S U C C E S S

Waveform Control Technology™

NX-4.210 9/05

Johnson & Berry Manufacturing sought to increase productivity oversemiautomatic flux-cored welding but thought automation was too costprohibitive for its small shop.

• Robotic eCell with a dual fixed tableand a MIG (GMAW) process. The eCellcombines the Fanuc® ArcMate™ 100iBerobot with Lincoln Electric's PowerWave® 355M welding power source.

• .052-inch Perfect Circle® MetalCorewire (AWS E70-6M), purchased on 50 lb. spools.

Production time was cut by 50 percentfrom four to five hours per job to onlytwo hours with the eCell. The unit willpay for itself after only a few projectsand will help Johnson & BerryManufacturing keep up with increasingcustomer demand.

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A new concept from The LincolnElectric Company is removingthe usual barriers that prevent

small- to mid-sized manufacturers fromadding robotic welding capabilities totheir operations. With the new eCell™

pre-engineered robotic cell, shops nowhave a cost effective system (starting at under $50,000) that is easy to install.Even small manufacturing firms willimmediately benefit from theproductivity increases offered by eCelland earn a quick return on investment.

Johnson & Berry Manufacturing, a 16-employee shop in L’Anse, Michigan,has recently cut production time in halfwith the addition of the eCell dual fixedtable robotic cell. The manufacturer ofhydraulic cylinders, rollers and pins forthe heavy equipment industry is usingthe eCell to implement a change fromsemiautomatic flux-cored welding towelding automation using the MIG(GMAW) process. The result is areduction in production time from four

to five hours per job (consisting of 180 pieces) to only two hours with the eCell.

“The eCell is providing a tremendoustime savings by shaving several hoursoff each job,” said Bill Johnson, amanager at Johnson & Berry. “With this type of productivity increase, theunit will pay for itself after only a fewprojects and will help us keep up withthe increasing demand from ourcustomers.”

With the move to robotic welding,Johnson & Berry also changed itsconsumable to a metal-cored wire,further increasing travel speeds. Thecompany is now using .052-inchPerfect Circle® MetalCore wire (AWSE70-6M) on 50 lb. spools from J.W.Harris, a recently acquired subsidiary of The Lincoln Electric Company. Thiswire is used with 90 percent Argon / 10 percent CO2 shielding gas.

Johnson & Berry Manufacturing, Inc.

Johnson & BerryManufacturing cut productiontime by 50 percent with theaddition of Lincoln Electric'scompact robotic eCell™.

Automation

SUCCESS

2/4Waveform Control Technology™

According to Johnson, the previoussemiautomatic flux-cored weldingoperations were yielding 50 to 75 partsper day. In contrast, the eCell, combinedwith metal-cored wire is now producing150 parts per day. To date, the newsystem is not even running at fullcapacity!

Originally, Johnson thought automationwould be cost prohibitive to a smallmanufacturer such as Johnson & Berry.“We had been thinking about robotics fortwo or three years, but assumed we’dhave to purchase the robot and powersource separately and then hire anintegrator to assemble the whole system.We thought this would be too costly forus. With the eCell, everything comesassembled as one complete package ata great price point,” said Johnson.

eCell to GoIn April 2005, after the purchase of theeCell had been made, Johnson and acolleague attended Lincoln’s three-dayrobotic training class to learn basicprogramming and cell set up. After theclass was complete, they took the eCell“to go” by loading it on a trailer for the13-hour drive back to Michigan.

According to Johnson, the unit wassimple to install once they arrived back at the shop. “All we had to do is bolt it tothe ground, run electrical and supply thecell with shielding gas and wire. It wasthen ready to produce parts,” saidJohnson. The eCell is now being utilizedto weld boom bushings and plates.

Johnson & Berry Manufacturing, IncAutomation

“The eCell is providing atremendous time savings by

shaving several hours offeach job. With this type ofproductivity increase, the

unit will pay for itself afteronly a few projects and will

help us keep up with theincreasing demand from ourcustomers,” said Johnson.

“We were immediatelyimpressed by the quality of the

arc. It’s easy to start and wevirtually eliminated spatter,

meaning no grinding of partsanymore. Previously, we werehandling each bushing partthree times—once to tack, a

second time to weld and a thirdtime to perform post-weld

grinding. The eCell’s fixturing is able to clamp the parts tightlyinto place and create the final

weld. Our operator only handleseach part one time,”

said Johnson.

