Metalworking automation
The machine is fast. When it isn’t waiting.
Schematics, control panels and software for what surrounds lasers, presses, machining centers and robots: loading and unloading, permissives, safety, part data.
Around the machine
The machine makes the part. The rest makes production.
A laser, a press or a machining center comes with its own control, and it knows how to run its cycle. How many good parts come out at the end of the shift is decided around the machine: the sheet that arrives on time, the part seated against its stop, the permissive that doesn’t drop out, the guard that opens without stopping the cell, the data that follows the part all the way to the pallet.
That’s where we’ve worked since 1996, from the electrical schematic to start-up. In metalworking we’ve been in cutting and sheet-metal departments, in machining, in welding and assembly, on material handling and end of line. For those who have the machines on the floor and want to automate tending or redo the controls, and for those who build the machines.
A tour of the departments
Every machine waits for something. Here’s what, in six departments.
-
The sheet · Laser cutting
The laser shouldn’t wait for the sheet.
Storage tower, suction-cup loader, pallet changer: the next sheet is ready while the head finishes the cut. At pickup, a sensor checks for double sheets. Assist gas and fume extraction give the permissive; at unloading, the cut parts stay tied to their job.
-
The strip · Coil-fed press
The press hits only with the strip on pitch.
Decoiler, straightener, feeder: the loop acts as a buffer, and the electronic cams tell the feeder when to advance the strip. In the die, sensors check feed and part ejection; tonnage is monitored on every stroke. When a reading is outside its window, the press stops before the next stroke.
-
The dimensions · Machining center
The spindle starts with the part seated.
A robot or a gantry loads and unloads; with the CNC, a few signals are enough, but they have to be reliable: door open, vise closed, cycle complete. The seating check says whether the part is against its stop. Downstream gauging corrects the tool offset, or stops the lot before it turns to scrap.
-
The joint · Robot cell
The arc strikes with the fixture closed.
Two-station table: the operator loads on one side while the robot welds on the other, behind the weld screen. Clamps closed and parts present, sensor by sensor, give the arc its permissive. The weld program follows the part number; gas, wire and arc current are monitored throughout.
-
The assembled unit · Assembly
The part moves on if the curve is good.
The press-fit station records force and stroke: the curve has to pass through its windows. The nutrunner tightens to torque and angle. Before closing up, every component, the key included, is checked for presence and orientation. The result stays tied to the serial number.
-
The pallet · End of line
The pallet leaves with its codes.
Washing, marking, inspection, packing. The marker engraves the code and a reader reads it back right away. Roller conveyors and shuttles act as buffers between departments: the zones hand the part along without collisions. The robot palletizes to the pattern for that part number; the label closes out the pallet.
A shop doesn’t end at six departments. Tell us how yours is set up.
What we bring to the shop
From drawing to first production run. Four jobs, one signature.
-
Electrical schematic
The schematic the maintenance tech uses.
Axes, clamps, solenoid valves, safety circuits: a single set of sheets, and the tag on the schematic is the same one the maintenance tech finds on the wire and on the terminal.
-
Control panel
The panel built for the shop floor.
Drives, safety devices and PLC wired and tested in our workshop, in a cabinet sealed and cooled the way it has to be where there’s metal dust and oil mist in the air; it ships with its CEI EN 61439 declaration of conformity.
-
PLC and HMI software
The program that says what’s missing.
Sequences, signal exchange with the CNC and the robot, data by part number; when the cell won’t start, the HMI shows which permissive is missing, with no need to open the panel.
-
Testing and start-up
Start-up with real parts.
First the panel powered up in Mesero, signal by signal and safety function by safety function; then the shop floor, with real parts and at the real rate, until the cell runs on its own.
Questions
Before touching a machine.
The questions from the first meeting. The answers hold in general: after that, we have to see the machine.
The machine already has its own CNC. What do you touch?
The machining cycle stays with the machine builder. We do the electrical and the software for what’s around it: loading and unloading, fixtures, conveyors, cell safety, and the signals the machine and its tending system use to talk to each other. If the CNC needs an option, we request it together with the builder.
Today the machine is loaded by hand. Can a robot tend it?
Often, yes. We look at whether the machine has, or can be fitted with, an automatic door and the signals to talk to outside equipment; then how the blanks arrive and where the finished parts go. We integrate the robot, the cell PLC and the safety system.
Can we leave the machine running on its own at night?
It depends on what happens when something goes wrong. You need a buffer of blanks and one of finished parts, broken-tool detection and a check for badly clamped parts, and a stop that does no damage. Usually you start with a few extra hours at the end of the shift, then stretch it.
The cell has a discontinued PLC and nobody has the program anymore. Can it still be redone?
Yes, starting from the machine. We trace out the panel, rebuild the signal list, back up the program if it can still be read, and write down what the cell does by watching it run. The new panel is tested in our workshop; what’s left for the shop floor is the connections and the first parts. Revamping: when nothing is left in writing
We have presses and press brakes with thirty years of work on them. Can the safety systems be brought up to date?
First comes the risk assessment of the machine as it is today. From there, circuits and logic are redesigned: stops, interlocked guards, light curtains, two-hand control, with safety components and safety PLCs. At testing, every function is tested on its own. Who is responsible for conformity is put in writing at the start.
We know the machines sit idle, but not why. Can it be measured?
Yes. The PLC knows why the machine is stopped, and logs it: waiting for part, waiting for operator, part changeover, alarm, with time and duration. The HMI shows how the shift went. If the data has to leave the machine for the plant’s systems, we settle beforehand which data, and with whom.
The cell has been running for six months and one morning it won’t start. Who do we call?
Us, and on the other end is the person who wrote the cell’s program. The first year of support is included. With secure, authorized remote access, we look at alarms and signal status from Mesero before we even set out.
What we need
Start with the part. And where the machine waits today.
The part drawing, or a photo with material, dimensions and weight.
The machine: make, model, year. Better with a photo of the open panel.
How many parts you make per shift and how many you need. And the point where the machine waits.
Drawings and photos can be uploaded with the request. An engineer replies within 1–2 business days.