Boulware Equipment, LLC
3134 Pinkie ln
Newton, NC 28658
704-651-6061
BRAD BOULWARE
PALLET TRASH, REPURPOSED FOR PROFIT
In 2017 Boulware Equipment commissioned the 1st of 2 Shredding systems at an assembly plant (pictured) in Eastern North Carolina. When the plant increased its capacity in 2018, they returned to Boulware Equipment for a 2nd Wood Grinding System. Now in 2021 both systems run simultaneously & Boulware Equipment is responsible for over 100 + Tons of Wood Scrap a week from this single location. This customer and many others choose Boulware Equipment for their wood scrap recycling solution because of how the scrap is handled & repurposed once it leaves your plant. Boulware Equipment provides turn-key equipment design, installation & startup. Our network of 100s of wood fiber buyers across the USA allow us proudly to say we NEVER take wood scrap to the landfill.
Our company supplies woodchip trailers and logistics for the wood fiber recycling at no charge to our customer. We reduce costs, lower your carbon footprint, and repurpose your wood trash in a responsible way, and guarantee no landfill. Repurposing wood trash is our mission.
WEISS North America, Inc.
888-WEISSNA (888-934-7762)
info.us@weiss-world.com
Highly Accurate Assembly Requirements Achieved
Recently, a customer reached out to WEISS North America regarding the development of a highly accurate assembly system with a production rate of 1800 parts per hour and a cycle time of two (2) seconds per assembly. This particular application involved several processes, such as assembly, filling, dispensing, spinning, laser marking, and pressing of sprinkler assemblies.
After reviewing the requirements of the application and considering the various multiple parts and process time requirements, WEISS North America was able to develop and deliver a custom solution that is built around their proven WEISS LS280 Linear Transfer system. To overcome the challenge of the customer’s varied process times, the system was designed with different cam pitches. The 2 second cycle time was achieved by utilizing highly accurate and fast WEISS HP pick and place units and HN & HG linear actuators.
WEISS provided the complete solution including a custom chassis surrounding the LS280 and all electrical enclosures with cable management for all the direct drive components. The complete system operates on WEISS Application Software (W.A.S.).
FEC Automation Systems
51341 Celeste
Shelby Township, MI 48315
586-580-2622
Servo Presses Improve Dowel Insertion
Challenge – An auto manufacturer had a need to upgrade a dowel insertion process from hydraulic presses to electric servo presses for better control of insertion depth over multiple models and the need for resultant quality data. The proposed change was due to the current method’s inconsistency and lack of data needed to verify the dowel press process.
Solution – FEC provided (4) Slimline servo presses in order to meet the close pitch centers of the dowels (to be pressed) over multiple part model configurations. Our software, provided free with our systems, allowed easy “picture based” programming of the process and data collection of the closed-loop process during the complete dowel insertion. In-process checks were programmed to abort the process when interferences and part/material anomalies were detected to eliminate/limit catastrophic part/tooling damage.
Result – FEC vastly improved the control of the dowel insertion depth over many part models requiring more than 20 different press depths while also reducing overall cycle time. Quality data is now collected and stored for each dowel press process.
FEC is a full-service provider of fastening and pressing components as well as complete turn-key solutions to OEM and Tier 1 & 2 suppliers worldwide. Challenge Us.
Wire Harness Benches Increase Production.
Tolerances have to be consistently tight when you’re assembling wire harnesses for a jet fighter – 1/8 of an inch over 32 feet to be exact. Workbenches that can’t accommodate such tolerances would be, well, intolerable.
That’s the problem that a jet manufacturer faced when they determined that they needed to upgrade their facility. They were using pieces of plywood on A-frames for the assembly. This not only affected tolerance levels but also led to stress, strain and fatigue.
The jet fighter manufacturer found a company that could deliver what they were looking for in Proline. A leader in ergonomic workbenches. A company renowned not just for its rugged, technologically advanced workbenches, but also for its ability to “think on the fly” and produce, application-specific solutions, Proline met all of the jet manufacturer’s specs.
