Author: metodo

Flexibility and productivity are two important subjects for the manufacturers specially nowadays when the energy cost and the raw material availability are often hard to be managed. Ficep faced these themes many times offering different solutions depending on the customers’ needs: contractors, earth moving machines constructors, ship builders, steel fabricators, etc.

Gemini, for example, is a plate drilling and cutting system which can host different technologies, such as:

• thermal cutting (plasma with straight or bevel heads and oxy);
• marking;
• drilling;
• tapping;
• milling.

The positioning of the plates on the working bench (typically carried out by crane) and above all the unloading of the processed pieces, still represent an issue. The unloading operation is usually done manually directly from the bench or thanks to big magnets which collect groups of pieces, to be picked and organized manually on the floor. The possibility to improve this activity, making it quicker and safer, has always been subject to the market requests and to the machine tool manufactures’ analysis.

Automatic unloading robot

Since the parts processed on the Gemini have different size and weight (within the same plate or on different plates), it’s imperative to find an efficient but flexible solution. The first Ficep prototype of robotic system to unload the processed pieces is the result of a specific customer’s request.

Gemini is made of one working bench and two parallel rails which the gantry slides on. Often the system is configured with two gantry machines: Gemini can be combined with one Kronos. The first one performs all the mechanical operations such us drilling, milling, tapping, chamfering etc, while the second carries out the thermal cutting. On the rails, as alternative to the Kronos, it is possible to install the robotic system for pieces unloading.

Once Gemini ends the working cycle of a plate, it moves to the second plate so that the robot can start the unloading activity on the first one without interfering with the Gemini operations. For this reason the working stations must be at least two (one for the working cycle and one for the unloading) or more, up to a maximum of eight stations.

The picking element is made of two pneumatic-magnetic systems which can symmetrically converge or diverge with respect to the arm center to change the dimension of the picking point. In this way the system is able to pick both small or large and heavy pieces: it is also possible to adjust the magnetic level of the picking element according to the characteristics of the piece to be handled.

The operating software

Although the Gemini and the robotic system are two different machines, they exchange the data to optimize their activities: the position of the piece within the working bench is already known in the software. Gemini in fact is previously checking the exact position of the plate, which is usually not perfectly aligned with the working bench, and the software is rotating and adjusting the program accordingly. This information is very useful also for the robot software in order to program its working cycle.

The whole cycle is therefore based on the information coming from the nesting realized with Steel Projects software, Ficep software house, which uses these data to program the automatic unloading with the robot.
Piece type, position on the bench, weight, barycenter and other data are collected by a software specifically developed to generate the pieces unloading program.
The software also identifies the shape and dimension of the part to define the best picking point.

The unloading can be managed and organized in different ways, for example by properly palletizing the components according to specific criteria.
The pallets are positioned in specific areas and are managed by sensors. They can be moved manually or through AGV. It’s also possible to stockpile the empty pallets: once the first pallet is full and removed, the software automatically recognizes the different height of the new unloading level of the second pallet.

The use of a robotic system with anti-collision devices and photocells to remove the processed pieces from the working bench instead of the manual unloading by the operator allows to highly improve the overall safety of the system.

In 1988 FICEP invented ed installed the first integrated structural steel fabrication line with a fully automated material handling system. That was just the beginning as FICEP is the clear leader in automatic systems with hundreds of installations worldwide! During the past 30 years FICEP has drastically expanded the productivity of this automated comprehensive technology. This is the result of FICEP’s continuous devotion to industry leading developments in both software and hardware.

The challenge
Since FICEP invented the first automated multi-spindle drilling line in 1965 there have been significant enhancements in drilling feed rates and positioning speeds of both the material being processed and the drill spindle axis performance. The process to increase the drill lines efficiency and eliminate non-productive cycles has perhaps plateaued for the moment with the sub-axis spindle positioning to enhance the “chip to chip” time.

FICEP drill saw system with sub-axis spindle positioning
FICEP’s focus, since it’s first fully automated material handling system in 1988, has been to enhance the efficiency of the material flow through the line.

The challenge was to increase the percentage of time that the work centers (sawing, drilling, scribing, coping, milling, thermal cutting and shot blasting) are actively engaged in processing and not waiting to start the next section.

How is the optimum layout determined?
There are no two structural steel fabrications firm’s facilities that are identical. The combination of a plant’s layout, product mix, required processes and the needed throughput makes the challenge of designing the optimum layout unique. Actual past jobs of different types are downloaded to generate a specific productivity report based upon the type of contract.

Until FICEP developed “System Simulation” the engineering of a plant layout was typically based upon an interview process with the client. The goal was to try to achieve a layout that was the result of some educated guesses and assumptions. Today, FICEP uses proprietary software to evaluate how different job types and plant layouts can be simulated for a detailed productivity analysis.

