Enhancing Manufacturing 4.0 With Orbital Welding

Manufacturing 4.0 in welding applications

Traditional settings in the manufacturing industry have experienced rapid changes in response to advances in automation and technological developments like 3D-printing. By adopting new and innovative solutions, manufacturers have improved productivity and product quality. In welding, advanced technologies have increased speed, accuracy, precision, control, and overall weld quality.

As manufacturers enhance productivity goals, they have begun scaling up robotic integrations with IoT and cloud data capture in their welding technologies. AMI’s welding controllers and weld heads are compatible with robotic systems, and they can support Manufacturing 4.0 in welding processes at your smart factory.

Emerging Manufacturing 4.0 Technologies

Among the developing technologies in manufacturing, robotics—as well as 3D-printing and metal component sintering—are widely employed. For instance, manufacturers from the aerospace and automotive sectors have discovered a new level of flexibility and efficiency by utilizing these technologies. Below, we discuss the most promising technologies that are currently enhancing welding processes in manufacturing.

Welding with 3D Printing

3D-printing is an additive manufacturing process suitable for numerous metals, including bronze, steel, stainless steel, aluminum, and nickel alloy. Welding techniques like laser and electron beam, or gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), are commonly combined with 3D-printing technology.

How 3D-Printing Benefits the Welding Industry:

Produces metal with complex geometries
Generates high-precision parts with tight tolerance
Reduces metal waste
Accelerates prototyping
Enables on-demand production

Industries like aerospace prefer 3D-printing for producing complex parts like gas turbine engines, fuel nozzles, and hinge parts.

Automation and Robotic Welding

Fully automated or collaborative robots can increase industry productivity by achieving repeatable and consistently high-quality results faster.

How Automation and Robotic Welding Benefit the Industry:

Automation allows manufacturers to perform delicate welding tasks that are difficult to implement manually.
Robots can operate and weld with high consistency and high repeatability, allowing industries to manufacture precision parts with tight tolerances.
Compared to manual welding, automated welding can perform at high speed.

IoT Solutions for Manufacturing 4.0

Manufacturers can leverage the Internet of Things to integrate their welding system with smart devices and cloud data-capture platforms.

How IoT supports Manufacturing 4.0:

Optimizes the weld parameters: Parameters—such as arc length, feed speed, voltage, and current—can be optimized to obtain ideal weld quality.
Provides data capture and storage opportunities: With the ability to capture and store the data in a cloud platform, performance analysis can augment process standardization.
Monitors the weld data: Captured data can be monitored to detect weld defects.

Automated Orbital GTAW for Manufacturing 4.0

A mechanized process like orbital welding can benefit from the integration of these new welding technologies. Introducing technologies like AMI’s weld heads or robotic arms to the welding process enables manufacturers to save time and increase productivity by partially or fully automating the welding system. Automated GTAW can integrate with additive manufacturing equipment for powder or wire-based sintering processes. By integrating welding processes with IoT systems, manufacturers can optimize parameters to ensure precise, high-quality results.

READY TO CONNECT?

Arc Machines, Inc., is a leader in orbital welding technology with decades of experience providing advanced welding solutions for your changing manufacturing needs. Contact AMI to discuss your Manufacturing 4.0 goals, or contact sales@arcmachines.com to learn more about AMI orbital weld heads and power supplies.