2008-07-11 - A unique automation solution for racking and de-racking stampings is driving the future at Ford Motor Company’s Buffalo Stamping Plant.
In April 2007, Ford Buffalo and ABB started the process of fully automating the stamping plant’s subassembly lines, including hoods, lift gates, floor pans, ladder assemblies and dashboards, for several Ford and Lincoln models. “We were looking for a system that would maintain a high level of quality and a low Mean Time to Repair [ease of system recovery by our skilled trades],” says Paul Gawronski, assembly process engineer, Ford Buffalo.
The existing lines were retrofitted with robots for the racking and de-racking functions. ABB installed a total of 13 IRB 6600 robots on seven spot welding cells, incorporating ABB’s TrueView vision-guided robotics technology to further enhance the automated solution.
This solution puts Ford Buffalo at the forefront of automation: vision-guided robots working in tandem with AGVs. The Buffalo plant is the second automotive facility to recently incorporate AGVs and robots working together.
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