Sustainability: Shifting from Vision to Reality
Robots are adept at performing processes such as sanding and grinding, which results in a longer life for consumables, decreases the use of energy, and lowers a shop’s carbon footprint across production processes. The post Sustainability: Shifting from Vision to Reality appeared first on Fabricating & Metalworking.
The pace of technological change is constant in the metalworking industry as software, machinery, automation and robots continue to evolve so shops can work smarter, not harder. These advancements not only enhance efficiency and precision but also play a significant role in promoting sustainability.
Companies implementing Industry 4.0 initiatives, automation and robotics, for example, are making headway in developing and meeting sustainability goals. “Improved efficiency leads to sustainability,” said Arnie Kravitz, chief technology officer for BlueForge Alliance, a nonprofit defense industrial base integrator that supports U.S. Navy’s industrial base initiatives, as well as the maritime manufacturing sector.
Metalworking shops benefit from solutions that enable operators to have yet another tool (robots) in their toolbox, where robots act as an extension of the operators and tackle tedious and ergonomically challenging tasks, opening up operators to focus on higher value tasks.
Robots and artificial intelligence play a critical role in the environmental sustainability practices of the metalworking industry, particularly when it comes to back breaking processes such as sanding, polishing, buffing, grinding, coating, priming and blasting, among others. On the horizon are sensors to track temperature and humidity so robots can adapt processes based on the time of the year and time of the day, enabling the efficient use of consumables. Additionally, dashboards will track how upstream and downstream processes impact overall workflow in a shop, and how it affects sustainability initiatives. (Watch for the launch of such a dashboard in the first quarter from GrayMatter Robotics.)
Robotics and automation lend a hand to not only the sustainability of the metalworking industry’s processes but also to the sustainability and health of its operators by minimizing trips up and down ladders and squatting in awkward positions to perform finishing processes. With up to 90% of metalworking companies performing a high mix of jobs, many are unaware that robotic systems can program themselves to safely and efficiently perform processes such as sanding, polishing and grinding.
“I find it ironic that the first thing that we successfully automated in the industry was machining, which is considered one of the hardest, most skilled jobs in a shop,” said Dan Allford, president, ARC Specialties, Houston, Texas. “And one of the last things we are automating in the industry is finishing, sanding and grinding.” The company, founded in 1983, is a machine builder and robot integrator. Applications include building robotic systems for cutting, grinding, polishing, inspection, coating, material handling and marking.
Allford said the reason machining processes were automated first is that in that process, operators impose their will when working on a part. For instance, when drilling a hole in a part. On the other hand, when performing polishing, for example, the operator is no longer imposing their will on the part, rather the part imposes its will on the operator. When polishing a surface to make it smoother, a robot requires a sense of touch just like an operator would. “One of the lesser skilled jobs is one of the last ones that we’ve been able to automate,” Allford said. “And we’ve only been able to automate because robots now have a sense of touch.”
, which autonomously grinds surfaces on a variety of parts that would normally take this manufacturer five-to-six hours to program.
Image courtesy of GrayMatter Robotics.
Because a robot receives feedback regarding the amount of force to be used in a process, it determines exactly where the part is and applies a very specific force to the tool that is grinding, sanding or polishing the part. “We’re not programming the robot to go to a position any longer,” Allford said. “We’re programming it to go to a force and that requires a whole lot of technology that has only recently become available. It opens up a lot of fields because that is one job that is truly dull, dirty and dangerous — sanding and polishing.”
Robots become workforce multipliers in metalworking jobs that are physically challenging, Kravitz noted. “However, it is a job that needs to be performed in the metalworking industry.”
Kravitz said that robots improve the quality of work for the vocational worker, takes them out of harm’s way and can reduce the amount of required training time. “Under the use of a master vocational expert, robots do a great job and can produce a very consistent finish,” he said.
Kravitz added that master polishers and welders are in huge demand because they work with a shop’s mechatronics technicians to program robots to perform the work. For instance, a master worker can operate one or more collaborative robots (cobots), and not only is that a workforce multiplier, but it is a workforce safety multiplier. The master worker is able to extend their career because they cut down on injuries to their knees and backs. “They have longevity as a master at their craft because they are simply using a better tool,” Kravitz said. Robots prevent injuries and effectively make use of an operator’s skills.
More importantly, because operators are becoming more efficient at using robots in these finishing processes, it takes less energy to make a part. If you make the parts faster, you also use less energy per part. “So, the calculus starts to stack on top of each other,” Kravitz pointed out.
Addressing Pain Points Strengthens Sustainability Practices
And these results are crucial in a tight labor market. Globally, there are more than 9.2 million people doing tool-in-hand process applications; and more than 1.5 million people in the U.S. are performing these functions. “And the hard reality is that no one wants to do these jobs anymore,” said Ariyan Kabir, co-founder and CEO, GrayMatter Robotics. “What we see across the industry — anything from a football helmet to a fighter jet or a bathtub to a submarine — is a 75% labor churn in this specific domain [surface treatment],” Kabir said. “And that in turn leads to two major challenges that we see for manufacturers.” First, there is not enough capacity to clear out the backlogs of jobs, and second, there are challenges regarding quality and attaining the skills needed to become proficient at process applications, Kabir noted.
Leading up to the founding of GrayMatter Robotics five years ago, Kabir and his colleagues were meeting on a regular basis with manufacturers, learning their greatest challenges. The researchers were studying with Dr. S.K. Gupta at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Center for Advanced Manufacturing. Gupta, who is the co-founder and chief scientist at GrayMatter Robotics, formed an industry-affiliated program at USC “that enabled us to interface on a weekly basis with a wide range of manufacturers,” Kabir said.
Kabir, Gupta and their colleagues listened to the pain points shared by these manufacturers of all sizes and confirmed that 90% of manufacturing is high mix by nature, comprised of quick part changes and high part variability regarding dimensions and geometry. What’s more, there are material distribution changes and SKU changes that factor into the production picture. And within that high mix of operations came work still performed by tool-in-hand processes, for example, process applications such as sanding, grinding, coating, blasting, deburring, inspection, and so forth.
Solutions from GrayMatter Robotics, based in Gardena, Calif., as an example, enable manufacturers to improve performance in terms of cost, productivity, quality, safety and sustainability. The company leverages physical AI and robotic solutions to boost production capacity, enhance quality consistency, and improve the quality of workers’ lives in high-mix, high-variability manufacturing. The company’s autonomous surface finishing and treatment solutions do not require operators to be trained in the robot programming, and there isn’t any complex fixturing involved. Among its products are Scan&Sand, Scan&Grind and Scan&Polish.
With the solutions, an operator loads up a part, presses a couple of buttons on a screen and the system starts scanning the part from the live scan data, Kabir said. “It programs itself on the fly so no CAD model is needed,” he said. “During the operation it keeps taking feedback from onboard sensors to adapt and adjust its movements to guarantee quality consistency and prevent any mistakes from happening.”
These robotic system solutions determine the different geometric features of the part, and how much pressure to apply, at what speed, at what angle, and the sequence of abrasive media. The system also considers all the cables and hoses — the soft components that surround the robot arm, ensuring they are not entangled or torn. This all results in an end-to-end autonomous operation.
Robotic systems improve a shop’s sustainability performance through the minimization of consumables compared to manual usage, and contribute toward the elimination of scrap, repair and rework, which reduces energy consumption and cuts down on waste streams.
Consider the examples below to understand the full picture of the role that robots can play in assisting metalworking companies in achieving sustainability initiatives:
- For one major aircraft parts OEM, 50% of surface finishing labor is spent doing rework.
- For one major defense parts OEM, 22% of its production budget is dedicated to repair and rework.
“There are two major ways we offer value or we contribute to sustainability,” Kabir said. “No. 1, we eliminate a lot of consumable usage; and No. 2 is our contribution towards eliminating scrap, repair and rework.” To ensure the longer life of consumables, the robotic system estimates the health of the tool and determines if the consumable is fully used, partially used or new. “Based on that information the robotic system is able to do more work or less work and adjust its recipe,” Kabir said. “By doing so across applications and across industries, we are saving anywhere from 30%-to-70% consumable usage as compared to manual operation. Because as you know, people get tired, they prefer a fresh tool as opposed to the robot. We can control our parameters and really use the full life without compromising the final finish quality.”
Kabir also noted that when people get tired, they can make mistakes. These processes are hard on people’s bodies, including the possibility of injuries, and ergonomic challenges.
Through the use of robots, repair and rework processes look different. For a manufacturer of motive battery boxes that uses grinding and sanding robot systems, the company “previously, every week they were having a certain number of reject rates, and right now, per year, they achieve the same number of reject rates they would typically have in a week,” Kabir said. “So, it’s a dramatic shift.”
Kabir noted that GrayMatter Robotics is agnostic when it comes to which robot sensors and hardware will be used in a robot system because the company focuses on developing the AI and then packaging the turnkey system, the hardware and the software. The systems are developed based on the best value for the end user.
Metalworking shops will find robotic systems offered by companies such as ARC Specialties and GrayMatter Robotics will help them achieve sustainability goals.
GrayMatter Robotics also allows shops to subscribe to their systems for processes such as sanding, grinding, polishing, buffing, coating and blasting. Kabir said shops are increasingly drawn to the subscription service because they will receive continuous updates and upgrades for the systems.
One of the most important factors regarding achieving sustainable manufacturing initiatives through robotics and automation is that they are just another tool for operators and manufacturers. The systems do not replace workers, and in fact, provide advantages when it comes to enhancing efficiency and precision.
“One of the best things is that none of our customers to date has ever let any of their employees go due to robots,” Kabir said. Companies want to retain as many people as possible and robots allow them to not only upskill the workforce but achieve higher retention levels as well.
Based on the current state of the U.S. manufacturing skills gap, there will be 2.1 million unfulfilled manufacturing jobs by 2030, which could be a loss of $1 trillion in 2030 alone, according to a report from Deloitte and The Manufacturing Institute. The implementation of technologies such as robotic systems and AI fosters smarter resource management, optimizes the use of energy, and reduces carbon footprints across production processes. As the metalworking industry evolves, its commitment to sustainability becomes tied to its progress.
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