HAN-TEK Develops Automated Axle Feed System
An axle manufacturing plant needed a materials handling system that would automatically feed axles in and out of six CNC lathes. Concurrently, they needed to feed six gauging stations automatically (one for each lathe). Since seven different axles could be fed into the system, in any order, an axle size identification component was needed.
HAN-TEK created the system and managed the entire project, coordinating all the third party suppliers. To achieve customer goals, this system was built using PLC equipment comprising more than 1600 points of I/O.
HAN-TEK's turnkey service included:
- A complete documentation package
- Capability for manual control of the entire system
- A system interface that records information about axle production counts and system errors
- Full site supervision during installation and debugging
The System was assembled and tested at our plant, and installation was completed on schedule. Close cooperation between HAN-TEK and the customer resulted in bringing this system online in less than six weeks.