The economics of automation is better in robotic welding

By OEM Update Editorial October 31, 2022 5:16 pm IST

Many factories are planning for smart Factory concepts (Industry 4.0) where the entire production line will be Automatic and managed by Robotics and AI Technology.
Technological innovations in welding processes 
Technologically, the welding process can be divided into two main sections: the consumables and equipments. The consumables are the ones which are self sacrificing and plays a major role in metallurgical changes of the weld joints and base material.
Based on the type of material type of weld joints, material thickness , end usage and working conditions consumables are selected. Welding machines (Power Sources) are decided on the basis of type of welding, base material ,welding parameters, end application, etc. Presently many companies are switching over from manual welding to semi automatic to fully automatic and robotics in order to achieve higher productivity, better quality and less human errors. Recent trend in the market is invertor based, AI type machines and IoT based machines where the welding parameters can be stored, parameters can be adjusted and can be monitored online (real time feedback system) to achieve better welding quality, speed, and welder friendliness. This also helps to improve the welding cost, higher productivity, less manpower and less reworking cost.

Further sensors are used for tracking the welding process. Previously sensors were used to check welding area, welding parameters, welding fixtures fitments etc. Nowadays, with new type of sensors they track the weld joints before welding and give feedback to the robot and robots stored the welding path and set parameters.
Robotic welding: best for industrial and manufacturing industries
 Previously, the concept of robots being used in areas with high volumes meant high productivity. The same concept is now being used for small quantity but large volume jobs like boilers, pressure vessels, construction equipment, and railway bogies. Many factories are developing the smart factory concept where the entire production line is under robots’ control.As a result, robots are no longer limited to volume production but to large equipment and large areas. We are developing a full-fledged container production line for the first time in India. With automation, the productivity in production lines increases 3 to 4 times with much more accuracy, quality improvements, less time and less workforce. In one of the studied cases about the robotics production line, the increase was nearly ten times greater than the manual process. Hence, the economics of automation in robotic welding is much better.
Automation and robotics welding solutions are a better option 
Robots have a significant advantage in controlling productivity because you can programme the robot welding after gaining specific parameters. To achieve the same level of accuracy in terms of results, welding has a significant advantage. The robot will automatically stop welding when something is wrong or incorrect in the parameters. The robot notifies that there is an issue with incorrect functioning. The robot will remain the same with the same level of accuracy. Your placement must be exact while working with robots on any component; otherwise, the robot will not deliver good welding results.