FORMING AND FABRICATING AUTOMATION
Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................ 3 CHAPTER ONE Press and Line Controls............................6 Capable controls can synchronize and manage stamping presses and all related line components, and ensure that all presets, processes and monitoring functions are correct for each and every run. Such control capability greatly improves setup time and line performance. CHAPTER TWO Material Feeding.....................................11 Automating material feeding decreases setup time while en- suring that material enters machinery ready for processing without delay and at the correct speed. This also frees per- sonnel from monotonous and potentially injurious tasks. CHAPTER THREE Stamped-Part Transfer...........................19 Automating part transfer results in proper placement of ma- terial—at the right time and in the right orientation. It also speeds part production and frees personnel for other tasks.
CHAPTER FOUR Die Handling...........................................34 Automated die handling provides precise and quick die changeovers, while offering efficiencies for press lines that deal with high part mixes, and for lines that run heavy, un- wieldy tooling packages. CHAPTER FIVE Material Handling for Press Operations...40 Bottlenecks develop where parts and scrap accumulate. Au- tomated material handling provides an ideal answer. CHAPTER SIX Quality Control........................................50 Technology advances have delivered rapid and reliable part inspection—inline or off. CHAPTER SEVEN Industry 4.0 and Fabricating Software.....58 Artificial intelligence and other Industry 4.0 technologies pro - vide all manner of advantages in modern metal forming and fabricating operations, and help power fabricating software.
CHAPTER EIGHT Material Handling for Fabrication............74 Automated material storage, retrieval and offloading, as well process tending bring big benefits in fabricating operations. CHAPTER NINE Robotics................................................. 88 Robots and cobots anchor all manner of automated pro- cesses in fabricating operations. CHAPTER TEN Workforce Development.........................98 Anyone can buy automation, but the true manufacturing win- ners have well-trained workforces that best take advantage of such investment.
CHAPTER ELEVEN Advertisers Index................................. 102
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