Weld Cell Platform
Our customer had an established weld area where two large welded assemblies were being joined together before moving onto the next phase of production. The two large assemblies were first manually welded while being held in some CNC part manipulators, then overhead cranes brought the parts together for the final welding operations. After a review of the area's ergonomics, it was determined that a large percentage of the weld work was outside of employees reach, requiring small step stands to be used, moved around and traveled up/down hundreds of times each shift. Our job was to design a platform that essentially lifted the floor of the entire cell about 2 feet, thus removing the need for the cumbersome stands, increasing safety, and productivity as well.
Site Evaluation / WebEx Review
The customer supplied SAFE-T-FAB with a site drawing of the area with rough locations of interference points. Vertical columns, power lines, pneumatic lines and the parts manipulators themselves all needed to be accounted for as we laid out the area for this project. Knowing 3 shifts of employees, multiple supervisors and safety coordinators would all be involved, SAFE-T-FAB created some rough designs first for review on WebEx calls with the entire team at the customer site. During these calls, the customer can view the layout in our 3D software, and our CAD Engineers are able to present our design, get real time feedback, and make revisions on the call. This dynamic means of communication is essential to keep things moving on a project of this complexity.
design proposal
After several WebEx meetings, and multiple revisions, all parties arrived at a final layout, and the SAFE-T-FAB team went to work on the final proposal. A blend of precisely calculated parts with detailed dimensions, and photo realistic renderings to ensure the customer's aesthetic requirements were being met were paramount during the proposal phase. Our staff is second to none at capturing all aspects of a project, no matter the size.
Final Product
Following a thorough approval process with the customer, production began and constant communication was maintained with the factory as the install date approached. After shipment and delivery of the fabricated components, resources were aligned to set the new system into place.
The installation required a few pieces of critical on-site work to ensure a clean, well fit final product. When a project with this many interference points, obstructions and tight tolerances is tackled, it requires a company with a serious attention to detail in order to meet or exceed our customers expectations. The final product accomplished every goal for the project, seeing mitigation of safety issues, while increasing productivity and work satisfaction along the way.
