Efficient Robot Roller Hemming Process Using Turntable over Linear Setup

Hemming is an incremental joining technique used in the automotive industry, it involves bending the flange of an outer panel over an inner panel to join two sheet metal panels. Different hemming methods are available such as Press die hemming, Table-top hemming and Robot roller hemming. Robot roller hemming is superior to press hemming and tabletop hemming because of its ability to hem complex-shaped parts and is typically used in low-volume automotive production lines. For higher production volumes, such as 120 Jobs per Hour (JPH), press hem or tabletop hem is generally preferred. However, to achieve high-volume production from roller hemming method multi station setup is used. This static multi station setup can be configured into a Turntable setup. This new method eliminates the robot load and unload time at each station in the existing setup, resulting in a 40% increase in hemming robot utilization. Therefore, this process reduces the number of robots and the required floor space while maintaining the same cycle time compared to traditional multi station hemming setups. Additionally, the need for gripper robots is eliminated, leading to a reduction of eight robots in total. This streamlined process significantly enhances efficiency and cost-effectiveness in high-volume automotive production lines. By eliminating six hem robots and two grippers and gripper robots the cost reduction is significant.