Assembly Automation – Keeping pace with new developments

Driven by the increasing demand to fulfill industry’s requirement for higher productivity, a simple serviceable term defining “automation” implies that it is easy to implement and should be cost effective. To provide most efficient and cost effective solutions to various manufacturing processes, the Assembly automation technology is constantly being researched, designed, developed and refined. Modularity, flexibility and efficient quality control monitoring marks today's assembly machines and systems.

Assembly Automation is aimed to keep pace with new advancements and developments, making it invaluable to engineers and managers who design and apply automation control systems in various user industries all over the world.

New innovations are constantly being devised to test and deploy assembly systems for better quality, faster production and minimum running costs. The process of Assembly Automation includes all of the following systems but is not restricted to only these.

- design, inspection and machine vision for assembly

- artificial intelligence for assembly

- compliant mechanisms

- joining technologies and flexible gripping

- manufacturing control and modular assembly systems

- parts feeding and presentation

- rapid prototyping and robot assembly stations

Investing in assembly process technologies can give a manufacturing company an edge over its competitors. But such investments are not without risk. Equal amounts of time and consideration must be given to choose the automation provider and select the automation technology that can best convert your investment into profit.

Today, special purpose factory automation, especially the automated assembly, has become a world-encompassing business but since the aspects like quality assurance, logistics and organization also play an increasingly decisive role, production automation requires a combined effort that is well beyond the standard process technologies.

Production Automation – Reconciling Pace and Flexibility

Many reasons support the need for companies to automate their process control. And the key factor influencing the automation requirements is to increase productivity and shorten the time to market. Manufacturing plants covering a large physical area heavily rely on the process of automation for the safe monitoring and accurate control of the production processes. However, industries like food manufacturing, brewing or small traditional manual operations have also replaced their manual operations by automation control systems. In this competitive era, the only way to achieve the competitive advantage is by improving the production by implementing higher levels of automation.

Advantages commonly attributed to automation include

1. Higher production rates

2. Increased productivity

3. More efficient use of materials

4. Better product quality

5. Improved safety

6. Shorter workweeks for labours.

7. Reduced factory lead times.

The biggest reason that fully justifies the use of machine automation is the higher output and increased productivity. Automated systems typically perform manufacturing process with less variability than human workers, resulting in greater control and consistency of product quality. Also, increased process control makes more efficient use of materials, resulting in less scrap.

Another advantage of automating the industry process is the decrease in the number of hours worked on average per week by the factory workers. According to a survey, in a company of about 1900 the average workweek was approximately 70 hours. With the implementation of automation tools and machines, the standard workweek was calculated to have gradually reduced to about 40 hours. The two key factors - mechanization and automation played a significant role in this reduction.

Automating the industrial operations has also increased the safety of the worker as production automation often removes workers from the workplace, thus safeguarding them against the hazards of the factory environment. However it is gradually becoming a national objective of making work safer and protecting the physical well-being of the workers in all sectors of the industries and plants.

Advancements in Industrial Automation processes.

The use of robotic devices to speed up the manufacturing tasks is called as Industrial automation. Industrial automation systems are increasingly gaining critical importance in the field of manufacturing processes as these computerized or robotic manufacturing machines are capable of handling repetitive tasks quickly and efficiently which in turn leads to high productivity in less time.

Assembly Automation

Assembly automation is a core aspect of every manufacturing process and that is why it is constantly being researched, refined and developed to provide most cost-effective solutions to various manufacturing problems. Assembly machines Automation is sighted to keep pace with new developments and expansions, making it invaluable to engineers and managers who design and apply automation systems in user industries all over the world. Latest Innovations and improvements are constantly being devised, tested and deployed throughout the manufacturing world due to the increasing demands for better quality, faster production and minimum running costs.

Power Plant Automation

New innovations are being made to capture the targets in order to constantly develop and improve products and offer complete solutions in power plant automation. New manufacturing challenges and upcoming business opportunities have created the world of global markets where new approaches and new technologies are required to automate and control the production processes.

Rolling Mill Automation.

