While robotic welders have helped F & P America Manufacturing to automate the production of up to 2,000 Honda engine assemblies per day, they have also introduced safety concerns into the fast-paced operation.
As a major supplier to automakers such as Honda, Mitsubishi, and General Motors, F & P America understands the importance of productivity. Even during this economic slowdown, F & P's plant is working at maximum capacity to ensure that customers receive parts in time -- just in time.
F & P's largest customer is Honda, with whom F & P works closely to ensure that parts are received when needed. Honda and F & P both utilize Just in Time manufacturing, where parts are shipped to Honda just four hours before they are needed for production. Since F & P also follows Just in Time, they carry only three days of inventory, with a one-day inventory of finished goods. Parts must be staged at F & P to Honda's production line, which leaves little room for error.
Within tight schedules, F & P produces 1,800 to 2,000 assemblies per day, six days a week. This amounts to more than 584,000 assemblies per year. Even with F & P's large employee base, the operation would not be able to meet manufacturing requirements without the use of robotic welders. F & P currently uses 208 robots, with 114 additional robots scheduled to arrive soon to meet upcoming production demand.
While robotic welders help automate manufacturing processes, they also introduce a variety of safety concerns. When using robots, safety surrounding the work cell must be carefully planned. F & P requires both a physical barrier between the employees and the robot, and light curtains for the area surrounding the robots. These "electric barriers" provide redundancy to the safety system. As Dave Parmenter, assistant manager of the Technical Group, made clear, "You don't take any chances on safety."
F & P's achievement of 1,000,000 hours without a lost time accident testifies to the company's concern for safety. That's why they chose to install Guardian™ rollup barriers from Frommelt® Safety on several robotic weld cells. F & P was most concerned with protecting employees from the arc flash and splatter that occur during robotic welding, and determined that automated barriers would provide protection from flash and prevent entry into the robotic welding cell, all without reducing productivity.
Automated machine guarding devices are programmed with the robot, completely automating the process. The automated curtains allow one robot to be used continuously, without waiting: the operator loads a part on one side of the cell, while on the other side the robot is welding. A barrier is closed in front of the robot, but a second barrier on the other side of the cell is open to allow for parts loading and unloading. When the new parts have been loaded and the welding is completed, the second barrier closes and the robot rotates to begin welding on the other side of the cell. Simultaneously, the other barrier opens to allow for unloading and reloading of parts on the opposite side. This cycle is repeated thousands of times per year.
According to Parmenter, this system is ideal for F & P, because "you don't want the associate waiting on the robot, and you don't want the robot waiting on the associate."
F & P first tried an automated curtain that utilized a cotton-like fabric. But these curtains could not withstand the harsh welding environment, lasting only one or two years. F & P then replaced about 30 existing curtains with the more durable Guardian barrier curtains of heavy-duty, fire resistant 50 oz black vinyl, which is ideal for F & P's demanding applications. The new curtains have withstood thousands of cycles, while protecting employees and maintaining high productivity levels.
F & P has also installed 12 complete Guardian units throughout the plant. There are several dual-Guardians on work cells, and two large, 13 ft wide Guardians, each on a cell with two employees and two robots. The Guardian remains in the down position until the robot has completed welding, and then opens so the 9 ft table can be rotated and employees can unload finished parts, and load new parts. F & P then utilizes a pokeyoke system, which performs an electronic sensor check to ensure that all parts are in place prior to welding. This process ensures that all parts adhere to F & P's quality standard. Such attention to detail has earned F & P Honda's Quality Award for the last three years.
F & P America Manufacturing, Inc opened in Troy, OH in 1994 as a 100,000 sq ft welding shop with only 80 employees. Now, after five plant expansions, F & P does stamping, welding, assembly, and painting of components with 500 employees in a 300,000 sq ft facility. As the business has grown, floor space has become more critical. The Guardian's barrier curtain protection during robotic welding has enabled the company to save valuable space by uprighting the light curtains around the cell, thus reducing the "fall zone" required around the robotic welder. This can only be done when the fixtures are small, but it has helped maximize floor space, while maintaining a high level of safety. When physical barriers are not in place, light curtains are often placed horizontally to detect people in the fall zone.
F & P has recognized the value of automating both production, through the use of robotic welders, and the safety devices on their lines, to maximize the safety of the operation. According to Parmenter, "Safety is the biggest benefit of the Guardians: we're stopping arc flash, we're stopping entry into a dangerous area, we're stopping expulsion -- they're just 100% safety."
