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Navigating the ‘rough ride’ of welding automation: factors for success

Abbey Machinery, a widely known Irish manufacturer of agricultural equipment, is the proud owner of two Valk Welding robot systems. While their robots helped them through a difficult period in the industry and are here to stay, Abbey knows that the road to welding automation is not always a walk in the park. Reflecting on their own journey, they share the challenges they faced during a rough start-up phase and offer advice for others in similar situations.

Back in 2020, the Irish welding industry was facing a particularly difficult time – too much work and not enough welders – that required a cultural shift within companies. Many Irish companies, and those in countless other affected countries around the world, began to look to welding automation for their solution. To stay ahead of the curve, Abbey Machinery started their own journey by adopting a 7-metre long Valk Welding TRACK-FRAME-E MIG concept with two workstations, which has since clocked over 7.500 working hours.

Clear expectations up front

The most important aspect of transitioning to robotic welding is ensuring there are clear expectations in place, according to Owen Cavanagh, of Abbey Machinery. This must be established well before any decision is made. Initially, the company contemplated larger systems, simpler systems and even cobots. “Valk Welding made it easy”, Owen explains. “They understand the robots’ capabilities and requirements, their pricing is clear, and they are not trying to hide anything. It also helps that they only specialise in welding robots. If we had any questions, we got a response back within 24 hours, something we simply did not experience with other companies.”

Programming learning curve

Having installed their first robot for high-mix, low-volume mild steel components, the Irish company planned well ahead for offline programming. Acquiring the right programming skills is an incredibly important aspect of having an effective start, believes Owen, as it can be the slowest and largest part of the work ahead. “We have trained many of our staff through Valk Welding’s remote DTPS training. It has been seamless, but you need to give it the time it needs to avoid running into problems,” he says. Abbey Machinery’s Mechanical Engineer Ahmet Kaya, who took the training himself, adds another important piece of advice: “Before you specialise in DTPS, make sure you have a lot of manual robot experience. This helped me to keep up and even skip steps during the training.”

The jigging hurdle

Jig design is another challenge in welding automation, notes Owen. “That is why our plan was always to use our existing jigs, tack them and feed them to the robot. Ideally, in a few years’ time, we will no longer be tacking, but that was the stepping stone for us. We are still at that stage, but we are looking to introduce more parts to the robot, and we invest a lot of time in Touch Sensing. As our engineers gain experience and develop more advanced jigs, we continue to reduce these times. That is how you should avoid any regrets you may have later; we are happy where we are now and happy to wait.”

A second robot: continued learning

Around 2022, Abbey Machinery introduced a second, 21-metre-long TRACK-RL robot system for their extremely high variety of tanker barrels and tanker chassis, which are welded in two separate workstations. The system requires minimal jigging to hold parts, but no jigs are used in setting up for welding. It is equipped with an ARC-EYE weld seam tracking system, Touch Sensing, and Arc Sensing technologies for deviation detection. “Our start-up process was a little slow as welding two products together required some learning,” explains Owen, “but the technology is easy to use and offers possibilities that other companies could not. For companies starting out in automation, it is great that some features even are plug-and-play.”

Motivated to learn every day

To overcome all these obstacles, Abbey Machinery stresses the importance of organisational enthusiasm for welding automation. Getting their team on board without resistance was crucial to getting their process off the ground: “We are lucky, but we are still working through it. Every day is a school day, and we learn from our mistakes and experiences, which we would share with other Irish companies interested in welding automation. A lot of them are concerned at first, questioning whether a robot will do what they want it to do. Based on our experience, I can confidently say: yes, it will.”

www.abbeymachinery.com

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