Alusteel Fabricates Welding Labor Shortage Solution With Cobot Welders from Smooth Robotics

Combining collaborative robotics, advanced software, and human welding expertise, Smooth Robotics has developed a cobot welding solution designed to maximize productivity and reduce costly programming routines. With cobot and humans working in tow, Alusteel, a Danish manufacturer, implemented Smooth Robotics’s Smooth Tool package to speed operations, provide relief from the chronic shortage of skilled welders, and improve weld quality and productivity. 

 

The SmoothTool cobot welding package comes with a programming flange, installation guide, license USB key, and software USB key for set up. Image used courtesy of Smooth Robotics

 

Skilled Trades Always In Demand

Welding is one of the most highly sought-after trades among commercial industries (including maritime, automotive, military, manufacturing, aerospace, construction, and more). The pronounced shortage of skilled human welders is leading to industry-wide consequences including:

• Extended project timelines
• Slowed supply chains
• Compromised quality 
• Lack of welding innovation and development
• Rising, unsustainable labor costs

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the outlook for welding jobs (between the baseline year 2022 and 2032) will see minimal or no change in the years to come, but the bureau also projects around 42,600 job openings per year (on average). 

 

The perception of welding jobs is not good. Welding is not for the faint of heart and Individuals looking to make welding a career can look forward to working in hazardous, harsh working environments and repetitive and strenuous tasks. Image used courtesy of Adobe Stock

 

Finding a Welder is Tough, Retaining Them Tougher Still

Although there are plenty of job opportunities in the welding sector, the problem for many companies is finding qualified welders to fill vacant positions, and once hired, keeping them. 

For example, baby boomers entering retirement will likely force companies to hire less skilled, less experienced employees lacking the know-how to tackle increasingly specialized welding jobs. However, the perception of welding jobs is not good. Welding is not for the faint of heart and Individuals looking to make welding a career can look forward to working in hazardous, harsh working environments and completing repetitive and strenuous tasks. Society’s opinion of skilled trades (as opposed to a degreed profession) over the past several decades has not helped the situation either.

 

A Cobotic Partner to Fill the Gap

However, despite the misperceptions, the value of this work continues to rise and is part of the reason why robotics are being employed more frequently, and seen as an economic way to help bridge the labor gap and improve productivity. The integration of automated robotics into welding is proving to be a practical solution, prompting growing investment in robotic welding technology, accompanied by training to integrate robots to support human-led welding operations. 

Advancing production from the fixed nature of large industrial welding robots – which often required time-consuming reprogramming to change tasks and welding routines – was proving challenging to Alusteel. Seeking productivity and quality gains the company’s production engineers turned to Smooth Robotics to introduce cobot welders, and introduce a cost-saving, safety-enhancing, and flexible solution to the plant floor. 

 

Mads Milling, Alusteel’s founder says that deploying SmoothTool and a Universal Robot (UR) cobot alongside an experienced welder can practically triple his or her productivity. Using SmoothTool, an expert welder can program the cobot “apprentice” with a few clicks and a couple of buttons. Simply the expert can teach the novice, enabling swift, accurate movements, guiding the the robot’s motins to create perfect welds every time.

Alusteel had a complex product involving the welding of 30 components in a time-consuming and intricate process that took the better part of an hour to accomplish with a single welder on the stations. Working with the UR cobot, welding time was reduced by 47%, to just 23 minutes. Now, an order that used to take 21 ours to complete can be accomplished in 11 hours overall. Another key element introduced with the cobot welding solution is safety, Because welder/operators now spend less time to finish the same tasks, they’re exposed to less risk and stress over time.

Smooth Robotics’s resources page has plenty of useful information concerning how to use SmoothTool and what kind of precision welding it can execute. Image used courtesy of Smooth Robotics 

 

A Collaborative Approach to Welding

SmartTool combines robotics, software, and human welding expertise into a collaborative frame that supports both operator and tool training and accelerates integration into production and manufacturing operations.

 

Smooth Robotics’s resources page has plenty of useful information concerning how to use SmoothTool and what kind of precision welding it can execute. Image used courtesy of Smooth Robotics

 

Via circular and linear weaving, SmoothTool Welding software controls the end-effector for both e-series and CB UR robots. Operating welders can modify parameters lsuch as frequency, amplitude, and dwell time to execute welds accurately. Smooth Robotics says that the offset feature of the software enables precise welding positioning and makes duplication and offsetting in the X, Y, and Z directions much more fluid. These features are built in to ensure consistent weld quality.

The latest SmoothTool v1.9 incorporates enhanced weaving with the incorporation of “Back and Forth” weaving and the availability to set up desired weaving patterns in segment and weld nodes. In comparison to previous versions, SmoothTool v1.9 also allows users to disable automatic program looping. A consistent error code system and comprehensive descriptions of errors are accessible through a partner portal, aiding troubleshooting to get welding operations back on track with minimal downtime.