Cutting flat fabric parts for airbags with laser technology is already over 30 years commonly used. Cutting these parts on single layer material is relatively new, but is gaining popularity versus the traditional multilayer systems, as:
- The output (number of kits per hour produced) is similar or better
- The required floorspace is 50% or even less
- Safety margins material at front & end are neglectable, a big material saving
- Picking labor is comparable to fused part-packs separating workers
Zenna is now working at a further improvement for the Falcon FF: introducing in-line stacking to further automate the production line and reduce collecting labor.
How does it work:
- A template of 6 kits with each 6 parts is nested in a 2.16 meter material repeat.
- The Falcon FF will cut the material ‘on the fly’ at a speed of 5.86 m/min.
- The output is 98 parts per minute
- Pick & collect of 98 pcs/min, work for approx. 3 FTEs
It results in 5 boxes with 6 or 12 parts per repeat
Zenna is developing a robot system to make stacks of parts inline. No complex box conveyors, nor multiple stacking conveyors, but just stacking on the STM-belt, limiting the number of picks by the wokers.
The amount of ‘pre-stacking ‘parts is dependent on the distribution of the parts in the template and the speed of the line. The goal is to reduce the number of picks by 50%
The potential saving of 50% labor will result in 2,5 FTE x 4 shifts = 10 FTE less needed at the line. In this example the two worker has to make 27 picks per minute to collect single and pre-stacked parts, in total the same 98 pcs/min.