Thanks to the range of easy vertical movement provided by the Pro-Line benches, along with tilt, all sections of the wire harness are always within easy reach. Since this initial installation, this jet plane manufacturer is currently in the process of expanding its operation with additional Pro-Line workbenches. Clearly they are more than satisfied that they have harnessed such precise, ergonomically sound and productivity-enhancing workbench solutions.
EMH Hoists for Patented Track Interlocks
When a large international manufacturer needed a reliable crane solution for its aircraft repair facility, they selected Crane-Tec, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, to design, engineer, fabricate and install a transfer crane system. Crane-Tec specified hoists from Engineered Material Handling (EMH).
Special considerations included large capacity requirements for the transfer crane, an independent runway and monorail structure, and large runway spans and loads. Low headroom lift requirements necessitated a double-reeved cross-mounted drum for true vertical lift. Trolleys were designed with multiple wheel sets to run on patented track. Overload limit devices were included as standard. Crane Tec’s solution– a 22.5-ton top running, double girder crane system with a single transfer beam with eighteen 15-ton interlocking transfer monorail beams.
EMH Hoists are available standard for single and double girder applications and can be custom engineered for special applications. Standard hoist capacities accommodate 2-ton to 50-ton requirements. Custom engineered hoists can accommodate 10 to 200 tons. EMH E-Series Hoists are reliable and especially suited for applications requiring low headroom lift. According to Wally Bolduc, Crane-Tec Project Manager, “EMH was the only hoist manufacturer willing to design and build hoists to meet the specifications of a close headroom cross-mounted hoist to go through transfer interlocks.”
Eliminate Electrical Constraints
with Flexible Power
When the company began its transition into manufacturing in 2006, Winar Connection discovered its building was not conducive to production and constructed a brand new, 80,000 sq. ft. facility.
As the company grew, implementing new state-of-the-art equipment posed many challenges, including having to decide where to place the equipment, and then contracting an electrician to hardwire it in place. These changes could take up to eight weeks to implement.
Winar knew it had to find a solution to avoid the electrical flexibility constraints it had experienced in its old building. Winar chose the 100 amp Starline Track Busway product because it needed a system that could grow with the company.
Using Starline, the same workstation rearrangement that used to take up to eight weeks was reduced to a single day. Where previously the best way to move hardwired equipment was by using extension cords - a significant safety hazard – by utilizing Starline, Winar could simply unplug a plug-in unit, safely move it to its new location, and have equipment ready within 15 minutes.
Ultimately, Winar can configure its production layout for operational efficiency and can rest assured that access to power will not bottleneck future changes.
Assembly Without the Air!
Realizing the energy savings from electric tools is not a new concept, so it is no surprise that many of today’s manufacturers look to battery-powered tools FIRST for their production and assembly needs.
Makita saw the most recent example of this when a large truck OEM purchased over 300 of our cordless tools for their brand-new factory. Instead of relying on traditional pneumatics, this manufacturer partnered with Makita and will rely on battery-operated production tooling for their facility.
This OEM recognized Makita as the superior choice for their capital investment by understanding their energy savings, ergonomic benefits, and the advanced technical solutions that Makita tools offered them. Their $250,000 purchase will pay dividends immediately by providing a 90% reduction in operational cost from lower energy consumption, giving them a return on their investment within 6 months. Further, they eliminated potential safety and trip hazards from unnecessary air hoses while also increasing their operator’s mobility.
Makita continues to provide solutions to the ever-changing production environment. As assembly facilities seek out new technologies to ensure Lean Manufacturing principles, Makita will continue to offer quality tooling that exceeds expectations for our strategic partners.
Custom Equipment for Customizable Parts
Offering customized products is a great way to meet your customers’ individual needs. This can present challenges in assembly due to each unique product. To increase the return-on-investment, manufacturers need assembly equipment that can adjust to these differences.
Challenges: A construction industry manufacturer needed equipment for their rail assemblies. They required an equipment solution that could account for the various lengths in their product. Each part also required two different assembly processes in a specified sequence before packaging. The challenge is that their product is customizable, varying from 7 to 24 feet long.
