In many ways, Ataco Steel Products Corp, Cedarburg, WI, is similar to other metal formers located in the Midwest. Like other companies, it’s facing intense competitive pressure from low-cost stamping operations located throughout the world – competition that has cost the company important contracts in the past. But in one critical respect, Ataco differs from many other companies in this struggling sector. In the past year, its sales have actually increased by roughly 25%. Plant management believes that the cost and productivity advantages offered by pressroom automation are the key to its recent success. Says Jim Meyers, Ataco’s Manager of Manufacturing Engineering, “We and our domestic competitors basically have two choices for the future: automate, or close down.”
A Promising Start
Founded in 1946, Ataco has grown into a company with a unionized workforce
of more than 100 employees. Production facilities include more than 20
hydraulic and mechanical presses, from 1,000 to 15,000 kN. Over the years,
the company has built a reputation for producing large deep-drawn parts,
predominantly for the lawn-and-garden, agricultural and construction
markets. In its stamping operations, the firm regularly draws 6 mm mild
carbon steel to depths of 275 to 300 mm, and has produced single stampings
as large as 1,750 by 1,980 by 25 mm deep.
Traditionally, producing these big stampings was a slow, labor-intensive
process. Some parts, such as blanks for riding-mower engine frames, can
easily weigh over 50 kg. As many as six operators were needed to wrestle
some stampings in and out of the presses and from one die station to the
next. Safety was also a critical issue. Operators, forced to reach into the
presses to lift heavy products and remove scrap, faced the constant risk of
injury.
It was precisely these limitations that led Ataco to completely automate
one of its stamping lines several years ago. Working with AP&T, the
Monroe, NC-based supplier of hydraulic presses and automation systems,
Ataco set up a dedicated production line for lawnmower decks.
The line began with unwinding a 7 ton steel coil, which was fed into an
AP&T Model ZM-4000 hydraulic press where it was cut and the part was
drawn. The part was then automatically unloaded from the AP&T press and
fed into a 9,000 kN mechanical press, which performed three trim and pierce
operations. A three-axis unloading system removed the part from the
mechanical press and sent it out a window to a packaging line.
The line operated “incredibly smoothly,” as Meyers remembers, and
efficiently, too. In a single minute, the line transformed sheet steel into
six finished lawnmower decks – a production rate 267% greater than the
previous manual operation. The new automated line used 50 percent fewer
personnel than its predecessor, which meant that per-worker productivity
increased by an astounding 525%. It took three or four semi trucks each day
to haul away the 4,600 decks the line produced.
But then Ataco’s customer transferred its entire lawn mower assembly line
to Mexico – and the additional cost of shipping all of those trailer loads
of mower decks over 2.400 km to the new assembly plant simply proved too
expensive, even for a high-efficiency operation like Ataco’s. So the
contract moved to a Mexican stamping operation, and the highly specialized
automated stamping line was left idle. Nevertheless, their first experience
with an automated line was very promising. Ataco’s management decided that
if another opportunity to integrate automation presented itself, they would
take full advantage of it. It wasn’t too long before such an opportunity
arose.
A New Opportunity Arises
“We had looked at automating the press we used for deck and frame stamping
for years,” Meyers says, “but we just didn’t have the production volume to
justify the investment.” Then the company had the opportunity to bid on a
large contract for riding-mower components. Management knew it couldn’t bid
low enough to win the contract without automating the 15,000 kN
press.
One of the prime criteria for the new system: flexibility. According to
Meyers, “We wanted a system to handle the same types of parts, but the
frames and decks come in a variety of sizes, shapes and weights. So, we
knew that whatever we chose, it had to be flexible.”
Easy programmability, teachability and operation were other essentials.
While other sources were also considered, AP&T was awarded the project,
based in part on Ataco’s positive experience with the first AP&T system
it had installed.
New Technology for an Old Press
The system AP&T developed for Ataco’s 15,000 kN press – a unit
originally built in 1945 – consisted of a SpeedFeeder 120 press robot with
three-axis movement, a single-axis shuttle system for moving formed parts
into the automation cell, a conveyor and associated safety systems. The
infinite three-axis flexibility allows the SpeedFeeder to precisely place
any current (or proposed) part in any position inside the mechanical
press’s 1,820 by 4,620 mm bed. With lifting devices installed at both ends,
even the largest, bulkiest parts can be handled quickly, accurately and
safely with as few as two operators. Every programming and operation
function of the systems LOGOS control system, including its teach-in
function, can be operated using one operator’s pendant. “The whole system
has proved simple to understand, run and learn,” Meyers reports.
Installation of the system took place in the summer of 2006, a time of the
year when the highly cyclical lawn-and-garden industry experiences its slow
season. The project was handled by an AP&T team from Monroe, NC and
Meyers recalls installation and startup as especially smooth. “By the
second day, everything was pretty much in place,” he says. “By day four we
had the power on, and within two weeks we were starting to program our
first sets of tooling and moving our first parts.”
Positive Results from the Start
When Ataco set up the first two parts – a ridingmower engine frame and
mower deck–on the automated press, it achieved positive results from the
very first run.
The number of workers needed to tend the press during engine frame
production dropped immediately from four to three, and soon thereafter to
just two, while maintaining 100% efficiency. Results for the mower deck
were even more dramatic: crew size dropped from five to two, a 60%
reduction. Meanwhile, production rates doubled, creating a significant
increase in per-worker productivity. And Meyers expects these results to be
typical.
“On the first parts, we’re showing a 15% improvement in labor costs alone,”
he says. “We expect to show similar savings on other parts we automate. The
exact percentage will vary based on current crew sizes and the number of
operations we can combine, but it’s safe to say we expect the savings to be
significant across the board.
Meyers stresses, though, that Ataco’s decision to automate the press was
based on more than production efficiencies and cost savings. Improved
operator safety remains a constant goal for the company.
“While the automation helps us stay competitive it’s also helping to keep
our workers safe,” says Meyers. “The mix of large, heavy parts on this
press always posed injury threats to operators. With the automation,
operators no longer have to reach into the press to load, unload or move
parts from one die station to the next. As a result, operators work with
not only a greater efficiency, but with a much higher margin of
safety.”
Based on the clear success of the first production runs, Ataco is preparing
to run another set of engine frames and decks on its newly automated press;
this time for an advanced-design zero-turn mower. In addition, grippers and
fixtures are being developed for a host of other large, bulky,
hard-to-handle parts.
Finally, Meyers points out that automating the plant’s largest press was a
simple matter of survival, holding the key to Ataco’s ability to compete
for critical contracts. Recently, the plant scored another major contract
that will increase total sales by a double-digit percentage– and the new
automation capabilities played a key role in winning that contract,
too.
“Thanks to automation, we’re in growth mode,” Meyers explains. “And
hopefully, more automation will help us grow even further.”
