Engineering news
Bridge and engineering services company Mabey is investing £2.6 million in bridge building robots at its site in Lydney, Gloucestershire, to speed up the manufacturing process.
Forming one complete cell, the robots will support the manufacture of the Mabey Compact 200 (C200) – which the company says is the world’s most widely used modular steel bridge. The C200 system uses standard, interchangeable steel components and can be rapidly deployed and used for a wide range of uses, including permanent bridges, temporary bridges and emergency and contingency bridging applications.
The company said the investment in the robots will enable Mabey’s C200 bridging system to be manufactured more quickly, more safely and more efficiently. Once operational, the new manufacturing time for the C200’s panels and chords is nearly halved.
Currently, automated welding systems perform several functions in the manufacturing process including making the panels and chords of the C200 bridges, with smaller welds being completed by hand. Panels are also manually transported between three separate machines.
In contrast, the robots – which include one that is the first of its kind to be used in the UK for making steel bridges – forms one complete cell to manufacture both chords and panels, removing the intermediary steps.
An employee will load the raw materials, at which point the robots take over and manoeuvre the heavier components, weld all sections together and make it ready for drilling. The new process still requires the same amount of manpower as before and there will be no reduction in head count when operational.
Michael Treacy, chief executive of Mabey Bridge, said: “Significantly, the robots will reduce health and safety risks by removing manual lifting and handling whilst enhancing the quality of the weld, guaranteeing consistency and increasing output. In addition, the robots also reduce the need to reach and weld the more awkward places further improving quality.”
The robots are being installed and will be fully operational by March 2017 – ensuring Mabey’s Lydney factory has the capacity to manufacture up to 2km of steel bridging a month.