TPT September 2021

AR T I C L E

FD Machinery

Robotic roll changer tube and pipe mill – a significant step forward for the automation of tube & pipe production processes By Guowu Gao, chief engineer at FD Machinery

Anyone who has been involved with welded tube and pipe production knows that changing size requires tooling changeover. As market competition intensifies, manufacturers must meet the various requirements of customers in this area. One of the most important is to reduce the minimum order quantity (MOQ). When the MOQ is below the break-even point, the more you do, the more you lose. And this is only from a financial perspective. From the labour force perspective, frequent Since the first Robotic Roll Changer tube mill first came on to the market in 2010, FD has not stopped upgrading it. Now there are three models of large, medium and small mills that have been put into operation, including an automatic tooling rack library, which can undertake automatic changeover and tooling rack change. FD’s small Robotic Roll Changer system has participated in many important exhibitions in the world since it was

changeover means that the work is harder, and maybe they earn less money due to the time involved. In the end, workers are unwilling to work in such a situation. The Robotic Roll Changing Tube mill helps companies alleviate the trouble of changeover, not only saving workers’ physical strength, but it also shortens the downtime for changeover. And it does not need to be debugged, reducing debugging scraps. For the remote operation of the pipe welding machine in the future (automatic tube and pipe mill) this has been a crucial step forward. The current version of the Robotic Roll Changer system is designed for a horizontal stand. FD also has a good manual quick roll change design for other stands. It is not difficult to make them automatic. The photo below is the large Robotic Roll Changer system put into production by FD in 2016. The changeover time

is two hours, and the tooling size range is Ø219-355mm.

first introduced. If you have participated in one of these exhibitions, you will likely still have a good impression of the innovative system. photos were taken at major tube exhibitions: The following

Ø219x10mm Robotic Roll Changer tube mill in Africa

The photo below is the medium Robotic Roll Changer tube mill put into production by FD in 2016. The changeover time is one hour and the tooling range is Ø89-219mm.

March 2012 – Tube Düsseldorf

Ø127x5mm Robotic Roll Changer tube mill in Europe

September – 2012 Tube China

November 2013 – Fabtech, USA

The photo below is a small Robotic Roll Changer tube mill put into production by FD in 2019. The changeover time is half

an hour, and the tooling range is less than Ø89mm.

Ø89 x 5mm Robotic Roll Changer tube mill in China

April 2014 – Tube Düsseldorf

June 2014 – Tube Russia

84

www.read-tpt.com

SEPTEMBER 2021