Not All Integrators Are The Same: How Navus Saw What Others Couldn’t
We don’t have to tell you about the challenges and complexity of making the different systems in your facility communicate and work together. If you find managing line production day-to-day feels more like a nightmare than the smooth process it should be, you may be partnered with the wrong automation integrator. Choosing the right automation integrators makes all the difference in how well your systems run, their impact on your day, and the future growth of your company.
No matter what challenge you’re facing in your manufacturing facility, different automation integrators will always come up with different ways to resolve your challenges. When choosing a partner, it comes down to choosing the smartest solution possible for your company. Integration isn’t just about solving your current challenge, it’s also about looking to the future and seeing possibilities for the success of your business that your current integration partner may not have considered.
Our team at Navus has proven our ability to stand out above other integrators with our knack for seeing what others didn’t, and applying ingenuity to not only solve immediate complex challenges for our clients, but also to think towards the future and how our turn-key systems can provide intelligent solutions that consider future challenges your company may face. In this blog series we explore how the work that we’ve done sets Navus apart from other integrators.
Sensor-Guided Robotics Handling Multi-Ton Parts?
A couple of years ago we gained a client in a nontraditional way because of our ability to think of the smartest way to solve challenges. Their facility manufactured multi-ton parts, and they wanted to automate a part of the process that had historically been done manually by employees. They required a machine that could automatically locate and identify one of their heavy parts by recognizing its shape and features, create a tool path for the part, and mill all sharp edges to a close-tolerance radius, all while ensuring downstream processing success using robotic programming.
Our client hired a different integration team before they approached us, but the system that their first integration partner engineered failed when it actually came to programming a robot to locate and identify each part before milling the sharp edges. Our client recognized that this was a central part of the solution they needed, and reached out to us for a second opinion. Our entire team was confident we could engineer a solution and we put our heads together to figure out how to accomplish what seemed impossible to accomplish.
How Did We Do It?
Whatever system and machine we developed needed to account for fluctuation in size and weight of our client’s manufactured parts. Part positioning tolerances and dimensional variations can decrease productivity, causing high rejection rates and downtime in industrial robotic applications, and we wanted to avoid those roadblocks at all cost. Our machine needed to consistently deliver a part at the end of the tool path that has been measured with all sharp edges milled into a precise radius in less than an hour from start to finish, with no need for manual manipulation.
Robotics were our best friend when it came to solving this particular challenge. Our team utilized experience and ingenuity to create a system that could:
- Find and measure a particular part
- Write a program for itself based on the position of the edges of the part
- Automatically grind edges to a precise radius
The result of our ingenuity was a multi-faceted machine that accomplished all of our client’s intended goals. The process we engineered utilized sensor guided robotics, automatic tool path generation from sensor inputs, automatic robot program generation, and custom designed material handling equipment to reliably move and precisely position very heavy materials. Our clients required the process to take under an hour in order to be more efficient, and our machine accomplished the entire process beginning to end in only 25 minutes.
Our team’s ability to think outside of the norm for robotics and programming solved a problem that seemed nearly impossible for our client. We took what other automation integrators failed at and turned it into a solution that went above and beyond what our client expected. Read more of the specifics about how we solved their challenges by downloading our recent white paper.
Why Are Navus’ Solutions Smarter Than Other Automation Integrators’ Solutions?
It all comes down to our team at Navus. Every one of our engineers is passionate about solving specific challenges for every single one of our clients who partners with us. Our experience, ability to think outside of the box, and passion make all of the difference in ensuring our turn-key system solutions accomplish what other automation integrators can’t. Partnering with Navus isn’t just about figuring out a solution for your current challenges. With every client we partner with, we promise to bring new ideas and solutions to the table that create future possibilities for your manufacturing space, and the future growth of your company.
Navus Automation, Inc., is a leading full-service automation integrator. Our world-class team has a reputation for applying ingenuity to solve complex challenges and deliver customized turn-key systems solutions. From concept to completion, Navus provides robotic welding and automation systems built upon our unwavering commitment to excellence, precision, and reliability.
For more information on how our team can help you solve complex challenges in your manufacturing facility, reach out to us today!