Solution: To account for the various lengths of parts, Orbitform’s Engineers designed a custom 5-headed Impact Riveting machine to install anywhere from one to five rivets into the assembly at a time. The riveting machine utilized our Model 58 Pneumatic Impact Riveting heads to actuate individually or simultaneously. Four of the heads were fixed, while one had adjustability to account for varying distances between riveting locations on the different length parts. READ MORE
Orbitform’s Engineers can review every aspect of your product, including various options and configurations, to design a custom assembly solution to meet requirements more efficiently. Contact us today to discuss your assembly challenges.
Barb Fitting with the Promess FlexIQ
Challenge: Accurately fit tubes onto the end of barbed fittings with 100% proper assembly certification
There were several complicating factors in this assembly process that needed to be overcome, including having 2 different tube sizes and 2 different sizes of barb fittings on the same line, with one fitting/tube combination being larger in diameter than the other; The critical nature of proper alignment BEFORE the press action began; and The critical nature of full depth insertion. If the tube was not pressed to full depth, full engagement of the barbs would not be achieved.
Solution: FlexIQ
The Servo-Controlled FlexIQ Assembly Press System was used to control and measure force over distance through the entire working stroke of the process. These factors were controlled and monitored in-process, simultaneously. By continuously measuring the force applied over the specified distance required for pressing completely, the system was able to ensure the parts were assembled 100% correctly without any errors occurring.
Promess’ Servo-Controlled FlexIQ Press System captured 100% of the errors outside the taught signature. The FlexIQ Press System surpassed the expectations of the customer and allowed them to provide THEIR customers with certifiable documentation via Promess Data Acquisition.
65 YEARS OF MIDDLESEX INDUSTRIES
A CRITICAL APPLICATION OF MIDDLESEX CONVEYORS
An IC manufacturer required the installation of logistics in front end wafer level production of high flexibility and asynchronous transport between value-add tools. Concurrent requirement was the prohibition of frictionally generated particles, as this would contaminate the product. Middlesex provided the solution which expanded to a conveyor network of 2+ kilometers. The installation transports work in process, which move on the network independent of each other and collision free. The technology can provide solutions in instrument assembly, medical device assembly, injection nozzle assembly in automotive, and in numerous critical robotic assembly stations.
Motion index Drives
877-978-1830
info@mid.us.com
www.motionindexdrives.com
Motion Index Drives has been a manufacturer of cam and servo indexing devices for over 45 years. We perfect the automation process through engineering the highest precision rotary index tables through your customized specifications. During this uncertain time, Motion Index Drives has been continuing to work on new projects for many different industries including medical and food manufacturing. One new project in particular, was a project that was a requirement as a direct result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The requirement for an endless supply of massive quantities of medical grade face masks. These masks are used by professionals in the hospital, first responders, and those medically compromised (nursing homes or underlying, pre-existing conditions).
A machine building integrator contacted us and had the requirement for many small machines that produced masks. They needed to index 90 degrees in a very short index time, while being cost effective, and being ready to ship in a few weeks. We worked together and through engineering efforts, fit the zero-backlash TT125/4 index drive to this need. The TT125 index drive is a member of our rotary index drives that has an aluminum housing, with steel rotating top dial, tapered roller bearings on the input shaft, and a unique, high capacity central top dial bearing. This unit has a standard accuracy of +/-30 arcseconds, and repeatability of +/-15 arcseconds. We sized a 3 phase AC gearmotor with 24VDC brake to this unit to provide an index time of ~0.5 seconds (mechanical index time) for each 90 degree index motion. Through the many machines being produced, we are hopeful the millions of face masks that will be manufactured on these machines will help to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
Schleuniger, Inc.
603-668-8117
Toll Free Technical Support: (877) 902-1470
Sales@schleuniger.com
schleuniger.com
BHC Cable Assemblies Relies On Schleuniger Precision and Durability!
