Robotic Welders Simplify Complex Engineering Jobs

Customer: Cam McAuley

Company: Design Production

Product: Robot Welding Cells by Autoline

Date: October 2022

You don’t have to be a mass producer of standardised products to benefit from integrating robotic welding machines into your production line.

Even fabricating engineers that produce a range of components for various projects, such as Auckland-based Design Production, have benefited from incorporating a robotic welder from Autoline.

The metal fabricating workshop specialises in the design and fabrication of structural steel for architectural construction.

Design Production co-director Cam McAuley says investing in robotic welders has enabled the company to stay relevant in a rapidly changing manufacturing landscape.

“Even when you’re creating custom designs for unique projects, you’ll find there is a lot of repeat production of the same components,” Cam says.

“Look for repetition within the diversity – it’s there that robot welders come into their own, because you don’t need a welder to run a welding station, you just need someone who’s trained to run a robot welder.”

Autoline’s training programme provided Design Production’s team with all the expertise required to run a robotic welder in a matter of days, with the ability to create a whole range of high quality components far quicker and more consistently than manual welders could, he says.

And the health and safety benefits are huge, too.

“You don’t have your welders in the helmet all day, especially on these repetitive jobs, they can stand back and let the machines do the work,” Cam says.

“It’s a bit of a change to have machines in the factory, staff were suspicious at first, thinking the robots were going to take away their jobs, but they’ve saved their jobs if anything. You have to adapt, because if you don’t, your business won’t survive.”