robotics, automation & assembly
Robots at Perkins
maximise machine tool
performance
read more about robotics,
automation & assembly at
www.mwponline.com
Case Studies
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TV camera control
Staubli
http://tinyurl.com/22qwkr
■ Carbon fibre panel
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Fastems
http://tinyurl.com/2yjsm5
Features
■ CMT changes process
of arc welding for robots
ABB
http://tinyurl.com/39pfpx
Bringing efficient machining processes back in-house at diesel
engine manufacturer Perkins has been helped by close
partnerships with robotics and machine tool suppliers.
Partnerships drive
competitiveness
TEAMS within the Perkins Engines machining
facility at the company’s Peterborough site are effectively
independent profit centres within the organisation -
they stand by the profitability of their individual
operations. Manufacturing Coach Tony Green is at the
heart of a shift in working practice that has benefited
the company over the past three years. He explains that
his role is to facilitate the Teams and empower them in
all areas to achieve the manufacturing objectives. The
role of Manufacturing Coach takes the position of
manufacturing manager further as it encapsulates
additional functions, including maintenance, process
engineering and training management to make
employee ownership really mean something.
Support and collaboration from OEM suppliers is seen
by Perkins as a fundamental to success, and the Perkins
Type 400D engine cylinder head is now benefiting from
working practice developments via a newly
commissioned, fully automated machining cell. This
component had been machined by an external, non UKbased
contractor, but for the past three years Perkins’
procurement department has included its own
manufacturing teams in the tendering process.
The internal team’s successful bid was based on a
totally automated cell, developed in conjunction with
two OEM partners, Fanuc Robotics and Heller Machine
Tools. The cell produces assembly-ready cylinder heads
from un-machined castings. Employing teams of four -
three operators and a maintenance person - and
operating a 3 shift system over 24 hours and 5 days a
week, the new cell will produce 80,000 cylinder heads
per year.
How it all works is that pallets of cylinder head
castings are delivered to the cell, where a Fanuc
R2000iA/165 robot equipped with a Fanuc V500iA/3DL
vision system identifies the position of the heads and
then picks them up using a magnetic gripper. After reorientating
the head using a fixture, the robot places the
cylinder head into a marking machine, and then places it
onto the machine cell input conveyor. The vision system
allows Perkins to use standard pallets and eliminates the
need for special jigs and costly containers. The robot is
utilised further by loading finish machined heads into a
leak testing machine and reloading them safely and
neatly into the pallet.
26 MWP january 2008
The machining cell comprises six Heller machining
centres - four for pre-machining and two for finish
machining. Two washing machines ensure complete
removal of metal cuttings. Servicing the machines and
mounted on a 20 Metre linear slide are two more
R2000iA/165 robots. Cylinder heads enter the machining
area on a conveyor and from that point are handled
through the cell by the robots. The two robots are
identical and, although programmed to work together
servicing the machines, each is capable of servicing the
entire cell independently.
Using a single gripper design each robot is able to
locate the cylinder heads in any of three positions
dependent on the loading/unloading requirement. The
long radial reach of the robots - 2.65m allows the
machines and processes to be accessed comfortably and
still allow space around the machines for maintenance.
Before the finish machined cylinder head is leak tested, a
further robot is used by the cell to load core plugs into
the cylinder head at the core plug pressing station.
Green says: ‘Skills and the right attitude are essential to
success, and I believe attitude is of paramount importance.
We can provide skills - attitude is a little harder. Success
relies on the team working together and sharing
information and experiences with each other. If there’s a
breakdown the maintenance team member will attend
but also the operator will be sufficiently capable and
willing to provide support until operations are resumed.
The key focus has been to release the full potential of the
teams - giving them what they need and making sure
they have the right tools. Partnering with Fanuc and
Heller has been a core element in achieving this.’
Initiatives at Perkins have included the OEMs’ support
teams working on site with the Perkins teams to
completely rebuild older equipment, and in the case of
Fanuc Robotics, sending two of the Perkins apprentices
to work at Fanuc’s Coventry base for four weeks.
Tony Green concludes: ‘The success of this project is
down to partnership - the result of a ground-up
development to ensure the cost effective machining of
the 400D cylinder head. It has retained machining work
in the UK, improved product quality and has further
enhanced best working practice within Perkins Engines.’
www.fruk.co.uk
www.heller-machinetools.co.uk
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