From 200 Tires Per Day Up to 500 + Better Ergonomics
“I know that people on the floor love their cells because it's easier on their bodies.”
– Scott Gemmill / Project Engineer, Thombert
Challenge:
One of the largest manufacturers of polyurethane wheels and tires for narrow aisle lift trucks, Thombert has been in business for over 60 years. But as with most manufacturers these days, the company was struggling to find workers.
Many of their production processes required heavy-duty manual labor. One cell in particular, had workers moving the heavy polyurethane tires one-by-one four different times in order to complete a single cycle.
Management knew they needed to start automating these back-breaking tasks but had been disappointed by other FANUC integrators in the past, so they were a bit wary.
“Colewell was recommended by the FANUC rep in the area… so we thought we'd [give them a] try because they're really close to us.”
– Scott Gemmill / Project Engineer, Thombert
Solution:
Steve and Dustin walked the shop floor with Scott, looked at their existing process, and took measurements. Then we designed a machine-tending robotic system that would fit into the small space they had available on their floor, increase production, and reduce wear on their operators.
Laying everything out in Robo Guide and CAD first, we built and tested the cell on our shop floor before taking it to Thombert. Then within a week, we had their brand new machine-tending robotic system up and running.
“It was like a perfect match. They redesigned it and had it all installed and everything's been working perfectly.”
– Scott Gemmill / Project Engineer, Thombert
Results:
The original manual process was yielding 200 tires a day if they were lucky. Now, depending on the number of changeovers, the team is able to produce 500 tires a day.
The operators on the floor love the robotic machine-tending cell we designed for them because it’s much easier on their bodies. With the new system, they only have to manually move each tire twice and in a way that’s much more ergonomic.
Thombert has been so happy with our factory automation capabilities that they recently hired us to install a new trim cell, and we're working with them now to design a brand new production line.