Drastically reducing costs while dramatically enhancing productivity is one tough feat. Two manufacturers are making it look easy, however, posting savings such as a whopping 75% decrease in tool costs and 2-hour job times trimmed to a speedy 17 minutes.

These overachievers are CompX International Security, which makes security locks, and The Kirby Company, a subsidiary of The Scott Fetzer Company, which produces vacuum cleaners with polished aluminum castings. Their secret? Automated finishing technologies.

New Line Beats the Rack

CompX was forced to reconsider its electroplating system because its existing rack and barrel lines required too much labor and took up too much floor space in its South Carolina facility. And demand for its world-class locks was up as well, warranting increased production.

In response, the company replaced its rack system with a fully automated line, and the result was striking.

Because the new line was compact with completely enclosed process cells, it allowed CompX to conserve valuable manufacturing space. In fact, it was only half the size of the original rack system. And labor requirements saw similar reductions.

"One operator can load the entire line, compared to the 13 operators required to load on the rack line," says Jerry Green, engineering and facility manager. "Loading and turnaround time on jobs are now a fraction of what they once were."

Utility and chemical costs were also downsized. "Our overall utility costs on this line are half of what they are with our traditional rack line," says Green. "We were also able to start the system with only 20% of the chemical makeup cost compared to the rack line; this was a savings in itself of $48,000."

The new plating system also bolstered the quality of their security locks. "Our quality in corrosion protection has improved as well as the overall appearance," says Green. "All of this while reducing the amount of plating on the parts."

The new system has a patented part processing technology that allows it to handle parts continuously, employing a single piece flow approach—as opposed to the batch method of traditional rack plating lines. Universal, non-marking plating clips hold individual parts, which are loaded and unloaded by a pick-and-place robotic feeder and vibratory track.

The continuous line plates zinc diecast, brass and other base metals with copper, bright nickel and other finishes. The company still has a traditional barrel line for antique finishes and a rack line for chromium and brass finishes, but it will replace the latter with an automated line later this year.

Indeed, the company's experiences with its first automated line have been decidedly positive. "Jobs that took more than two hours on the rack line now take only 17 minutes on the new line," says Green. "This system clearly has proven itself."

Robots Do the Dirty Work

At The Kirby Company, robotic polishing cells have acquitted themselves quite impressively as well, delivering sizeable cost savings and process improvements to the polishing operation that yields the company's trademark aluminum castings.

The Ohio-based vacuum cleaner manufacturer previously relied on manual polishing, which became impractical for several reasons. Not only was manual polishing the company's most labor-intensive operation, it entailed high direct labor costs and required the company to train employees from 6 months to a year. And the work was dirty and grueling, raising ergonomic concerns and making OSHA compliance more challenging.

In addition, more of the company's experienced polishers were approaching retirement age, and the craft was failing to attract new individuals because of its rigors.

Enter Kirby's first automated robotic installation. The new robotic polishing cells actually took over two manual operations—deburring and abrasive belt polishing. In the cell, the robot takes the vacuum cleaner's shell and holds it against an abrasive belt unit, which deburrs and polishes the piece.

The robot can even imitate human wrist movement, twisting the piece around so that all angles are deburred and buffed.

Kirby also added a third operation to the cell to further increase its efficiency—outfitting it with a drill and tap machine. Now cells accomplish three operations, optimizing robotic uptime.

"In addition to the cells' ability to run 150 parts per belt vs. the manual method's 50 parts per belt, we also gained enhanced quality," says Tony Siracusa, Kirby's Cleveland manufacturing plant manager. "Since the robotic polishing is done with a belt that has more parts processed on it, it is like polishing with a finer grit belt. That makes the next process (cut buffing and color buffing) easier because there are fewer polishing lines to remove."

The result is huge cost reductions and process enhancements. Not only did the robotic cells ease direct labor costs, they also slashed abrasive tool costs by 75% and slowed down the consumption of factory supplies. Moreover, they halved work in process and boosted throughput by over 20%.

Although the installation of each cell took away three direct labor operators, it called for more technical positions and actually upgraded employees' job classifications. In addition, the polishers no longer have to contend with dirty environments. They have a safer and cleaner job operating the robots. And Kirby can keep doing the process in-house instead of outsourcing.

"With robotics, we have been able to meet our productivity and profitability targets as well as demonstrate our long-term commitment to retaining and enhancing employees' jobs," says Siracusa.

Sources: Solutions at Work
Beverly A. Graves
Products Finishing, Jan. 15, 2003
http://www.pfonline.com/articles/010304.html

Locking into a New Plating Line
Beverly A. Graves
Products Finishing, Dec. 15, 2002
http://www.pfonline.com/articles/120204.html