Since first becoming publicly available in 2020, RoboLive® has grown to become a trusted solution at automotive and part manufacturers around the world. And it’s for good reason: no other solution available provides the same level of automated data access and analysis as the RoboLive® Client.
One recent RoboLive® win comes from a large automotive manufacturing client in the United States. Like many RoboLive® stories, this one starts with a problem: One weekend, a system integrator performing routine optimization accidentally changed a process by copy & pasting it instead of rewriting the code. The result was processes with swapped IDs.
A familiar challenge
Swapped process IDs are a common issue–more common than you might think, because it doesn’t necessarily result in production issues that make the problem obvious. Even after the accidental swap, production continued normally and the swap wasn’t detected. When a problem did come up, it was seemingly unrelated, and happened much later on down the line, after weeks of production and further optimization.
Routine quality checks detected a cold weld. Consulting the documentation revealed which weld, and the change of correcting the temperature was made in the weld controller. It should’ve been a simple fix, but that didn’t solve the problem. In fact, it actually resulted in a new issue: improper temperature in a seeming unrelated weld.
The fix wasn’t working because the process IDs weren’t what they should be. Changing the ‘bad’ process was actually changing the process that had been swapped with. But because the swap was done accidentally weeks ago, there wasn’t any documentation hinting at what was wrong. Only by stopping production and carefully examining every part of the program was the swapped ID issue caught and corrected, and only after that could the bad weld be fixed—after a lot of unnecessary downtime, hassle, and bad parts made.
A New Approach to Programming VerificAtion
Problems like these aren’t uncommon, and neither are the consequences. When dealing with high volumes of complicated data as found in a body shop—and especially if you don’t have proper tools—costly mistakes and complicated repairs are accepted as status quo. And while it may be true that programming problems are a fact of life, too many manufacturers have accepted that the associated consequences are too.
It’s not surprising that swapped IDs happened again at the same manufacturer months later. But this time, something was different: they had installed RoboLive® and were using it regularly to monitor production. The RoboLive® Server installed on the production network was automatically collecting backups from their 1,000+ robots every shift and distributing the analyzed data to Clients all around the plant, where all employees could use it easily see and understand current robot programming.
The swapped ID issue once again came from a system integrator working on updates over the weekend. But when plant staff came back into work on Monday morning, they followed the usual routine of starting up RoboLive® and examining the data. And this time, RoboLive® was returning an error.
Because RoboLive® analyzes both current and planned process programming, it can automatically generate errors for common problems like missing welds or bad base frames. Swapped IDs are one such error detected, and it’s what staff in the body shop were notified of immediately after the change was made.
Fixing the problem was as simple as notifying the integrators, who also can use RoboLive® to understand their own work and prove satisfactory results. The Client clearly outlined which processes were affected and where, so the fix could easily be included in the next update.
In this case, the swapped ID problem never devolved to the point of production issues because RoboLive® instantly detected the underlying issue. And with the RoboLive® Client keeping track of all process information in a searchable table on a timeline, identifying what to fix and communicating directions was a lot simpler. The manufacturer now uses RoboLive® during the commissioning and regular production of all their models, and will never go back to the internally-developed tools and spreadsheets they had used before.
Digitalization is just a click away
This is just one client’s story of one problem solved with RoboLive®, but it’s the everyday reality for hundreds of engineers that rely on the software every day for analysis and oversight. The benefits are measurable. RoboLive® users report immediate improvements to efficiency metrics across the board for a minimal upfront investment—the client above has estimated that they saw a return on investment in RoboLive® within months of installation.
By providing a single source of truth of all robotic joining process data, early warnings detecting preventable issues before production starts, and a visible interface for understanding root causes, RoboLive® works every day to facilitate production at some of the largest auto manufacturers at home and abroad. Whether you’re hearing about RoboLive® for the first time or ready to get started using the software solution right away, options are available.
Initial consultations are available by request, where you can view a demonstration of the software live from one of our engineers and have your questions answered. Select clients may be eligible for a RoboLive® Demo, where we’ll provide a real version of the software using real data from your robots to prove the concept and help you build a business case. Reach out today for more information, and follow us on LinkedIn for the latest news.