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Collaborative robotics in metal fabrication: Automate the boring

Manufacturing engages the worker ... for the most part

When I hear anyone touting dynamic careers in manufacturing, two scenarios come to mind. One involves engineers talking with a laser cutting, press brake, or welding lead, poring over blueprints or perhaps a 3D CAD file on a laptop or tablet. They’re solving a problem, brainstorming to make fabrication more efficient. It’s the kind of thing that makes people want to come to work.

Then I think of the press brake operator sitting on a chair in front of a small electric press brake. Sure, the brake is productive and accurate, perfectly suited for this type of small-piece work. But the operator looks bored. He’s bending bracket after bracket after bracket. The volumes are too low to build a die and stamp it, so the poor brake operator must sit there, shift after shift, forming one simple bend after another

The latter is ripe for automation with collaborative robotics. The FABRICATOR has covered how systems from Rethink Robotics and Universal Robots have been starting to show up in the metal fabrication space. At FABTECH®, integrator Ready Robotics showed videos of collaborative systems operating legacy fabrication equipment like ironworkers and horizontal bandsaws. ARC Specialties showed a collaborative robot with a welding gun.

This wave of new robotics feels different than what we saw in the 1990s and into the early 2000, when more welding robots made their way into fabrication job shops. I recall then talking to managers who told me their welders feared for their jobs after seeing the robot in action. Then the fear subsided, after the company used the robot for one large order but then couldn’t find a use for it again; so it sat in the corner, idle.

I concede that this is a generalization, but it seems that the fear really hasn’t risen since, even as robots have become more flexible, with offline programming and simulation along with flexible fixturing. The country simply doesn’t have enough welders, and those who know welding have also learned to program robots.

More than this, collaborative robots could progress to the point where they take on the mundane work that nobody wants. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. Sometimes, managers don’t want to hire people to perform this work. This is certainly understandable. Let’s be honest; when it comes to the labor crisis, a lot of it has to do with filling unskilled and semiskilled positions—general helper, material handler, and so forth. People fail drug tests. They show up for a week, collect their first paycheck, then don’t show up again. With record low unemployment, the problem is only going to get worse.

Collaborative robots could play a role in solving this problem, taking on unskilled and even semiskilled work. Programmed by workers, such robots could bend brackets, lay down that simple weld, punch metal on an ironworker, and move where needed as a shop’s needs change. No longer must people stand in front of a machine and fabricate or weld simple parts, day in and day out.

For sure, collaborative robots won’t work in every situation. For instance, today’s systems have insufficient payload capacity and reach for some applications. But during a time of record low unemployment, they may be able to help a fabricator maintain throughput. And they’ll never fail a drug test.

About the Author
The Fabricator

Tim Heston

Senior Editor

2135 Point Blvd

Elgin, IL 60123

815-381-1314

Tim Heston, The Fabricator's senior editor, has covered the metal fabrication industry since 1998, starting his career at the American Welding Society's Welding Journal. Since then he has covered the full range of metal fabrication processes, from stamping, bending, and cutting to grinding and polishing. He joined The Fabricator's staff in October 2007.