SUCCESS

3/4Waveform Control Technology™

eCell AdvantageeCell combines the Fanuc® ArcMate®

100iBe robot with Lincoln Electric’sPower Wave® 355M, a digitally-controlled, 350-amp inverter powersource. The Power Wave takesadvantage of Lincoln’s ArcLink®

communication software, a LincolnNextweld™ innovation.

ArcLink allows the system components todigitally communicate faster and morereliably than comparable analog-basedsystems. The unit features the industry’sfastest response time for enhanced arcstarting and superior arc control.

The Power Wave 355M comes standardwith more than 60 factory-programmedwaveforms optimized for a variety ofmaterials. Enabled through WaveformControl Technology™, customers choosea pre-programmed waveform orcustomize that program to best fit theirapplication. Johnson & Berry’s waveformis optimized for 3/4-inch thick steel plate.

“We were immediately impressed by thequality of the arc. It’s easy to start andwe virtually eliminated spatter, meaningno grinding of parts anymore,” saidJohnson. “Previously, we were handlingeach bushing part three times—once totack, a second time to weld and a thirdtime to perform post-weld grinding. The

eCell’s fixturing is able to clamp the partstightly into place and create the finalweld. Our operator only handles eachpart one time.”

eCell is designed to deliver high partproduction volumes and is capable ofMIG (short arc and spray), Synergic MIGand MIG Pulse welding or flux-cored arcwelding on parts which can be weldedwithout reorientation. It can be used toweld a variety of materials includingsteel, stainless steel, and aluminum.eCell is so compact that it can betransported in a pickup truck without Air-Ride™ capabilities. It can be easily liftedby a forklift to provide fast placement inthe shop environment.

Johnson & Berry Manufacturing, IncAutomation

“We had been thinking about robotics for two or three years, but assumed we’d have to purchase the robot and power source

separately and then hire an integrator to assemble the wholesystem. We thought this would be too costly for us. With the eCell, everything comes assembled as one complete package

at a great price point,” said Johnson.

SUCCESS

4/4Waveform Control Technology™

WHAT IS NEXTWELD?

The challenges facing industrial fabricatorstoday are increasingly difficult. Risinglabor, material, and energy costs, intensedomestic and global competition, adwindling pool of skilled workers,more stringent and specific quality demands.

Through ourcommitment toextensive researchand investmentsin productdevelopment,Lincoln Electric has established anindustry benchmark for applyingtechnology to improve the quality, lowerthe cost and enhance the performanceof arc welding processes.Advancements in power electronics,digital communications and WaveformControl Technology

TM

are the foundationfor many of the improvements.

NEXTWELD brings you a series ofProcess, Technology, Application andSuccess Story documents like this one.NEXTWELD explains how technologies,products, processes and applicationsare linked together to answer theimportant questions that all businessesface:

• How can we work faster, smarter,more efficiently?

• How can we get equipment andpeople to perform in ways they’ve never had to before?

• How do we stay competitive?

NEXTWELD is the future of welding but itsbenefits are available to you today. Askyour Lincoln Electric representative howto improve the flexibility, efficiency andquality of your welding operations toreduce your cost of fabrication.

THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANYwww.lincolnelectric.com1.216.481.8100

ProgrammingAfter returning from the Lincoln trainingsession, programming of the unit washandled by Johnson & Berry with thehelp of local Lincoln sales representativeRon Myers as well as representativesfrom distributor Superior WeldingSupply and FANUC robots. Becauseeach of the plates require differentsized bushings, a total of 16 programswere created.

“The unit is so user friendly to programwe now feel like we’ve always used it,”said Johnson. Welding performed bythe eCell includes quarter-inch filletsthat are five inches long used to weld

bushings to plates as well as two-inchstitch welds on plates. With the twotables, the eCell can weld while theoperator unloads and loads the otherside.

Conclusion“Most people hear the word ‘robot’ andthink expensive and unaffordable, butyou need to also take into considerationthe whole picture. For us, it is wellworth it,” said Johnson. “We haveincreased capacity which enables us to pursue more work in the repair endof our business.”

Johnson & Berry Manufacturing, Inc

Featured Lincoln Products

Automation

eCell™

The eCell™ welding robot cell is a dualfixed table workstation designed forsmall to medium sized parts that canbe welded without reorientation. Thelayout is optimized to maximize thework envelope of the robot, and is idealfor flexible manufacturing systemsallowing manufacturers to installmultiple robots in close proximity tosave valuable floor space.

Shipped completely assembled andready for immediate installation andproduction, the eCell is designed to bean attractive and low cost alternative to labor intensive arc welding.