State of affairs
ProSteel, situated in Preston, Idaho, is an AISC-certified structural and miscellaneous metal fabrication firm based in 2023. The corporate processes about 80,000 to 120,000 lbs. of metal per week, relying on the undertaking’s combine and complexity.
When ProSteel was launched, the corporate made a long-term strategic resolution to put money into automation. Nonetheless, “lots of our structural beam copes, slots, and connection particulars required guide structure, torch chopping, and important cleanup. This course of launched variability in fit-up and required further grinding and correction time throughout meeting,” mentioned Talon Hobbs, basic supervisor.
Going through industrywide labor challenges, Prosteel selected to construct its fabrication heart and functionality round precision gear as a substitute of guide structure and correction work.
Decision
When the corporate started to make main gear investments, one of many first was the Beamcut BC25 from Machitech, a Quebec-based producer of customized industrial chopping techniques. Objective-built for structural metal processing, the machine supplied the automation that matched ProSteel’s long-term imaginative and prescient for scalable, environment friendly structural fabrication.
Different key elements within the resolution included the system’s automated 6-axis robotic FANUC beam chopping functionality on a small footprint; its high-definition Hypertherm plasma expertise; its capacity for advanced coping, saddle chopping, gap chopping, and slotting; and its built-in structure marking function for sooner and extra correct fit-up.
The machine would assist scale back ProSteel’s want for guide structure whereas enhancing first-time fit-up accuracy, weld preparation and weld consistency. As well as, it will lower the corporate’s want for grinding, essential correction, and rework time by laborers after steel elements and profiles have been reduce.
Put in as a central structural beam processing station inside ProSteel’s manufacturing circulate, the BC25 built-in straight with the corporate’s programming workflow, permitting environment friendly motion from detailing assessment to cut-ready manufacturing recordsdata. Programming and machine integration have been set as much as match how the corporate processes every undertaking internally. Inside a brief time period, ProSteel was in a position to improve manufacturing throughput whereas decreasing scrap charges.
With respect to labor scarcity points, machine automation has lowered the necessity for guide structure abilities and helped the corporate give attention to manufacturing effectivity. The system helps each skilled operators and newer workforce members by standardizing the chopping course of.
For the reason that set up, Hobbs mentioned, “We’ve got been in a position to combine trendy problem-solving instruments into our workflow. As an example, we now have uploaded the operator’s guide into ChatGPT internally, which permits our operators to shortly reference troubleshooting steps and resolve minor errors sooner and extra effectively.” As well as, Machitech affords a built-in information base the place clients can entry upkeep info and tutorials, in addition to seek for error codes.
“Since implementing the BC25, we’ve been in a position to produce extremely constant, exact copes and sophisticated profiles straight from our fashions. This has considerably improved first-time fit-up, lowered rework, and allowed our welders to give attention to manufacturing slightly than correction,” Hobbs mentioned. “Moreover, we are actually in a position to effectively course of extra advanced geometries that may have been time-prohibitive or inconsistent with guide strategies, enhancing each our high quality and general throughput.”
