Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing - Sept/Oct '23 - 21

INDUSTRIAL FINISHING: MATERIAL HANDLING
" Robots are the cheap part of the process, it's
the integration and building all the tooling
that gets expensive. On the equipment side
it was smooth, even though it was during the
pandemic. On the building side, holy cow, that
was a nightmare, but we got it done. "
-Letham
will automatically adjust. Once it goes through the welding
process the part is placed onto a conveyor where an operator
can inspect it and attach the load bar, which a robot picks up
and loads it onto the line for the finishing process. "
Minor continues, " That process for Proslat is unique
because the tooling doesn't have to be swapped out, it's the
same tool on servo motors. When you pick a recipe, it adjusts
to that box size and the robots do too. "
" We're a one trick pony. We're a production line not a job
shop, " says Letham. " It's about volume. Our cabinets are
20- and 40-inches and that allows me to easily program my
robots and let them fly. The parts come out of the Prima and
are loaded onto the welding carrousel by an operator. Once
the deep welds and spots welds are done, a robot hangs it on
the line. The operators never lift the toolbox. It gets washed,
painted and the cabinets are removed by a robot after its
cured. "
" On the other end of the paint line, a robot picks up the
box and presents it to an operator who can detach it from the
load bar, or the robot will position it in a certain way for the
operator to attach casters or other accessories, " says Minor.
" It's pretty cool stuff. "
Letham adds, " During the cooling process, we assemble
the cabinets, but by the time it comes to the end of the line it's
ready for packaging and the robot puts it on a packaging tray
and it goes off to our packaging machine. "
Today, Proslat does 10,000 welds per day without a welder
on staff and produces 100 cabinets a day with only eight
employees.
" Robots are the cheap part of the process, it's the integration
and building all the tooling that gets expensive, " says Letham.
" On the equipment side it was smooth, even though it was
during the pandemic. On the building side, holy cow, that was
a nightmare, but we got it done. "
Minor agrees that robotics have come down significantly
in price. And DMAC is seeing a surge in interest in custom
robotic integration partly due to the pandemic, but also as
more companies look to reshore production. For Proslat the
ROI will be about a year and a half, possibly less.
BRING IT.
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September/October 2023
6/13/23 5:40 PM
21
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Canadian Finishing & Coatings Manufacturing - Sept/Oct '23

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