4 Signs Your Facility is Ready for Robotic Welding Work Cells
The productivity benefits of robotic welding are undeniable, but not all welding processes can be profitably automated. While robotic capabilities have advanced rapidly over the years, and continue to do so, it can still be difficult to tell if your facility is ready for robotic welding work cells. It’s a big investment to automate welding processes and the decision needs to be carefully planned.
So, how do you know if your facility is ready for robotic welding work cells? How do you know if robotic welding will be profitable for your business?
The 4 Ways to Tell if Your Manufacturing Facility Will Profit From Robotic Welding Work Cells
Without the help of a qualified systems integrator, it can be tough to know if your facility is prepared for robotic welding automation. Generally speaking, there are 4 ways to tell.
Assess Part Flow
If you’re automating welding processes to solve a bottleneck in production, it will be important to assess part flow throughout the production cycle. Robotic welding will increase throughput dramatically – are other processes ready for the increase? If the welding bottleneck is solved, will this create an uneven part flow elsewhere? If your part flow can handle robotic welding throughput, that’s one sign your facility is ready for automated welding.
Assess Part Mix
Historically, robots have excelled at welding high-volume, uniform parts with little or no variation in the welding process. Today’s robots, however, feature advanced vision systems, offline programming and quick tool changeover capabilities to handle more diverse part mixes. If a robotic welding work cell won’t need excessive changeover times in your facility, it will likely deliver return on investment (ROI) and productivity.
Personnel
Welding personnel can be evaluated in a few different ways. First, are you having difficulty finding trained, qualified welders? Also, do you have experienced welders who could operate a robot? Welders who understand the process are the perfect candidates to educate on programming and troubleshooting the automation process. If you have the personnel in place, your facility will be ready for robotic welding work cells.
Justify the Upfront Costs
Robotic welding work cells are a big investment and require serious thought before deciding to automate. An experienced integrator can help you calculate costs and expected ROI. If you can justify the upfront investment costs, it’s likely your facility will benefit from robotic welding work cells.
Most, but not all, facilities can handle robotic welding work cells. Those that can see significant throughput, productivity and profitability increases. Robotic welding can transform production. The decision to invest in a robotic welding system must be carefully planned to ensure the intended ROI and productivity gains are realized.
To learn more, see how Genesis Systems Group robotic welding integration services have tackled some of the toughest production challenges over the past 30+ years.
