Förbättring av tillverkningsprocessen för hydraulcylindrar hos Edvins Larssons Mekaniska AB : En automationsförstudie

Sammanfattning: This thesis is a part of Automationsutmaningen which is a programsupported by Tillväxtverket, the program focus on helping small tomedium large manufacturing businesses in need of automatization andflexible solutions to their processing line. Via Robotdalen inVästerås a pilot study in robot automatization was conducted atEdvin Larssons Mekaniska AB (ELMAB), a manufacturer of hydrauliccylinders and industrial grapples. ELMAB want to reduce the manualhandling of materials and reduce their need for personnel, they alsowant to develop and meet future requirements. The purpose of this project is to find what process in the manufacturing chain that is most suitable to a solution in automatization and thereafter come up with suggestions and develop concepts that fulfill set requirements. The pilot study will act asbasis to an investment and show if a solution is profitable. Thepilot study focus on the manufacturing of hydraulic cylinders andthe processes lathe, grinding, washing and coating. The main parts of the report are status analysis and improvement suggestions. The status analysis was conducted through visits and thorough studies of the manufacturing process. Literature studies in production management and industrial robotics have been very important to increasing knowledge and understanding on what to look for in the status analysis and how to draw conclusions for theimprovement suggestions. The status analysis concluded that washing, coating and lathing all could use improvements but that only coating and lathing would benefit from a solution in automatization. Further analysisconcluded that lathing was most beneficial to a solution.Based on a requirements analysis, three concepts on robot cells weredeveloped. All concepts focused on keeping the robot cell flexible.The solution is focused on the difficulty on letting an operatorwork inside the robot cell at the same time as the robot handles adifferent lathe within the cell or if there is a another solutionthat solves the problem. The solution has to work within a safetyaspect. The solution is a portable robot with a built in safetysolution. The solution leads to saved personnel costs and increasesefficiency to the lathes within the cell. The investment has apayback time in less than three years.