Global competition means there is a big drive to make all kinds of processes quicker and more reliable. This is definitely true with tube manipulation. Whether it is aerospace, oil and gas, HVAC, or even things like furniture, speed, accuracy, and cost are all vital factors. As a result, many businesses are looking at different ways to use automation to improve their products and services.

Loading and unloading

One of the biggest benefits of automation is it can massively reduce the time spent on loading and unloading. It can also offer massive benefits in terms of consistency and throughput.

The thing to keep in mind here is a robot can effectively load tubing into a bending machine at a constant pace. Even more importantly, it can ensure the orientation is perfect every time. That is vital if you have seamed tube or features that need precise placement. Ultimately, it can save time, reduce scrap, and lower costs.

Robots can also offer efficiency with unloading tubing from the machinery. Most impressively here, you can choose automation to suit any needs. For example, your system could have robots unload tube, take it to a station to be inspected, and then place it in a rack. You could split the latter into racks for good products and others for scrap.

Multiple processes

Automation in the tube manipulation process can also be beneficial if you move to cellular production. Traditionally, manufacturers would load tube into a bending machine and then unload it and physically move it to the next machine for secondary processes. That is time consuming though and inefficient.

What you can do is introduce additional processes to create a single automated, multi-process system. A popular option is to have the tube bending and a shear cutoff system after it. A robot loads the tubing, it goes through the bender, and then moves automatically to the trimmer to be cut. It means one single load and unload rather than two of each.

There are even done-in-one systems for manufacturers that make tubing and manipulate it. The most impressive ones can start with a coil and process it all the way to cutting the finished tube. They can also feature flow drilling and other processes. The biggest advantage is it can produce parts that are ready to go right off the machine. A single operator can monitor them.

Software

Finally, advanced software can provide even more value with tube manipulation. It can further improve speed and efficiency by reducing downtime.

One of the most notable things here is software can figure out the set up to suit the design in a matter of minutes. It means you don’t need an operator to manually input things like where to place dies. If you consider that manually changing a machine can take as long as an hour depending on the complexity, the time savings are really impressive.

Good software can be really beneficial too because it makes an operators’ job so much easier. It can massively reduce the amount of background knowledge and training they need. That is a big advantage for the business.

Do you want expert tube manipulation services?

Multiform Tubes Engineering Ltd has been one of the top experts in the UK for a long time. In fact, our name is synonymous today with quality, efficiency, and great value for money. Most importantly, we can cater for almost any timeframe, including projects with short lead times.

So, if you want to arrange tube manipulation, speak to us. We can work with different tubing, including steel, copper, and more, for applications in various industries.