The automated answer to the difficulty of hiring workers in welding: Universal Robots’ collaborative robots triple the production capacity of local metal manufacturing companies

The automated answer to the difficulty of hiring workers in welding: Universal Robots’ collaborative robots triple the production capacity of local metal manufacturing companies

Shanghai, China, November 28, 2022

In July 2022, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security released the second quarter "Ranking of the 100 Occupations with the Most Labor Shortage Where Recruitment Outweighs Job Seekers". "Welder" was listed at number 15. There is a large gap in workers in related positions and a high job-seeking ratio. Typical demand markets are spread across major provinces and cities across the country from south to north, including many important manufacturing economic centers.

As a type of work with high technical requirements and certain health risks, welding has a "demand" greater than "supply" that is not only reflected in the difficulty of recruiting workers, but also in the difficulty of employing workers. On the one hand, due to the repetitive and boring characteristics of factory work, young workers are generally less stable. Also, because they are new to the industry, their technical level is limited, which will affect the quality of manufactured products to a certain extent. On the other hand, it is difficult to find welding technicians with rich qualifications and high salaries. Therefore, the more experienced technicians in manufacturing companies, the higher their workload, which indirectly affects the efficiency of completing production tasks and the guarantee of goods delivery. In addition , welding workers generally have limited ability to grasp emerging production technologies. Although many companies have introduced automated equipment, its penetration rate also has certain challenges. Many manufacturing companies even need to hire special personnel to take care of automated equipment with higher operating requirements . The multiple problems faced by these "one young and one old" have put many companies in a dilemma.

Universal Robots' rich automated welding solutions

Universal Robots (hereinafter referred to as UR) has keenly observed the common challenges in this industry and continues to launch a variety of automated welding solutions, including mobile welding stations and welding process packages suitable for different welding machine brands, such as multi-layer multi-pass welding, weld positioning and other functions. This also includes the human-machine collaborative welding workstation TruArc Weld 1000 developed in conjunction with TRUMPF (China) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as TRUMPF China), a global industrial machine tool, laser technology and electronic technology company. This solution is equipped with the collaborative robot UR10e, which focuses on automating "multi-variety, small batch" welding tasks, improving production capacity, releasing manpower, stabilizing product quality, optimizing the welding work environment, and promoting business transformation of manufacturing companies.

Collaborative robots: the best replacement for welding technicians

Compared with industrial robots, which are more complicated to program, operate and maintain, collaborative robots can greatly improve the challenges faced by traditional manual welding in terms of safety and stability, ease of operation, quality controllability, and floor space advantages.

o Stable human-robot collaboration protects the safety of skilled workers: UR’s technology ensures that collaborative robots limit their force when in contact with workers. Users can also program UR collaborative robots to decelerate when someone enters the collaborative robot’s work area and resume full speed when the person leaves.

oThe system is simple and easy to use, which improves the popularity of automation equipment: Universal Robots provides a simple graphical programming method and drag-and-drop teaching function. Ordinary operators can complete welding tasks independently without professional programming skills, reducing labor costs.

oControllable welding quality creates better benefits for enterprises: Robot operation is more accurate and controllable than manual operation. Universal Robots can handle various types of welding, such as TIG welding, MIG welding, spot welding, arc welding, ultrasonic welding and plasma welding, etc., to achieve flexible, efficient and free welding processes, reduce production downtime and reduce material waste. Taking the UR10e collaborative robot as an example, its range of action is 1300 mm and the repeatability reaches +/- 0.05 mm.

In addition, the UR collaborative robot occupies a small area, can be installed at any angle, and has 17 configurable safety functions, so there is no need for safety fences, which can make full use of the space of existing production lines and factories, and reduce the overall implementation cost of the project. Globally, UR has successfully helped a large number of customers realize welding automation, including three local metal processing manufacturers that have jointly developed with TRUMPF China - TRUMPF Metal Sheet Products (Taicang) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as TRUMPF Metal), Ningbo Chenyu Machinery Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Ningbo Chenyu) and Zhejiang Haichuang Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Zhejiang Haichuang). All three companies have currently deployed TruArc Weld 1000.

Human-machine collaborative welding workstation: productized intelligent solution

TruArc Weld 1000 Human-machine Collaborative Welding Workstation

The TruArc Weld 1000 human-machine collaborative welding workstation is a fully equipped machine tool. In addition to the UR10e collaborative robot, the design also includes safety devices such as vacuum cleaners and anti-glare fences. Users can quickly get started through video tutorials. This solution is suitable for various types of sheet metal welding work, including common carbon steel, stainless steel, galvanized sheet, aluminum alloy welding, and 1-3mm thin plate welding (CMT cold metal transition technology is required).

oTechnical expertise, aimed at solving "multi-variety, small batch" welding tasks Task : In the "multi-variety, small batch" production state, the biggest bottleneck of automatic welding equipment is the cumbersome pre-welding preparation programming teaching and parameter debugging. The TruArc Weld 1000 system has a high degree of integration, realizes fast programming, and is truly ready to use out of the box. It is an automated welding unit that can be quickly put into production.

oYou can get started right away, and technical novices are no longer afraid of automated equipment: TruArc Weld 1000 is easy to program and uses a drag-and-drop, modular task mode. Whether you are a young technical worker or an experienced welding master, you can quickly learn how to use the process after simple training, which completely changes the operational threshold of traditional industrial robot programming.

oDual -station design, multi-tasking in parallel to maximize production efficiency: TruArc Weld 1000 allows quick switching between single/dual station working modes. Depending on the component and batch size, companies can use the welding cell in single-station or dual-station operation mode. For example, welders can process a larger batch of small components or one large component at the same time during production.

Cai Hongjia, production manager of Trumpf Metal Sheet Products (Taicang) Co., Ltd. said: "As a subsidiary of the Trumpf Group, we are the first customers to experience TruArc Weld 1000. The automated welding concept of this equipment is very different from other options we visited and experienced at the time. TruArc is the productization of automated welding, rather than simply integrating robots and welding machines together. TruArc's human-machine interaction, operation interface, and parameter settings are all very smooth, and our welders quickly got started without the need for professional background. After more than a year of deployment, TruArc has completely exceeded our expectations and opened up our imagination of future intelligent welding equipment. The introduction of these intelligent welding equipment not only reduces the labor load of workers, but also extends and expands the scope of Trumpf's metal sheet processing business."

Xu Yulun, deputy general manager of Ningbo Chenyu Machinery Technology Co., Ltd. said: "Before choosing TruArc, we visited and investigated other brands and also studied traditional industrial robot solutions. The biggest advantage of TruArc is its system. TruArc is simpler to operate, has better overall operation fluency, has lower requirements for operators, and has lower time costs. After a year of use, its programming convenience and overall welding effect can meet our expectations. After the deployment of TruArc products, our production model has gradually moved from the original simple blanking and bending to the direction of complete sets. TruArc gives us the confidence to accept more demanding processing orders, and we believe that our demand for intelligent equipment will also increase in the future. "

Liu Dahai, chairman of Zhejiang Haichuang Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd., said: "After more than a year of deployment and multiple production processes, TruArc can indeed solve the problems we face in production and bring us real convenience. If TruArc can add additional functions to the equipment in the future, we will increase our investment in this equipment in the future."

Automated welding technology: significantly improves production capacity and has broad application prospects

Since the deployment of automated welding technology, the production efficiency, product quality and business scope of the above three companies have all been significantly improved, as reflected in: