Assembly Machines
What is an Assembly Machine? How automated should the assembly machine for my process be to get the most optimal cost benefit for the machine? What kind of data collection and quality validation processes should be built into the machine?
[Pictures of Stryver built Assembly Machines below]
An assembly machine is a piece of equipment built to assist a production employee with completing a task. Common applications for assembly machinery include screwdriving, bolt torquing, clip & grommet installation, part cutting & trimming, labelling & marking, testing & inspection, pressing or fusing parts together and packaging & sorting.
When determining whether or not you should automate your assembly process with an assembly machine, typically the big question is as follows:
“Which tasks should I automate, and which tasks should I continue to leave 100% manual?”
The questions below are some of the typical questions Stryver project managers ask themselves before assessing a project to determine how it should be approached:
- What product mix will the assembly equipment be required to run? How varied is the mix?
- How repetitive is a process to complete? What motion is a human operator required to complete to do the task?
- How important is it to validate proper completion of a task? What is the validation process?
- What subprocesses are required to complete the overall task?
- What is the daily/monthly/annual volume of product required to be produced by this process?
Automated assembly machinery is best used in situations where the process is dangerous or repetitive to humans, the product mix is small, the overall volume is high, and proper completion is highly important. If the assembly machinery is required to run is highly varied product mix (high mix), automation is more challenging to implement as all part types have to be accommodated by the assembly machine. Assembly stations excel at eliminating stress and danger from a human operator tasked with completing an overall assembly process, for the same repetitive process, while requiring validation to ensure a process was fully completed.
A proper data collection and part validation plan is critical to the implementation of any automated assembly machine. While a manual assembly machine may simply assist an operator with process completion, an automated machine will step an operator through a process and ensure a completed part can not be considered acceptable unless the process sequence is followed exactly as dictated. Stryver commonly build poke-yokes into each step of an assembly process, methods to require a barcode scan at the beginning of a process to tie process data back to the part, and database generation through an onboard PLC or PC that drives the assembly process. Full traceability to ensure a part is completed exactly as required is Stryver’s assembly machine build standard.
Let Stryver help with a custom assembly machine to meet the needs of your particular situation. From screwdriving and bolt torquing machines, to bushing installation machines and other specialty applications, our team has designed assembly machine solutions for dozens of challenging applications. Some of our work is shown below. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , we would be happy to prepare a proposal for your specific assembly project to help you build the best parts possible.
