Linear transfer systems have been the backbone of the automation industry landscape for a long time. Or should we say, the back saver, as linear transfer automation has removed a lot of heavy lifting in the assembly industry as products are transferred from the assembly station to the next assembly station for production. Homage should be paid to the grandfather of the linear transfer system. Henry Ford turned on his assembly line over a century ago, and we’ve never looked back.
What is Linear Transfer Automation?
Materials, parts, and semi-finished products must be physically moved from one space to another for further processing. Breaking down a process into smaller, simpler steps decreases complexity. This means tooling can be dedicated to a single task with more room for delivering additional components. While this increases time spent due to transfer, we see great benefit to total takt time. To put it in context, the Model T assembly time was reduced by half because of linear transfer automation.
How do Linear Transfer Systems Play a Part in Manufacturing Automation?
Linear transfer systems remove the responsibility of moving products through a process away from the operator so they can concentrate on other tasks. With the product moving autonomously through a process, operators can focus on an uninterrupted supply of incoming material, operator-executed tasks, and unloading and packaging of finished products.
Transfer Mechanization: What Is It?
How we move products is almost as diverse as the products themselves. Degrees of mechanization help us utilize the best-suited solution for each process. While simplistic operator-driven or gravity-driven transfers will always have a practical role in the automation industry, more sophisticated systems prove more employable in today’s automated world.
Belt under power rollers, conveyor belting, chain conveyor, pallet conveyors, puck handling, monorail conveyors, and synchronous and non-synchronous systems all provide different means of transferring products. Matched to the product and sequence of operations being performed, the posturing of the product is the critical concern as it moves from station to station. How we best deliver products to the next operation is the primary design concern.
The layout of these systems defines the workspace but also sets limitations of flexibility as a process evolves. Continuous loop, over-under, crowders, spurs, cross transfers, accumulators, lift and locates, and pallet stackers are all support mechanisms designed to maintain flexibility in a linear transfer system. They increase accuracy, provide product buffering and minimize bottlenecking to maintain the desired takt time.
How are Linear Transfer Automation Systems Used in Producing Automotive Parts?
Linear transfer automation is wide-reaching in the automotive industry. Simple belt conveyors remove finished parts from safeguarded zones. Stamping parts can be conveyed through blanking presses or multi-die presses. Pallet conveyors can deliver single parts or complex sub-assemblies. Linear transfer systems often deliver the final product as finished cars roll off the end of the assembly line. They are scalable to help process any product in the automotive industry.
How will Future Trends in Industrial Automation Affect Linear Transfer Automation in Manufacturing?
As the automation landscape changes, linear transfer systems will remain integral to the production puzzle. Progress will come in the form of flexibility to process multiple products on a single platform and adapt to process change. Layout confinement will be combated with smart conveying vehicles, such as AGVs, no longer confined to conventional linear transfer systems’ track or rail systems. Robots will become less reliant on part location and more adaptive open tolerance part presentation. But there will always remain a need to move products through linear transfer assembly.
