Published

Plug and Play Wrist Camera Deals with Time Constraints

When Walt Machine Inc. was faced with a commission of 6,000 camera housings with only two months to produce, the shop knew its single CNC machine would take too long to reach the deadline. By adding a Robotiq Plug and Play Wrist Camera, production was doubled.

Share

 

Robot with wrist camera

Walt Machine Inc. added a Robotiq Plug and Play Wrist Camera to its robot, enabling lights-out manufacturing capabilities, eliminating the need to hire operators, and creating opportunities for machinist to explore other opportunities.

 

Automation is one way to deal with the challenging demands of staying ahead of the production process. This is especially true of shops that deal with specialized work, such as on scientific cameras. One such shop is Walt Machine Inc. when faced with a commission of 6,000 camera housings with only two months until shipment. With only one CNC machine it would take 30 to 45 minutes to machine one side of the camera housings, and that was too long to reach the deadline.

The company already owned a robot, but President Tommy Caughey knew a vision system or a conveyor would be needed to pick up raw parts. The solution was a Robotiq Plug and Play Wrist Camera. The camera was easily taught and enables lights-out manufacturing capabilities, eliminates the need to hire operators, and has created opportunities for machinists, who no longer have to load and unload the machine, to explore other opportunities such as becoming sales representatives. 

Although the transition was intimidating at first, using a robot along with the added features of a wrist camera has doubled production for Walt Machine Inc. We published an article that details the shop’s story and the new business opportunities it anticipates as a result of adding automation. Click here to read, “Robot Wrist Camera Helps Double Production.”