Split work cells versus tandem systems, transfer tables capabilities/features and the material buffer zones sizes are just some of the variables that require evaluation.

“System Simulation” is a process where potential layouts are evaluated based upon the manpower requirements, capabilities, throughput and bottlenecks. Actual jobs and or sequences are imported into the PLM software that starts with material nesting and uses powerful algorithms to sequence the production in the most efficient fashion. Once the optimized workload is downloaded, the “System Simulator” shows the processing of the mults and finished parts in a 3D video mode to reflect the actual process times required to fabricate this production release. The “System Simulator” shows where bottlenecks develop and identifies work centers that can be underutilized waiting for material to fabricate. This innovative process enables different layout designs to be compared and further modified to determine which design achieves the maximum flexibility and productivity.

How Does “System Simulation” Enhance Your Daily Productivity?
Once the preliminary shop loading for the structural steel fabricating line is determined, the software’s algorithms develop the optimum sequences of the selected production release. Prior to starting the actual production, the “System Simulation” can identify possible bottlenecks and any under utilized work centers. Once determined this innovative software can show how the systems total productivity can be increased by modifying or adding to the pending production release.

How Does Intelligent Steel Fabrication Function?
As the multed sections are loaded onto the line the material handler scans into the system the corresponding bar code from the cut list.

The sections are automatically positioned without an operator or attendant through the system. The path through the line or routing to the appropriate work cells is based upon the required processes and the optimum utilization of the systems capabilities. As a mult or cut part enters each work cell the stock length is verified and the appropriate CNC program is automatically selected to process the required objectives.

Benefits
The benefits of “Intelligent Steel Fabrication” are numerous and cost effective. Most of the systems sold and installed by FICEP today feature “Intelligent Steel Fabrication” capability, as the benefits are extensive and easily justifiable as this automation cost represents a minimal investment as a percentage of the total systems cost.

Benefits summary
System sequences

• Sections are automatically nested to maximize material utilization.
• Data entry in conjunction with material loading is implemented with bar coding to eliminate possible mistakes.
• There is no need for an operator to select the proper program to process the part loaded into the in feed conveyor.
• The stock length is automatically verified.
• Material routing is performed in the most efficient manner and without any human involvement.
• Loss of time for an operator to organize and move material through the system is eliminated.
• All material functions occur in masked time while the work centers are performing the required processes.
• Efficiency and productivity is paramount with the system. For example, multiple parts are automatically loaded onto the in feed conveyor of the blaster with the proper spacing between sections to take full advantage of the shot blast pattern.
• Multiple operators that are required to drive a manual material handling system’s productivity are eliminated and replaced with a single attendant. Typically the attendant has time to perform the loading and unloading on and off of the system.
•  As the process proceeds, Intelligent Steel Fabrication has 4-D capability to upload the production process back to the 3-D model to graphically show the real time status of the individual sections in the model.
• Production data can also be viewed on a Smart Phone in real time. 

The drilling of structural steel traditionally incorporated a drill spindle gearbox to reduce the spindle’s RPM’s and increase the torque for the specified requirement. With some hydraulic spindle designs, it was also employed to develop a different RPM range for each spindle of a three-spindle configuration.

The three-spindle configuration is still offered by some manufacturers today to be able to offer up to three different diameters. Unfortunately, the speed range in each spindle is not capable of covering from the minimum to the maximum range. The end result is that some tools cannot be operated at the desired RPM range as stated by the tooling manufacturer because of this spindle RPM range limitation.

Today’s current tooling can require up to 5,000 RPM to achieve the designed performance. Spindles with a gearbox to achieve high spindle RPM’s traditionally require some type of internal cooling system to dissipate the heat generated at this level of rotation.

As the capabilities of spindle drives were expanded, FICEP was able to use a single spindle design, with an automatic tool changer to process different hole sizes. This spindle design could perform the complete RPM range to accommodate diverse tooling specifications.

In 1998 FICEP introduced in their forging products division a direct drive, fully programmable motor. In 2009 this same direct drive spindle technology was incorporated into the drilling product lines at FICEP.

This industry first by FICEP translated into many unique advantages for the fabricator:

1. Since the gearbox was eliminated, RPM’s of up to 5,000 could be achieved without concern for spindle heat generation and the requirement for a water-cooled spindle.
2. The elimination of multiple gears, bearing and seals virtually eliminates typical maintenance.
3. Greater efficiency. One hundred percent (100%) of the horsepower of the motor is what is delivered to the cutting edges of the tool. It is not like a car where a mechanical transmission greatly reduces the power delivered to the wheels, for example.

Offering to the industry the first “Direct Drive” drill spindle is just another example of FICEP’s innovative engineering team’s commitment to our clients!