The technology of rolling mill production automation has progressed swiftly in the last decade and, due to modern computer control systems, reached a high level of refinement and sophistication. The technology necessarily embraces a broad spectrum of interests, ranging from fundamental process analysis to the solution of special control-theoretic problems. The ultimate objective of all industry aims to reach a larger productivity and a better quality of the industrialized products.

Growing Opportunities and optimization of Production Automation Industry.

Production automation systems have been developing and enhancing for years. In early years, production automation systems were primarily being used to measure production variables like flow rate, pressure, temperature etc with only a few limited remote control functions. The overall progress of production was rather slow because of the limitations involved like lack of understanding of the latest instrumentation technology, cost to use computer hardware and software, limited coverage of production operations and acceptance of new technological enhancements.

However today, instrumentation, communications, and computer hardware and software are, for the most part, accurate, reliable, and reasonably priced and affordable. One of the largest challenges to acceptance and support is insufficient training and staff development. People who have the necessary knowledge, skills, and motivation must be developed and retained. Both machine manufacturers and suppliers must improve delivery of support and training systems if this technology is to reach its full potential.

How will we benefit?

With the enhancement in production automation technologies, the number of people, along with the associated production machine equipment and vehicles required for routine checking, data gathering, and manual control tasks will be minimized. By converting low-skill manual-labor tasks to career opportunities requiring technical skills and knowledge, job content and satisfaction will drastically improve. Repair and maintenance costs will be minimized by keeping equipment operating within the safe operating envelope. Making optimum use of equipment minimizes unnecessary capital expenditures. Automating data capture and transmission from the machine manufacturing plant to all people and information systems that need information, both inside and outside the organization, reduces support costs

Use of laser cutting method in automation industry.

Various types of lasers are used for metal cutting in production automation industry. Some of the most widely sued laser machines are CO2 lasers and YAG lasers. YAG lasers are ideal for 3D applications as they can be operated across flexible fiber optic cables and manipulated with a robot. Carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers are mostly used to cut flat metal surfaces. But these can also be used to cut other surfaces too. There are no hard and set rules for using CO2 lasers on flat surfaces only.

Carbon Dioxide lasers are advantageous for cutting thick materials as these offers a high beam quality at high beam power. YAG lasers are no match to the efficiency of CO2 lasers when it comes to beam quality at high powers, but this may soon change as Disk lasers evolve. Another type of laser that is gaining much popularity these days is Fiber laser. These lasers enable the laser beam to be delivered along fiber optic cables.

The principal gases used in laser cutting are oxygen or nitrogen. Sometimes argon is also used in place of oxygen and nitrogen especially on sensitive materials such as titanium where the material would react with either oxygen or nitrogen.

The cutting nozzle of the laser machine is the key to success. It forms the cutting gas jet and thus determines the cut quality. Advantages of laser cutting are not just the cut precision and the cutting speeds to be achieved, but also potential for allowing automation controls system to run a laser machine unattended in night shifts.

Hydrogen leak testing method.

We have made ourselves aware with the pressure decay and bubble leak testing methods and other production automation, machine cutting techniques in our last articles. Both the processes are simple, inexpensive and easily automated. However both these methods have significant shortcomings such as the inability to determine the location of leaks and limited sensitivity etc.

A relatively new leak testing technology known as hydrogen leak testing addresses these shortcomings faced in pressure decay and bubble methods. This method actually works as an enhancement to pressure decay systems or as a substitute method. The apparatus and the test procedures for pressure decay and hydrogen leak testing technique are however similar.

This hydrogen leak testing method makes use of a robust, self-calibrating and maintenance-free microelectronic probe that is extremely sensitive and 100% selective to hydrogen. The test gas which is a non-flammable mix of hydrogen and nitrogen is then injected into the test object, and leakage is detected in a variety of ways: In an accumulation chamber where the test object is enclosed, the presence of hydrogen is measured over a certain time interval to determine the total leakage. Alternatively, a hydrogen probe can scan the object’s exterior, either manually or robotically, to pinpoint the location of leaks.

