Page 31 - Metalforming Magazine April 2022

Fabrication: Robotic Welding Cells
Welding-cell components, including the robot controller, welding power source and wire supply located behind the cell, integrate with the robot to ease setup and operation.
umes for automotive contracts. The company added four more cells in 2020.
The robotic-welding addition signifies Truform’s evo- lution in size and product mix. Formed in 1999 with two 200-ton stamping presses in a 20,000-sq.-ft. plant, the company set about expanding, most notably after its purchase by Sisler Manufacturing Group in 2012. Then, owners Jon and Brett Sisler, experienced in the appliance industry, turned Truform from a 100-percent automotive-supply business to half appliance, half auto- motive by 2017, operating in nearly 100,000 sq. ft. under roof in adjacent buildings. Capabilities grew, too, with about 175 employees across two shifts providing pro- gressive-die stamping, welding and assembly. The presses installed in 2017-18 supported new automotive work that boosted the company’s automotive production share to 70 percent.
A production snapshot today reveals further company growth, as Truform produces to the tune of 40-percent automotive and 40-percent appliance in 137,000 sq. ft. of space in two adjacent buildings. The remaining 20 percent dedicates to a new stream: fabrication of hos- pitality foodservice and pool equipment, according to Beaton. Here, Truform has invested heavily in assembly operations and lines for appliance hinges and the like, and in a full all-Amada fabrication shop with sheet metal fiber laser-cutting and punching machines, and press brakes.
“This includes huge volumes of pool heaters, smoker bases, griddles and fryers,” he says, listing just some of the end-use products from parts and assemblies pro- duced in the company’s new fabricating and assembly operations. “This gives us a hedge against the roller- coaster nature of automotive supply. Our footprint expansion results mainly from the newer fabrication operations, and we’ll be expanding again to handle increases in orders for commercial appliances.”
Cell Features Aid Productivity
Let’s return to robotic welding, which Truform uses to meet automotive demand. In each FlexArc robotic welding cell, which can work with equipment from a variety of vendors, ABB robots interface with Miller Electric weld controllers.
“We have tried others over the years,” Beaton offers, “but have experienced the best results with the ABB- Miller setups.”
New robotic welding cells at Truform offer productivity- improving capability via a split-cell layout where a robot can weld on one side of the cell while an operator can load or unload components on the other.
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