BHC Cable Assemblies, Inc. is a contract manufacturer of high-end custom cable assemblies, mechanical assemblies and box builds for OEMs and Fortune 500 companies. Located in Burlington, ON Canada, BHC serves the medical, robotic, security detection, aerospace and transportation industries.
President, Bill Huisman understands the importance of monitoring labor costs and quality processes. He bought his first Schleuniger machine in his first week of owning BHC. When asked why he chose Schleuniger he replied, “I believe in buying the best tools the first time. We most value the precision and durability of our Schleuniger machines.”
Huisman explains that due to the nature of his business, he has several very specific applications to process. The strip length tolerances he must adhere to are very strict, so quality control is critical to his success. BHC currently owns several Schleuniger wire and cable stripping machines, automatic cut and strip machines and semi-automatic crimping machines.
“Schleuniger products are called up on all of our work instructions. BHC has a backup for each machine, because we cannot work without them,” says Huisman. He likened each machine to the equivalent of “half a worker” and cites one example of a high volume cable, which when processed with his Schleuniger cable coiler, reduces the overall production time by half.
Huisman adds, “The biggest change I see happening to the wire processing industry in the next few years is the requirement for constant cost reduction and improved quality. With our many Schleuniger machines we can remain competitive and consistently deliver on time, a quality product.”
Conveyors and Profiles – Winning Combination
Plastimation, an integrator, needed to partner with an OEM to provide the mechanical components for a “flex feeder” system.
The “flex feeder” required three different conveyors as well as a base and a guarding, configured to recirculate parts. The conveyors would recirculate parts, which were loaded into a hopper by an operator and eventually passed over a back-lit conveyor where a robot would pick one part at a time,
mk North America supplied their GUF-P 2000 conveyor platform with a support frame and custom guard construction of mk’s 40 series t-slot aluminum extrusion.
The GUF-P 2000 is a highly versatile conveyor that can be configured in thousands of different ways. The incline conveyor featured a cleated belt and a direct-drive motor mount. The back-lit conveyor featured an LED light panel and a white, translucent belt.
The load bearing portions of the support frame were constructed using mk’s 80x80 profile. The guarding portion of the frame used 40x40 profile with clear with polycarbonate panels that featured custom cut-outs. Swinging doors were also included. Lastly the entire assembly was mounted on heavy load, high performance casters to allow the entire assembly to be rolled, as necessary.
Precision and Controllability - BalTec ELECTRIC
Precise Riveting and Controllability is exactly what the BalTec ELECTRIC (servo-driven riveting machine) was designed to do. Customer provided a challenging application involving a small diameter aluminum rivet that needed to be formed to retain a plate with a hermetically sealed joint, but still allow the plate to rotate. Existing processes were not repeatable and could not maintain all the critical finish criteria of an acceptable assembly. The customer’s new product design was doomed to be scrapped until they reached out to BalTec. Through collaborative testing and BalTec’s 60+ years of forming experience, a solution was found using the BalTec ELECTRIC. BalTec ELECTRIC provided the control and precision needed for repeatable results as well as a user-friendly interface to easily adjust input factors for completing Design Of Experiments (DOE).
The expertise of BalTec Group with its headquarters in Pfäffikon, Switzerland, is in the manufacturing of joining technology machinery, with a special focus on radial riveting technology, but also orbital riveting, and roller forming. Today we are the global leader in riveting technology, encompassing seven companies with sales partners on every continent. Joining is our business - worldwide. Please reach out to us for help with your application!
ATI Robotic Tool Changers Enhance Assembly
Edgewater Automation employed ATI Industrial Automation’s Robotic Tool Changers to enable existing robots to complete a variety of jobs; bringing dissimilar processes into a smooth automated system. The original line utilized six different operators with frequent disruptions as they moved in and out of the work cell to clear debris, orient parts and equipment, and execute tasks. Despite the use of robotic automation in each cell, robots and tooling performed singular tasks. The biggest challenge involved upgrading the application in the current footprint.
