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HERE IS HOW YOU CAN SAVE TIME AND
MONEY WITH RESPECT TO THE PAST
THANKS TO A KEY COMPONENT.
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If I ask you, what components are used to make a cutting and deburring plant, you would surely give the following detailed answer:
- robot
- gripper
- work unit
- loading magazine (or vision system… read the blog’s previous article)
- safety protection
- electric panel
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I would shake your hand for not having mistaken a single component but I would be lying in saying that you have a clear head…
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… Because there is a problem!
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I agree with you that these are necessary components and with these you could make your system but you are forgetting the fundamental element to make these machines: the base.
The base is a metal frame that allows you to connect safely all components of the machine (robots, work unit, loading warehouse…). When you have no base, every component of the machine must be paved to the floor and the cables placed on the floor protected with metal ducts.
I have heard this phrase too many times since I have been leading Trebi:
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“The base is an unnecessary cost.
Look at your competition… no one uses it!”
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It is true, no one uses it … but it is much more profitable than you can imagine now.
To the untrained, the base is only an extra cost, something I do not need. Maybe during a negotiation you asked to remove it to reduce the cost of the machine too. Maybe you have already bought one from one of my competitors and boasted of having saved 20% of the machine’s cost. Then you installed the machine, it took 2 weeks or more but in the end the machine was working and you sighed with relief because it was functioning at last.
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Everything seemed beautiful…
but the situation is much more serious
than you think!
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As I said, many times I have seen machines made without a base that initially were running at top speed but in the medium long-term the success is a colossal disaster.
Here are some examples and the PROBLEMS I have seen:
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- Continue maintenance of the programs: with cutting and deburring, precision is really an important element. The robot is fixed to the floor, so there is always a small movement with respect to the work units. Day after day, the robot moves slightly and you have to correct the work program continuously.
- Unpredictable retooling times: the robot moves with respect to the work units and you have to retouch the programs whenever the retool the machine. You cannot calculate the retooling time. If you are lucky it takes little time, if the floor collapses, it takes hours.
- The cable ducts become chip accumulations: the cable ducts go inside the system and inevitably fill with chips causing so many problems due to unplanned maintenance, making you lose a lot of production hours.
- Unpredictable costs and maintenance time: when a piece falls, due to programming error, and below there is the cable duct, it is possible that a cable is cut. At this point, you do not know how much it costs to repair the damage and the time it will take.
- Precarious security: this really worried me when I was visiting a client. The technician in charge of the machine of one of my competitors had tripped over a cable duct and hit his head against the fairing and was bleeding. Areas where one could trip over and fall should always be avoided.
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How much did it cost to have
a machine without base?
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What risks are you willing to take
thinking you are going to save?
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How much do you spend every
day for these problems?
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I suggest you stop for a moment and note the answers to these three questions down because writing is the
best action plan on paper to be implemented in the short term to solve the most urgent problems.
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Having seen and noted down (by my clients) all these problems, we decided that all our machines needed a base. This decision penalises us when we compare the selling prices of our equipment compared to competitors’. But there are so many benefits that only after 15 days the cost for your machine is already fully justified.
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Hundreds of people have chosen machine
with base… Even if they thought
it was impossible!
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What are the advantages of a machine with base?
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- No maintenance for the programs: once you’ve developed your work program, there is no need to touch it. The robot never moves with respect to the units and other components of the machine.
- Certain retooling times: when you retool the machine there will never be need to touch the programs. All you need is to change the pliers and restart the cycle. The retooling times are always fixed.
- There are no chip accumulations: all the base facilitates cleaning. There are no points for the chip accumulation.
- No unexpected maintenance: all cables are inside the base and connect to the components of the machine through protected tunnels. The cables are never broken due to falling pieces.
- Increased safety: the entire surface of the base is flat and there are no tripping points.
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The base has many other advantages:
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- Easy to transport: the machine is made in a single block. It is easy to transport: just pick up the base, move it with a crane, a forklift or just with rollers and reposition it. Moving a machine with a base is usually 10 times faster than without a base.
- Important testing at the manufacture’s: we can fully test the car before delivery. When the client accepts the machine before delivery at our premises, this is exactly as it will be at the end client’s premises.
- Very short installation time: when you receive the machine, you will see it produce after a few days. Normally, the installation is 10 times faster than a machine without base.
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There are many reasons that require using machines equipped with a base, many technical, many ergonomic and many economic.
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And how much will you be saving
with a machine like this?
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What are you waiting for?
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See You Soon
Piercarlo Bonomi
The Main Expert in Robotic Cutting and Deburring Machines
