Laser marking and engraving is critical for unique part identification (UID), compliance and branding. However, capacity constraints and labour shortage issues can create serious throughput challenges. To increase output and improve profit per part, forward-thinking manufacturers are transforming their laser marking operations with advanced robotic machine tending. Foba Laser Marking + Engraving now works with Flexxbotics and Universal Robots to help companies achieve high throughput and marking quality.
Laser marking is a critical stage of the product value stream in many manufacturing processes. Bottlenecks can cause serious delivery problems and mistakes can render the product unsellable. By introducing collaborative robot (cobot) automation with lean manufacturing principles, manufacturers can improve laser marking processes to maximise throughput, assure quality and reduce waste.
“Connecting robotic machine tending with our Foba laser marking solution using Flexxbotics provides even greater ROI,” states Jeffrey Kniptash of Foba. “It enables autonomous process control to remove bottlenecks and deliver continuous operation.”
The solution can increase the machine-to-man ratio to 10:1 or more and run ‘lights out’ safely. Thus, manufacturers will benefit from additional capacity, high precision, optimal marking quality and improved profit margins, reports Foba Laser.
Flexxbotics includes communication with Foba’s integrated camera system for vision-based inspection, providing closed-loop feedback to the robot for autonomous process control. Foba’s three-stage laser marking process HELP (Holistic Enhanced Laser Process) – which includes part inspection prior to marking, automatic mark alignment and subsequent marking validation – co-ordinates with the robot’s actions. Flexxbotics utilises either the Intelligent Mark Positioning (IMP) or Point & Shoot (P&S) capabilities in the Foba equipment for precise alignment of the laser marker on the customer’s product, along with vision-assisted workflows for accuracy.
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