PF6 FlexSystem innovation story: Reduced hardware footprint and major cost savings

Today, manufacturing continues to evolve at the hands of Industry 4.0. As our operations become more digital and interconnected, opportunities to streamline processes and optimize workstations arise. The results of these opportunities? Significant cost savings, the elimination of unnecessary hardware, and a smaller plant footprint.

When a major global OEM came to Atlas Copco searching for a way to streamline their costly, space-consuming multi-variant transmission applications, we knew just the solution: The PF6 FlexSystem. Read on to learn how Atlas Copco was able to transform this OEM’s specific multi-variant transmission application with the PF6 FlexSystem!

A major OEM had an automated, multi-variant transmission applications. The plant was previously utilizing three separate multi-spindle systems, and each system had its own cell. In all three cells, there was a large robotic arm with fixtured QST spindles mounted on a powerhead. Further, each cell was controlled by its own PowerMACS 4000 controller (one controller to one spindle).

As could be expected, cable management in this plant was complex, costly, and required a lot of extra hardware. The three separate work cells consumed a significant amount of plant real estate. In addition, the maintenance costs associated with three cells, three robotic arms, and three PowerMACS 4000 systems was steep.

It was clear that what this major OEM needed was a system that could combine the work of all three cells, simplify cable management, and reduce hardware and maintenance costs. Atlas Copco knew right away what the ideal solution was for this plant: The PF6 FlexSystem, our flexible, compact controller system designed specifically for fixtured applications.

We proposed that this OEM’s plant be transformed to the PF6 FlexSystem, which would consist of just one cell with one robotic arm and three powerheads. The powerheads were to come equipped with a custom coupler designed by a tool changer manufacturing partner of ours.

Each powerhead was to be mounted with its own PF6 FlexSystem to accommodate the three different application variants. Three powerhead cradles were proposed, and they supplied enough power to the system to eliminate re-boot time when the powerheads were changed and to supply power and the PF6 Flex Carriers were not in use.

With our proposed solution, our OEM customer’s plant would gain hot swap capabilities and advanced data collection opportunities with our ToolsTalk 2 software. Further, an Ethernet connection would support the ToolsTalk 2 software, which allowed for simple programming and data collection exports.

Upon implementation of Atlas Copco’s proposed solution, our OEM customer was able to achieve a significantly smaller plant footprint by replacing their PowerMACS 4000 controllers with the PF6 FlexSystem. This system replacement enabled the opportunity to eliminate two of the three cells that consumed space in our customer’s plant.

With just one robotic arm instead of three, various hardware in the plant was able to be eliminated, along with their cable gantries and management devices. Finally, with the Atlas Copco solution, our customer achieved major cost savings associated with maintenance and cable management. 

Are you interested in learning more about how Atlas Copco’s standard and custom solutions can transform your operation? Contact us and schedule a demo today!