NTA Precision Axle Corporation
Welding Power Source Separated Robot GIII (Rotary TIG Filler Specification)

Background

To improve outsourcing cost, lead time, man-hour, and quality by in-house production

We are a company in charge of the front-end process of hub bearings, which connect automobile chassis and wheels, and we forge, lathe, and heat treat the finished products and deliver them to our customers. We had outsourced the regeneration of the “Blade” to remove the burrs from the casting to an outside supplier, but since the outside supplier used hand welding, the cost were high, delivery time were long, and the quality are not stable. We need to correct after receiving the product.
In addition, there were some problems, so we had to make improvements including in-house production to achieve stable production. We consulted with various suppliers, but they were not willing to do it with us. Under such circumstances, Panasonic said, "Let's do it with us." (Mr. Shinji Yamamoto, General Manager)

Reason for introduction

To reduce outsourcing cost, shorten lead time, and improve quality issue

At the original outsourcer, skilled welders were doing multi layer welding, but it took more than 30 minutes. In addition, the quality was not stable, and sometimes uneven. And the outsourcing cost needed to be cut. We worked on the introduction of welding robots to improve all the problems. (Mr. Tomoya Ito, Technical Coordinator)

To achieve highly efficient production by controlling schedules

Automotive industry has always been an up and down industry, so sometimes we will get real high peaks .
In such cases, it is necessary to achieve highly efficient production by controlling the materials and the production process, but the repair of “Blade" has been outsourced and difficult to manage. Because communication with outsourcers was taking time, we introduced welding robots that can control schedules in our company. (Andrew Murrell, Assistant Manager)

Post-introduction effects

The investment effect exceeded the initial expectation, and the investment was recovered in 1 year and a half!

At first, we had no knowledge of welding robots. After doing various simulations with Panasonic, we realized that it was not a high investment in total, and we decided immediately. The cost to pay outside was decreased, the defect rate was decreased, the inventory amount was decreased, and the delivery time was also decreased. Originally, we planned to recover our investment cost in three years, but the actual effect exceeded our expectations. In our calculation, it actually recovered our investment cost in about a year and a half. The investment effect was so great that we immediately started considering a second one, and now we are using two robots to fill the labor shortage. (Mr. Shinji Yamamoto, General Manager)

Reduced lead time to one third. Workers work has improved efficiently

It was shocking not only to be able to shorten the long lead time but also realize uniform welding. In addition, once the teaching program was created, it became a simple task to set up and just press the button. Now, the workers can do other tasks, which greatly improved the work efficiency. And we also could reduce the number of man-hours in after process, which was very helpful. We appreciate Panasonic's prompt response to our technical inquiries and their generous support. (Mr. Tomoya Ito, Technical Coordinator)

Significantly reduced the amount of scrap to be discarded

Now we have the robots, we’re in control. So being in control of that and then keeping always a good rotation of good tools out on the floor helped us reduce scrap tremendously. Panasoni robot is pretty easy to adopt, and I think just the teaching was pretty easy to understand. So our employees are happy. (Andrew Murrell, Assistant Manager)