Yahata Seiko Co., Ltd.
Welding Power Source Integrated Robot TAWERS
Innovating production efficiency with high power TAWERS!
Introduction: February 2021 Location: Osaka, Japan
Issue
The company welds thick plates for construction machinery, which require very high levels of control of penetration and bead appearance. High-quality welding had to be achieved even if the workers on site had no experience with manual welding.
Solution
Yahata Seiko achieved deep penetration and neat bead appearance with high power TAWERS HD pulse welding. The company also achieved full robot production by using high power TAWERS with a duty cycle of 100%.
"We have received a compliment from our end user, which stated, "The beads have a much better appearance than the products we weld in-house!" Recently, we have even received requests for welding training."
Background
Challenges unique to thick plate welding
Yahata Seiko's customers include major manufacturers of construction machinery, with thick plate welding accounting for 70% of their total welding work. The key to thick plate welding is high durability and reliability. To achieve these, deep penetration and long leg lengths are required. Since workpieces will be rejected if the penetration depth is even slightly below the specified value, the selection of welding robots and welding methods was extremely important.
Difficulty in securing skilled welders
It is not easy to secure skilled welders in the welding industry where welding is often referred to as "craftsmanship." Yahata Seiko has many workers with no welding experience; therefore, they had to use welding robots to ensure that anyone can achieve high-quality welding.
Reason for introduction
High completion level of standard welding conditions
"Panasonic's standard welding conditions are more stable than other companies'." (Mr. Yutaka Yamashita)
In the past, 50% of Yahata Seiko's robots were from other companies, and the other 50% from Panasonic. However, the Panasonic robots had more sophisticated standard welding conditions and required almost no modification to the welding conditions. This was a major decisive factor in selecting TAWERS for their sites, where many workers had no experience with manual welding.
Easy introduction at overseas sites
Yahata Seiko has sites in China, Thailand, Indonesia, and the US. Mr. Yamashita, who is in charge of overseas technical support, states, "It is very difficult to secure welding technicians outside Japan. However, TAWERS supports three languages including Japanese, English, and Chinese. As long as the workers learn basic robot operations, the robots determine the detailed welding conditions, making it possible to train local technicians in a short period of time. All robots at our sites outside Japan are TAWERS." (Mr. Yutaka Yamashita)
Benefits of introduction
100% duty cycle achieved
With the previous 350 A robots, the rated duty cycle was sometimes exceeded, causing the robots to stop. However, with the TAWERS WGH series (high power 450 A type), the company achieved an environment where the robots operate continuously.
Experiencing high-quality welding
"Our top recommendation is the HD-Pulse welding method! It enables both deep penetration and low spatter welding even on thick plates. The thick-plate industry demands high guaranteed penetration values. However, since we started using high power TAWERS, we have received virtually no complaints about penetration!" (Mr. Yutaka Yamashita)
The HD-Pulse welding method performs "1 drop by 1 pulse" control to maintain deep penetration, even under conditions where welding with a normal pulse tends to result in shallow penetration, while achieving a good bead appearance that is only possible with the HD-Pulse method.
*Spatter: Spatter refers to the small droplets of molten metal that are scattered during welding (sparks). Low-spatter welding is required because once spatter has settled on the base metal, it is difficult to remove.
100% duty cycle has been achieved with the high power TAWERS
Controller of TM-1400WGH
Deep penetration is required for the construction and agricultural machinery parts
Deep penetration is required for thick-plate parts
A good bead appearance with less spatter
There are almost no penetration problems after they started using TAWERS
Equipment supplied
Welding Power Source Integrated Robot TAWERS (WGH Series high power type)
Voice of customers
We received a compliment from our end user
"We received a compliment from a customer the other day, which stated, 'The parts welded by Yahata Seiko have much better bead appearance than those we welded in-house!' We received more orders from the customer." (Mr. Yutaka Yamashita)
What I like about TAWERS is that it is easy to use and operate
"Many of our workers on site have no experience with manual welding. However, with TAWERS, anyone can teach robots and create beautiful beads after receiving some training at Panasonic." (Mr. Takuya Yonehara)
Customer introduction
The company is improving its business performance, focusing on thick welded parts for construction machinery.
Yahata Seiko Co., Ltd. is a core factory of the Yahata Group, which manufactures thick welded parts. The company is supporting production at the Group's overseas sites from Higashiosaka City, Osaka, Japan.
Click here for a quotation of the Welding Power Source Integrated Robot TAWERS
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S-AWP achieves ultra-low spatter and high-speed welding with optional functions. Click here for more information.
Support
Global network
Panasonic has established a system to support customers all over the world. Customers expanding production from Japan to overseas factories can also use our equipment with peace of mind.
Website for Panasonic Shoyokai
Website dedicated page for members of Panasonic Shoyokai. You can download the application form to join the membership website P-Web.