Over One Million Welds Thanks to Cobot Welding

The performance of Vectis Automation’s (https://vectisautomation.com/) cobot welding unit at Centerline Brackets (http://www.centerlinebrackets.com/) led the Florida-based manufacturer to a rapid return on investment, achieved in less than three months. The cobot reduced production time and addressed labor shortages, while ensuring consistent weld quality for heavy-duty brackets, thereby solidifying the company's commitment to guaranteed same-day shipping and Made in America manufacturing. Watch (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8caHn4cENWg) to see an engaging video about this story. 

“In an environment like ours, a piece of equipment doesn't usually last that long,” said Chris Smith, managing partner in Centerline Brackets. “The cobot has a bunch of actuating joints on it. Anytime you have servos combined with repetitive motion, something is going to break sooner or later,” he stated, pointing at “Teddy” as the Vectis cobot welding tool, powered by a Universal Robots arm, is called. But after two years and seven months of production, Teddy is still welding brackets nonstop.  

“We fully expected to have it serviced every six months. We haven't had to have it serviced once. The thing just runs great – it has done over one million welds now,” he concluded, adding that the company has become so reliant on the cobot that they bought a second system from Vectis as a backup, but that one has not been in use yet. 

From Eight to One Minute per Weld 

The company, a woman-owned business recently celebrating its 13^th anniversary, has built a reputation for crafting heavy-duty, American-made steel supports for various applications, including countertops, shelves, and shower benches. Their products must consistently support hundreds of pounds. Before adopting collaborative robots, it relied on manual welding, a process that consumed about seven to eight minutes per bracket. “And you could tell who had built it based on the quality of the weld,” said CEO of Centerline Brackets, Tracy Smith. “We needed consistency.” 

With the cobot welding unit, each bracket now takes a minute or less. “It’s a huge time saver,” said Chris Smith. “We’re now doing the same amount of production with two welders and a cobot as we were doing with eight welders before.” The arrival of the cobot, however, did not cause layoffs. “During COVID, we struggled with high turnover, and the cobot just gradually took over those positions,” said Tracy Smith. 

Quick ROI 

Initially, the Smiths had anticipated an ROI on the cobot within a year. “It paid itself back within less than three months — it’s the easiest money I've ever made,” said Chris Smith, who is quick to point out that the cost savings were not the primary driver. “Our intent was to make the process smoother and not be at the mercy of the employment pool available around here,” he explained, adding the financial results delivered by the cobot also gave the company the ability to pay employees “a good chunk more than they were making before.” 

Setup in Half a Day with No Robotics Experience 

The implementation was swift. “From the time that we got the cobot in the door, unpacked, assembled, and programmed running our parts, was about a half a day,” recounted Chris Smith, who tasked Assistant Shop Manager Cody Cox with programming and being in charge of the cobot. Cox was uneasy at first: “I weld by hand. I’ve never seen a robot, I’ve never used a robot. And I’m not great with computers,” he said.  

However, the shop manager had the cobots welding parts in under two hours. “I mostly just watched the online video tutorials by Vectis. You have your fixtures on the table, start your program, set your waypoint, start your ends, your air moves, run your simulation, and that's pretty much it,” he summarized, adding that product changeovers happen in less than a second. “The four products we weld are all presaved on the cobot’s teach pendant; you simply just start that program,” Cox explained, adding how he is now freed up to fulfill more of his actual job title, running and managing the shop. 

Boosting Employee Well-Being and Morale 

Due to its location in St. Augustine, Fla., the weld shop at the business quickly gets hot and humid. “When the cobot arrived, we eliminated overtime right away,” said Tracy Smith. “It’s hot out there, and in the summer, our staff gets overworked and slows down. The cobot doesn’t do that.” Chris Smith recalls how his team used to be at the shop every night of the week until 7 or 8 pm. “Now, we’re out of the shop by 3 or 4 pm, it makes it a lot more livable back there instead of having your head down in a welding mask for 12 hours a day,” he said. “It’s super important to have a good culture inside of your business, and also being a place where people feel comfortable and they want to work. The cobot helped us accomplish that.” 

Enabling Same-Day Shipping 

The business prides itself on guaranteed shipping for orders placed by noon, adopting a just-in-time manufacturing model. “That’s what we’ve built our reputation on,” said Tracy Smith. “Now, we don’t worry about being able to fulfill orders or meet our obligations, because the cobot actually keeps us running ahead of the game most of the time.”  

Next Up: Aluminum Welding 

Centerline Brackets is now exploring the deployment of its second cobot for a different product line involving heavy-duty aluminum products. “It makes no sense to have a human standing there doing a zillion small welds, it’s a great job for the cobot,” said Chris Smith, who doesn’t hesitate in recommending any weld shop owners to go into cobot welding: “If you’re still wondering whether it’s a good idea, just go do it. Or come down to my shop and watch it in action. And you’ll be a believer that fast.” 

This article was written by Universal Robots for the American Welding Society.