More automation doesn’t mean fewer manufacturing jobs
Manufacturers have been looking for ways to operate more efficiently since building the first widget. There’s been continual progress over the years, starting with the Industrial Revolution and accelerating through Henry Ford’s moving assembly line.
The latter is the most famous example of a company revolutionizing how it builds products, with a “work smarter, not harder” mentality to help take the burden off grueling—and highly specialized—manual labor. Dubbed Fordism, the process ushered in a new era of standardized, mass-produced, low-cost goods.
More recently, lean production and similar techniques have further refined manufacturing processes to boost productivity and quality while reducing waste. Fast forward to today and the focus has turned to automation, analytics and flexible workcells, which are a natural extension of what Ford unleashed more than a hundred years ago.
From automotive components to computer processors, robotic workcells are deployed in all manner of manufacturing operations. Workcells efficiently perform repetitive tasks—and often do so with a more exact touch than what people are capable of—epitomizing and enhancing lean manufacturing as a gateway to Industry 4.0.
Leaning Into Lean Manufacturing
Trumpf Group, a 100-year-old industrial machine manufacturer with U.S. headquarters in Farmington, Conn., is paving the way for customers to get the most out of its workcells and lean manufacturing.
Before robotic applications, finding the right seam to start welding could be tricky. If an operator was misaligned, lasers could start on the wrong track, resulting in scrap and having to restart the process with a new piece to weld.
“We see a lot of projects where the robotic application is preferred due to the repeatability of the automation,” said Yama Fedai, Trumpf USA’s automotive industry manager. “The level of consistency needed is quite high when looking for the right seam, for instance, so a lot of our customers use workcells to speed up that process and produce higher quality products faster.”
Vision systems are often used to guide the workcells. While humans are still needed to program the system and ensure it’s functioning as intended, the vision system can communicate with the robot so it is cutting along the proper seam at all times. This reduces waste and process time.
Trumpf recently announced new programmable focusing optics that will enable customers to scan larger areas of a part. The system includes new optical coherence tomography that can distinguish three-dimensional features, according to Fedai. “Not only will the new technology enable manufacturers the ability to achieve even better quality,” he said, “but the 3D information that it generates will give the manufacturers more data they can use to be even more efficient and strategic when they deploy workcells.”
Laboring the Point
Of course, any discussion around flexible workcells leads to concerns that technology is poised to replace human workers. However, proponents maintain that automated systems are meant to augment their human counterparts and allow workers to refocus their efforts on higher value jobs, helping to alleviate the current worker shortage and skills gap.
“Before workcells came on the scene, there was a lot of manual labor being done on the shop floor,” said Jan Irzyk, product manager, ANCA USA. “This required the workers to be in one place for hours doing repetitive tasks that could become dangerous over time.”
The move toward flexible workcells happened as companies began to automate certain processes that humans were handling on their own. As Irzyk pointed out, this type of work could be dangerous if a worker’s concentration slipped during the course of a shift. It wasn’t a decision made to reduce humans in the workforce, but rather to ensure workers remained safe and work could be performed efficiently.
ANCA USA, based in Wixom, Mich., has been building machines and workcells for decades for a variety of applications. As these systems have evolved, so has the way ANCA works with customers to make manufacturing processes run smoother and more productively.
“We’ve seen a lot of customers jump on machine automation because they have embraced new technology all along,” Irzyk said. “They are getting closer to fully autonomous manufacturing and are confident it’s going to help both their work product and the people they employ.”
Part of the issue around the manufacturing skills gap is that fewer people want to perform the required manual tasks. Flexible workcells help alleviate such issues. As Irzyk explained: “More flexible workcells will reduce mundane tasks and fatigue, freeing operators and programmers to focus on skills that can lead to more lucrative positions down the road.”
The new ANCA Integrated Manufacturing System (AIMS) optimizes cutting tool production, according to the company. By streamlining operations with connected tool production processes integrated to IT systems, ANCA said AIMS can provide continuous, unattended production that dramatically cuts non-productive machine time.
Get with the Program: A.I. Yields Real Results
The robots used in workcells are only going to get smarter as more advanced tools—including artificial intelligence (A.I.)—are introduced with Industry 4.0. The companies that invest in such resources, in combination with effective employee training, stand to reap the most significant benefits.
“Having artificial intelligence at the ready within your organization is a great idea, but you can’t pull away from the idea that someone has to program it,” acknowledged Bill Malanche, chief operation officer, Mitsui Seiki USA Inc., Franklin Lakes, N.J. “Some robots are able to teach themselves how to do an operation more effectively, but it starts with human programming.”
Mitsui Seiki, which provides everything from jig boring to screw grinders, has seen how A.I. can interact with machines on the shop floor, as well as coordinate and analyze global operations. If a company uses an interconnected set of equipment in different locations, parts can be sent to specific machines to enhance flexibility and efficiency.
“It’s fascinating to see our customers use A.I. not only to look at the machines in their shops, but look into cells that might be halfway around the world,” Malanche said. “They look at the current asset utilization in all of the plants, recognize the capability of those machines, and then make a decision as to how to properly utilize the machines to make the right parts.”
Unlike the traditional automotive tooling process where each machine on a line has a specific purpose, modern workcells are multipurpose systems. This allows smaller shops to have more flexibility—any part can go to any machine at any time.
“The idea that one machine can only be responsible for one task is an outdated way of thinking about things,” reasoned Jason Adkins, business development manager, Fastems Group. “Manufacturers are holding themselves back when they don’t take the time to truly realize how flexible their workcells can be. … If a client is using six machines on a Fastems system and they input instructions to make a part, any machine in the cell is capable of making that part,” Adkins explained. “It removes the stodgy way of tooling, where one machine was responsible for one part, and gives our clients the ability to operate in a flexible manner.”
Waste Not, Flex More
In a typical manufacturing environment, one in which operators are responsible for a handful of tooling machines, it’s common to see equipment operating only 15-20% of the time due to stoppages to fix a problem, load a pallet or change a part. That’s a lot of time the machine is not cutting parts and making money for the company.
Conversely, flexible workcells (programmed by humans) use robots to do the tooling and pull pallets. This leads to significantly better uptime and efficiency, according to Adkins. “It’s not uncommon to see them operating at roughly 70% when they lean into true flexible manufacturing.”
Fastems, West Chester Township, Ohio, said its proprietary manufacturing management software allows manufacturers to remove a lot of the unnecessary work that can bog down activity, including manual production planning, waiting for missing resources and other disruptions that might occur.
And predictive technology checks jobs ahead of time to ensure the raw material will be available and confirm whether or not the proper code has been uploaded to avoid downtime.
The next iteration of flexible manufacturing is already underway. Adkins said one of Fastems’ European customers has removed the tooling components from machines and put them in a centralized location that houses a huge tooling magazine. The robots are then programmed to get the tool needed instead of relying on a pallet pull to a specific machine, optimizing overall operations and giving machines access to more tools.
“This company in particular was able to up its efficiency to something resembling 96%, which is unheard of,” Adkins declared. “But it goes to show you what is possible when you remove uncertainty and lean into all of the ways you make a manufacturing process as flexible as possible.”