BAW takes the proven route for second Borg Warner gearbox assembly line

Citation

(2006), "BAW takes the proven route for second Borg Warner gearbox assembly line", Assembly Automation, Vol. 26 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2006.03326baf.003

BAW takes the proven route for second Borg Warner gearbox assembly line

BAW takes the proven route for second Borg Warner gearbox assembly line

Keywords: Robots, Assembly, Automotive industry

BAW Precision Engineering has installed a second transfer gearbox assembly line into Borg Warner’s Margam factory using proven proprietary automation equipment wherever possible. The assembly system further establishes BAW as a supplier of complete manufacturing systems.

Operating as a precision engineering company since 1973, BAW has had to adapt to the change in the manufacturing sector. The old business model saw precision engineering companies manufacturing to drawings supplied by customers with in-house design and tool rooms. In the process of going lean most manufacturers have removed their in-house capability and passed this requirement onto the precision engineering sector.

Over the past 15 years, BAW has embraced the need for change and has taken the model a step further. The company now offers a complete manufacturing solution designing systems to manufacture components from tool design stage through to actual component assembly and test. Building close partnerships with leading equipment suppliers such as FANUC Robotics, BAW has developed a strong understanding of design needs for efficient manufacturing automation.

When BAW engineered its first system for Borg Warner two-and-half years ago – a transfer gearbox assembly system for Kia – it negotiated two year warranty periods with its strategic partners. “We knew from past experience that FANUC was reliable and we were confident in our own product’s quality and reliability so it gave us and Borg Warner peace of mind.” commented Steve Evans, Sales Manager, BAW.

A second installation was required when Borg Warner won the contract to supply the transfer gearbox for Audi’s Q7 SUV. “Once again we (BAW) worked with the customer to provide the most economic solution, with full traceablity throughout, and our chosen partners for this second system remained the same, in fact Borg Warner, on the basis of the robot’s performance over the past two years has stated that FANUC is its preferred choice,” continued Steve.

Four robots are used on the Audi assembly cell – the first robot a six axis FANUC LR-Mate 200i applies adhesive to the casting and uses a laser bead tracking system, robots two and three are 45 kg Payload FANUC M-710i robots carrying out torquing operations and robot four a 70 kg FANUC M-710iW handles the finished assembly into a dynamometer (Plates 8 and 9).

Plate 8 70 Kg FANUC M-710i W handles the finished assembly into a dynamometer

Plate 9 45 Kg FANUC M-710i carries out torquing operations

“The whole line is designed as a ‘no fault forward’ system – a BAW solution; there is no point in passing assemblies around the cell if they have failed at an earlier station – effectively this would mean you were handling scrap around the cell. At each operation area we have a rework station, which allows corrections to be made by operators should assemblies fail. During assembly, we continually check that the correct parts for each derivative are present – if they are not we don’t allow the assembly to proceed. We automatically test for leaks, oil fill and finally the assembly is checked on a dynamometer,” explained Steve.

Robot four unloads the gearbox from the assembly line and holds its data label to a reader which identifies if the gearbox has passed for the dynamometer test – if it passes, the variant identity is read to the dynamometer. Assemblies failing in this area are placed onto a reject conveyor within the cell and gearboxes passing the dynamometer test are sent to a pick up area.

The target assembly time for gearboxes is 90 s and the cell is designed to operate at 80 s allowing the overall system to work well within specification. “To achieve this we specified the robots to be working well within their capacity – on average they work at 50 percent capacity. We’ve found that the OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) of the first ‘Kia’ cell to be in excess of 94 percent a credit to all our partners supplying equipment.”

For further information, please contact: Maurice Hanley, National Sales and Marketing Manager, FANUC Robotics (UK) Limited; Tel: 024 7663 9669; e-mail: sales.fruk@fanucrobotics.co.uk; web site: www.fanucrobotics.co.uk