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Innovating robotics for a better customer experience

Technical

At G&H, we’ve built our reputation on engineering expertise, a rigorous focus on quality, and systematic investment in continuous improvement – and now we’re taking this to the next level. The latest chapter in the G&H story is an ambitious program of robotics and automation that benefits our customers, our employees, and our operations. It enables faster, smarter, leaner production, higher throughput and output at optimum quality, and shorter lead times – and that’s just the start.

Here’s what we’ve achieved so far, what it means in hard numbers, and the future direction we want our robotics program to take for the good of our business and the customers and partners it serves.

The latest chapter in the G&H story is an ambitious program of robotics and automation that benefits our customers, our employees, and our operations. It enables faster, smarter, leaner production, higher throughput and output at optimum quality, and shorter lead times – and that’s just the start.

Here’s what we’ve achieved so far, what it means in hard numbers, and the future direction we want our robotics program to take for the good of our business and the customers and partners it serves.

Output that never misses a beat

The program is a multi-site initiative that combines auto-loading and auto-unloading of components into computerized numerical control (CNC) machines with robotics modules that enable faster and more accurate manipulation and processing of parts such as mirrors and transducers.

The robotics program at our Moorpark facility in California for example, went live in Q4 2021, with the implementation of two robotics solutions, integrated with OmniTurn production machines. These can be set to run continuously and unattended – “without missing a beat”, as our Moorpark colleagues describe it.

The result was an immediate uplift in output per shift of over 20%, with no adverse effect on quality. This prompted the installation of a third robotics solution in April 2022, which, with some enhancements to docking station locations and programing, is anticipated to deliver additional efficiencies of 15%.

Potentially, however, as robotics solutions come to support increased automation in other machinery across production processes, we estimate the current volume of transducer output could increase by as much as 500% – from around 1200 per week to as much as 6,000.

The benefits beyond the numbers

The metrics look impressive, certainly, but it’s important to understand that they are the fruit of a long chain of other benefits delivered by robotics, each of which makes for a more effective and conscientious business and a better overall customer experience.

Moorpark’s three robots, for example, will reduce floor space, energy consumption, and noise pollution by comparison with non-robotic manufacturing methods, enhancing wellbeing in the workplace and creating less environmental impact.

Equally, “lights-out” manufacturing – the ability for robots to run machines overnight without human intervention – means increased throughput and output, but still with the precise degree of control that robotics affords. In turn, this translates into better product availability and shorter lead times for our customers, without compromising on quality, whilst making more productive use of economical night-time energy.

At the same time, the ability of robotics to perform the same precision task over and over again results in other significant benefits. Uniformity of operation means lower error margins, less fallout, and therefore less rework and unplanned downtime, whilst defects are also reduced.

More strategically, it also means skilled technicians need to spend less of their time managing and monitoring machinery, which frees them up to focus on tasks where their training, qualifications, and experience can deliver proportionately greater efficiencies.

Shifting to robotics: overcoming the challenges

Converting critical manual production processes to roboticized workflows nonetheless takes human skill and engineering know-how, so we invested in approaches that would make the transition as smooth as possible.

We selected robotic solutions that would work with both new and existing production machinery without significant rework or modification, to deliver the fastest but also most cost-effective outcomes. This required careful alignment and testing, backed up by internal process change notes (PCNs) to ensure all parts were “in spec”.

Additionally, we ensured that our technicians and operators received programing training for the robotic modules, to enable the latter to integrate with the production process, and to be upgraded and reprogrammed as and when necessary.

Is robotics working for customers?

The three Moorpark robots will enable us to reduce cycle times on many jobs from 15-20 minutes down to 5-7 minutes, so our customers will get what they need quicker – and in fact already are.

Products and components manufactured using the new robotic and automated processes have been shipping successfully to customers since April 2020, and have been universally well received.

Robotics: where do we go from here?

Looking to the future, robotics will be part of an increasingly exciting story for us and for our customers, enabling faster and higher-quality production of an ever-wider range of components.

Not only do we expect all our transducer parts to be produced by robotics and automated processes in the near future, but we also expect an additional layer of quality control technology to be built in, through integrated coordinate measuring machine (CMM) devices that measure the physical geometrical characteristics of components at high speed.

In short, there’s a lot more we can achieve with robotics, and we have the engineering skills, heritage, and innovative pedigree to continue to ensure it translates not only into a better business for G&H, but a better experience for the customers who rely on it.

To learn more about how we are innovating robotics for a better customer experience, get in touch:
info@gandh.com