With ATI Tool Changers, one work cell now uses 3D vision technology and pick tooling to robotically inspect, orient, and select parts from a dunnage tray before mounting the parts to a swing arm assembly. Once complete the robot changes tools to remove the empty tray from the staging area and replace it with a new full tray. The application improvements free four of the operators to focus on specialized tasks such as programming, inspection, and quality; they reduce potential hazards while encouraging employee development. The unparalleled repeatability of ATI’s Tool Changers combined with the high efficiency of the robots ultimately leads to a more flexible application with reduced cycle time, longer production runs, and quicker processing.
Screwdriving Station Pushes Productivity Limits
When volume production becomes a problem, automating with a Visumatic Assembly Machine can be the answer – taking assembly from the Dark Ages to full automation overnight.
This manufacturer receives large bulk batch orders for traffic barrel safety lights, requiring a quick turn around. Hand assembly on periodic large orders required repeated hiring and layoffs.
Our Five-Spindle Assembly Machine with Conveyor took away their labor problems, and sped production from a slow two parts a minute by hand to 1 part every few seconds – an astounding improvement.
The light is stopped before moving into the drive position where it is lifted and located. The Power Driver activates to install 5 screws are simultaneously, driving each of them to the correct depth and torque. The completed light assembly is placed back on to the conveyor and transferring to the next station.
Visumatic is flexible and conscientious of streamlining your entire assembly process. The finished part is automatically aligned for efficient packing. Throughput is so fast, the system ends in a dual unload station where we moved the bottle neck all the way to the end of the process. Now their only worry is getting them out the door!
When Lanco Integrated needs an accurate gripper with repeatability and a compact size, they turn to SCHUNK!
Lanco Integrated is updating their highly successful suture barbing machines; the original machines were developed over 10 years ago and are still performing well but latest revisions allow for product to be loaded and unloaded in parallel with the barbing process and provide for automatic changeover to support different suture lengths and gages.
The Lanco team faced several challenges dealing with one of the more complex and compact systems they had manufactured; the system has significant wiring needs, so cable management and routing had to be carefully considered while also allowing for safety measures that permitted operators to access areas of the machine while running.
The team at Lanco Integrated did not have to worry about which gripper supplier to choose. They have been working with SCHUNK, who makes the largest range of standard gripping components on the market, for several years, and knew that the compact and reliably repeatable KGG grippers were the right choice for this machine design.
According to one Lanco representative, “Lanco has used SCHUNK grippers for many years, because they just work! This system required highly accurate repeatability, and SCHUNK’s KGG is a small compact gripper that works very well for handling various suture thread sizes.”
DEPRAG
640 Hembry St.
Lewisville, TX 75057
800-433-7724
972-221-8731
A Step Up from Vibratory Bowl Feeding!
The eacy feed systems have it all – efficiency, assembly,
communication, yield. Ideal for the smart factory/Industry 4.0, the 24V drive enables a wide array of applications, all while delivering approximately 80% power savings. Whether it is feeding handheld screwdrivers or fixtured spindles, the revolutionary eacy feed makes assembly easy – from screws, nuts, and threaded pins to o-rings, parts for cleanroom environments, and more.
Now, even the feeding of large screws is not a problem with the new DEPRAG eacy step feed system that is fast, efficient, and exceptionally gentle on long fasteners, while incorporating all the other well-known eacy feed features.
Even better, eacy feed also feeds information. Production managers benefit from best-in-class technology that delivers essential feedback, such as productivity & operator efficiency, maintenance requirements, and much more. The vibratory- and step feeding system of the future, eacy feed helps factories get the most out of their assembly operations.
Efficiency – approximately 80% reduced power consumption
Assembly – optimized for user-friendly operation
Communication – perfect for the Smart Factory / Industry 4.0 automated environment
Yield – modular components and advanced design deliver reliable performance
Serving customers’ needs for 90 years and counting, DEPRAG combines more than 40 years of feeding know-how with sophisticated, cutting-edge technology. Contact DEPRAG today to learn more about how eacy feed systems can benefit your own production environment.
DEPRAG USA is located near Dallas, Texas, providing the U.S. and Canada with quality screwdriving and assembly automation equipment.
February 2022
