ROBOFORM: CI’s Answer to Today’s Growing Labor Shortage

From the supply chain disruption to mounting material and overhead costs, and tightening delivery schedules, manufacturers across the board are challenged on multiple fronts. As baby-boomers age out of the workforce in record numbers, you can add a labor shortage to the list. And, as if they needed more to worry about, consumer demand is on the rise forcing manufacturers to do more with less.

Cincinnati, Inc. (CI) is answering the call with a new wave of press brake technology designed to automate and streamline metal fabrication. Recent innovations include the Sheet Following System, Dynamic Thickness Compensation, and an automated press operation solution known as ROBOFORM.

The Solution

ROBOFORM is a stand-alone robotic cell that automates the bending process to support operator-free and even lights-out production. Created especially for small bending operations, ROBOFORM is currently available for CI 40- and 60-ton press brakes handling parts up to 72 inches in length with part weight capacity is rated up to ¼ inch. And, while each cell is dedicated to a single and specific CI press brake, that machine can also be run manually by simply rolling the cell out of the workspace.

Roboform Automated Bending Cell with outbound tables and 60 Ton Autoform Press Brake on safety platform.

Todd Kirchoff, Cincinnati’s Product Manager of Vertical Motion Products explained that, with the industry’s lingering labor shortage problem in mind, productivity was a major driver behind developing an automated bending solution.

“Skilled press brake operators are difficult to find, which makes them equally difficult to retain,” he said. “Similarly, worker absence is another production obstacle. When an employee isn’t working, neither is the press brake. ROBOFORM allows bending operations to continue when human operator resources are limited. In this way press brakes aren’t sitting idle due to a lack of operators. ROBOFORM allows a single operator to run multiple jobs at once – one manually and another on a robot-driven press brake.”

Scrap and bending consistency are other issues that ROBOFORM addresses. Companies often have multiple operators running the same job at different times. One may have set up a job differently than another might run it. Or one’s skill level may be more advanced. In such cases inconsistency can creep in. Robotic bending processes each part in the exact same sequence every time. This eliminates operator errors such as getting out of sequence, getting the part upside down and making a left-hand version of a right-hand part, or any number of other errors.

Scrap is often traced to set-up. Robotic bending eliminates this problem because you’ve proven out the program during set-up. And, again, with ROBOFORM you bend the part correctly every time.

Things to Consider

The biggest challenge to robotic bending lies with the part gripper. These grippers are essentially the equivalent of the human hand. Because these grippers aren’t as nimble or agile as the operator’s hand, the challenge lies with learning to bend a part with a robot gripper.

“Experienced press brake operators look at a drawing and immediately have an idea of the bending sequence,” said Kirchoff. “One cannot instinctively translate that into how a robot would do that same bending. For example, you might get 3 or 4 bends into it, run out of real estate, and have to regrip that part.”

Roboform Automated Bending Cell gripper holding the part in place while bending

A secondary challenge is the programming itself. Kirchoff explained that programming a robot manually by teaching it positions would not be practical. Fortunately, there is software to program these robots. But it takes some commitment to become proficient with the programming software.

Is it Right for You?

ROBOFORM was developed for fabricators who typically run a high volume of parts on smaller bending machines. With conveyors, loaders, and other advanced hardware and software components, automated bending can be extremely sophisticated and costly. With ROBOFORM, CI delivers a cost-effective alternative allowing fabricators to realize the benefits of automated bending without a major investment.

ROBOFORM is a relatively simple, self-contained, system without a lot of expensive add-ons. Users load the bending material manually eliminating the need and expense of a conveyor system and finished parts are stacked for manual pickup.

Conversely, because of the programming involved, a shop that runs low volume jobs almost exclusively is better served by manual bending. Cycle time is also a consideration. Because some parts require regripping, ROBOFORM is not going to match the speed of an experienced operator. However, when you consider that the machine doesn’t take breaks, stop for lunch, can run lights-out, and shows up for work everyday throughput is in the long run increased.

Learn More

More information about ROBOFORM along with other CI bending solutions can be found here or by contacting your local Cincinnati machine tool representative.