Our design team met the target in welding line fixture design for a global auto manufacturer in very tight delivery time lines.

Client: A multi national, Automation Consulting company operating in India
End User: Largest Auto manufacturer from US
Business Model: Out sourcing with fixed charges
The Objective: Design the welding line fixtures for a new Car model

The Challenge

New process flow was in place from the consultant for the assembly and welding lines for the new car model. These lines were needed to be integrated with the welding robots. The objective was to achieve economy with quality in design. The project owner was placed in South Africa and the communication with them and smooth data transfers were critical issues. Maintaining the quality even in tight delivery schedule were the challenges.

The Solution

The process consisted of the foot print, welding spots, clamping plans and the process with loading and unloading chart for the car panels. The processes were discussed with the consultant and we took decisions about:

• Standard components like pneumatic cylinders, runner blocks & rails etc
• Frequently used components as library items like support blocks or risers
• Method of coding to be followed in naming the components
• Material selection for different components
• 3D solid modeling software.

The surface data was down loaded from the FTP site in the IGES format. This was imported in MDT around which fixtures were designed. First designs were reviewed critically. The suggestions were noted and modifications were documented as Engineering Change Request (ECR). This communication with the consultant helped us understand thoroughly their requirement and avoided repetitive mistakes in the design. Design Check Lists maintained the quality.

Our consensus was on Mechanical Desktop (MDT) as the 3D solid modeling tool. This gave us a much needed price advantage and the power to model the fixtures. Various customized tools further increased the speed of the design activity.

Welding Line Fixture Unit

The Bottom Line

The bottom line was the tight time line of delivery. We had user-friendly 3D solid modeling software that could handle complex panel shapes yet provide powerful design tool.