As part of an on-going development strategy, Brooks Forgings has an active interest in the latest manufacturing technology. Our aim is to increase production capacity and quality, reduce our carbon footprint and remain competitive against foreign manufacturers with low labour costs.
We are pleased to announce that we have recently moved forward with the installation of a FANUC six-axis robotic arm. The robotic arm has been integrated with an automated bar feeder, induction heater, and an Etchells MultiForge machine, creating a fully automated horizontal upset forging production line.
The new automated line will primarily be used for high volume production and offer our experienced workforce the flexibility to focus on our core business strengths of non-standard and special components. It will also provide increased production rates due to an extremely consistent and undisrupted workflow and the overall quality and dimensional accuracy of components will be improved, reducing scrap and waste. Operating costs will also be reduced and this will enable us to be competitive in the international market and ultimately reshore components that were lost to foreign competitors.
We currently have several MultiForge machines at our forging facility and all tooling is cross-compatible via a quick-change system. Programming data can be stored and linked to each tooling set, enabling us to manufacture components on the automated production line as and when required with little downtime.