gone from about 60 to 80 percent,” adds Willoughby. “We’re obviously aiming for 100 per- cent. I don’t know that it’s possible to
ever maintain 100 percent on a con- tinuing basis, but it’s a goal that we continue to work toward.”
More importantly, ACS believes that the introduction of this technology has made a statement about the level of quality and service the company is pre- pared to provide to its customers. The results have been multi-layered: increased growth and profitability in its existing business, as well as new oppor- tunities in yet-untapped markets. For example, the robotic-welding technol- ogy has helped ACS initiate a bucket- development program, culminating in a major OEM increasing bucket orders by $1,500,000 to date. ACS also has accelerated sales growth into the aggre- gate-mining and steel-production industries.
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Integrating the gantry robot with their existing processes took time and persistence.
“We’re still in that learning phase,” says Zeno, “but we’ve covered a lot of ground, and we’re beginning to see the real tangible benefits of all the work that’s gone into this activity.”
Even with the system up and run- ning, Lincoln Electric continues to pro- vide guidance, support and fine tuning in response to ACS’s processing needs and the changing demands of the industry.
“Things continue to change,” says Zeno. “The things that you put to bed today may not necessarily be put to bed tomorrow. If our business contin- ues to grow in a way we believe it will, there’s going to be a need for addition- al equipment and robots. With our past success as a great foundation, ACS and Lincoln Electric will be able to incor- porate all of the things we’ve learned collectively on this robot into what we’re planning for the future.” MF
Article provided by Lincoln Electric Co., Cleveland, OH; 888/935-3878, www.lincolnelectric.com.
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