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Intelligent Robot Solutions

Application:Coating

Industry:GlassProducts Used:2 Paint Cells with FANUC P-145 Challenges: Solution:
Amanufacturer of fiberglass products recently convertedtheir chop and gel coating area from manual operations to robotics. The conversion to robotics took place after the company was awarded a large contract by an egg producer to manufacture the fiberglass housings of ventilation fans used to control the climate in hen houses. The contract’s aggressive production plans meant thatthe company would need to hire additional skilled chop and gel coat operators, but none were readily available in the local work force. The lack of skilled labor and high production rate requirements prompted management to evaluate robotic automation. FANUC Robotics America, Inc. was selected as the robotics supplier. The company selected FANUC Robotics based on their reputation for reliable products and superior customer support. The system uses two robotic paint work cells supplied by FANUC Robotics’paint operations in Toledo, Ohio. Each cell includes a P-145/RJ-3 paint finishing robot with PaintTool application software and safety equipment including safety fences with interlocked gates and curtains, and servo disconnect switches. FANUC Robotics also supplied an explosion-proof manual input station which is used by technicians to set program requirements and to start the robots, and solenoid valves that turn the spray guns on and off. The company supplied the chop and gel coat application equipment, including the spray guns, chop motors and material supply pumping systems. While this customer chose to do their own systemintegration, FANUC Robotics was on-site for installation supervision, system start-up and de-bug activities. In addition, a process engineer from FANUC Robotics did the initial robot programming and a trainer provided on- site programming and operations training to personnel. P-145 robots consistently apply chop and gel coat.