ARI-Jackson Manufacturing installs robotic manufacturing system to reduce costs, and increase production rates on proprietary product line.

In the year 2000, ARI-Jackson decide to install an integrated manufacturing cell for an American Railcar Industries proprietary part. This part, while visually simple in design, had to be made to exacting tolerances and in significant numbers.

It was decided by an ARI-Jackson manufacturing team, that due to the highly repetitive nature of the work and the quantity of parts involved, that a robotic work cell be the best solution.
 

Integrated Manufacturing Cell A view from above showing the the robots working area. Note the safety fence to keep personnel out while the robot is running.

The manufacturing cell is design to deliver raw, cut-to-length bar stock to the Fanuc robot where it is picked up and placed in deburring fixture. A deburring tool attached to the head of the robot removes all sharp edges. Next, the robot places a notch in the piece before it is placed in a heat treating basket, ready to be conveyed to the next step in the manufacturing process.

The robot has proven capable of running 24 hours a day and has minimal environmental needs. The use of a robot, rather than a dedicated manufacturing machine, allows ARI-Jackson to introduce additional part designs in the future.