A very useful method, hydrogen leak testing is done on objects rejected by the pressure decay system which are then subsequently tested offline by a separate hydrogen-based leak detection system. Prior to the extensive use of hydrogen method, helium leak testing method was used to address the shortcomings of other leak testing methods. But helium leak testing method proves to be a expensive and moreover the tracing gas helium used in the method is very expensive gas too.

Common Leak Testing Methods.

In my last article we talked about the leak testing process and why is it a critical one in manufacturing and production automation industries. Let’s find out in this article what are the different processes and in how many ways this leak testing process is carried out. A variety of leak testing methods are available, but the simpler methods have been the most popular. Methods prevalent in every industry include water dunk testing and pressure decay. Each of these methods offers the advantage of minimal investment, but each also has major drawbacks.

Bursting the bubble Leak testing method.

Process:

This process includes dunking of an object into water to determine if and where an object has a leak. When an object is immersed, bubbles form at the source of the leak as a result of air pressure. The amount of bubbles forming at the source of any special purpose machinery is measured and this amount of bubbles per minute signifies the size of the leak.

Disadvantages:

1. This method provides minimal quality assurance as a very small leak might make a few miniscule bubbles. Also whether air bubbles rise to the surface or stick to the test object depends on surface tension.

2. The method operator’s involvement is also one of the factors that may determine the accuracy and efficiency of the test conducted on various automation systems. In this method, the operator’s perspective can be limited as he may not be able to see small leaks on the opposite side of the object.

3. Since water dunking method involves the use of the water itself, many products can’t be immersed in water due to the risk of corrosion or contamination.

Pressure Decay Leak Testing Method.

Process:

Another most common method for leak testing is pressure decay. In this method, the test object is pressurized with air and monitored with a pressure gauge. A drop in pressure signifies a leak; the greater the pressure drop, the larger the leak. This method is convenient, in that it’s dry and easily automated. However, pressure decay testing cannot be used to pinpoint the location of a leak, and its accuracy depends on the temperature, size and material of the test object.

Disadvantages:

1. Temperature inside the object can be a factor that decreases the efficiency of this leak testing method. As air is compressed inside the object, its temperature rises. The pressure will not stabilize until the temperature stabilizes. Any additional temperature that may come either from the hand or any outside element can throw off the test results.

2. This leak testing method works best with objects that are made up of rigid materials than flexible materials. Products made of rubber or flexible plastic counteract the drop in pressure by reducing their volume.

3. Pressure decay testing is much preferred for objects with small test volumes. This may not be the best choice for testing large objects, such as gasoline tanks, because they take too long to pressurize.

One more method that is being used in the recent years called Helium Hydrogen leak testing or testing with tracer gases has proven to be the most effective one for measuring and detecting leaks in both small and large objects. We will discuss about this method in detail but in my next article.

Why is leak testing essential in automation manufacturing industries?

Leak testing is a vital part of every quality assurance testing for broad range of industries. In fact, for many suppliers of the automation engineering systems and assembly machine equipments industry, leak testing is very integral part of production. Hundred percent of the machinery parts of automation industry are tested against a leak standard.

The leak testing process involves measuring of the leak rate of a part or product. Let’s find out why leak testing process is a critical one in manufacturing and production automation industries. Here I have listed some common ones:-

1. The process of leak testing ensures that the various toxic, corrosive or flammable chemicals and substances are contained tightly within an object.

2. The testing process makes sure that the elements that are present outside the equipment or object for example water cannot get inside the products or mix with the products.

3. In the automotive industry the process of leak testing ensures that the level of gas or liquid that are essential for the proper functioning of the systems, such as hydraulic valves, brakes, air conditioners etc are maintained within that system for the required period of time.

Leak testing process is carried out by several methods like Pressure Decay Method where the test object is pressurized with air and monitored with a pressure gauge, Water Dunk testing method where amount of bubbles per minute signifies the size of the leak, Testing With Tracer Gases that includes Hydrogen Helium leak testing etc which I will be discussing deeply in my next article. But each method offers the specific advantages and certain drawbacks too. Though practically nothing can be absolutely tight, but the leak testing process will ensure that the part or equipment meets a carefully established specification for maximum allowable leakage.