3-Dimensional Services Group
Assembly Line
Scaling up high-product-mix metal fabrication
“When earlier generations of our 2D laser cutters were in use, a fair portion of our manufacturing floor space was consumed by material management,” said Jeff Bischoff, director of engineering. “Since the investment and implementation of TRUMPF’s TruStore in our blanking development, of which we have three systems, much of our material inventory has moved to a warehouse dedicated to sheet metal and tooling. Actively transferring daily material requirements allows existing plant space to be reallocated to manufacturing capital and activity.”
3-Dimensional sells its ability to respond quickly to highly variable demand from various industries, and having the right stock on hand in blanking helps make that happen. Too little inventory could starve downstream processes in a hurry. Here, laser cutting automation helps reduce the blanking footprint and, not least, allows for continuous, unattended operation.
3-Dimensional has more than 50 welding robots from KUKA, FANUC, and Panasonic, and its own cut and etch lab onsite for weld testing and process validation. Most welding robots perform gas metal arc welding, but a fair number also perform resistance spot welding and even gas tungsten arc welding. The lion’s share are traditional articulating-arm robots, but the company also makes use of cobots (from Universal Robots and FANUC) for some light assembly work as well as certain welding applications. One, for instance, positions work at a resistance spot welding station. Several cobots are stocked on shelves to assist at a moment’s notice.