Caroma Comes Clean on High Quality Finish

When Charles Rothause founded Caroma in 1941 he could have only dreamed about the future and what it would bring in advances in manufacturing technology. Caroma today is regarded as the undisputed leader in Australia in bathroom ware including basins of all types, pans, cisterns and pedestals.

Caroma's manufacturing is world class with many automated systems used to achieve its very high quality.

One such system at the Wetherill Park plant was supplied by Robotic Automation and is used to spray the finish glaze onto the various products manufactured.

The Motoman Robots used have six axes and have been adapted for spraying a mixture of silica and alumina that forms the basis of the glaze. The product once sprayed with glaze is then fired at a temperature of 1190 deg.c, which fires the clay base and the glaze at the same time.

		"When you see the Robot you could be forgiven for thinking that it is some medieval knight in shining armor when you see it's beautiful silver coat but in reality its a loyal workhorse able to place a consistent 0.9mm fine coat over the entire clay surface and indeed reach areas that no human could reach." —Greg Nichols, Manufacturing Manager, Caroma

Whilst the coating is not explosive the mixture is abrasive and hence the reason to protect the robot arm and gearboxes from the ingress of damaging liquids.

The unit is one of a number of robots supplied to Caroma over the past few years and according to Mr. Nichols perform very well and are supported with parts and service by Robotic Automation.

Robotic Automation are the exclusive distributors for Motoman Robots which can be used for a variety of applications including arc welding, spot welding, palletising, materials handling and machine tending.

Robotic Automation offers consulting advice to clients wishing to develop applications, sales, service, and preventative maintenance contracts supported through its extensive network of National Offices.

AUSSIE ICON UNDER WRAPS

Leading Australian manufacturer of the Aussie icon, the Hills Hoist, Hills Industries have chosen Robopac from RA Technologies as part of their Brisbane plant expansion.

In addition to the famous Hills Hoist, Hills Industries manufacture a range of products including amongst other things, metal, fibreglass and timber ladders.

Based in Brisbane, Hills Industries' ladder manufacturing division have chosen the Robopac Spiror Horizontal Stretch Wrapping Machine to secure their pallets of ladders. The ladders range in size from 1.2 metres to 6.0 metres and up to 60 pallets per day are wrapped by the fully automatic Spiror.

Turnkey System
RA Technologies designed and installed a full turnkey system for Hills, comprising semi-automatic pallet dispensers, extensive conveying, and the Robopac Spiror 2500FW itself.

The spool carriage unit of the Spiror is complete with a frictioned roller mounted on a steel rotating ring to ensure constant wrapping tension despite variations in spool diameter. The Spiror 2500FW offers a 100% pre-stretch capability to optimise film usage.

With a motor-driven system located on the upper frame on infeed and/or outfeed sides of the Spiror, complete wrapping of the longest product is ensured.

Robopac are acknowledged as world leaders in stretch wrapping systems, both in horizontal and the more common vertical stretch wrapping systems, and can quote many successful installations around the world including many in Australia and New Zealand.

AGV GENERAL MANUFACTURING SOLUTIONS

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Whirlpool Refrigerators

Timely movement of materials is a critical element to an efficient manufacturing operation. The costs associated with delivering raw materials, moving work in process and removing finished goods must be minimised while also minimising any product damage that is the result of improper handling. An AGV system helps streamline operations while also delivering improved safety and tracking the movement of materials.

Whether its moving standard pallets or customised racks, FMC Technologies build rugged AGVs that excel in the most demanding of environments. Nearly every model of FMC brand AGVs is suitable for manufacturing applications.

Customised vehicles, such as the one in the Whirlpool case study above, can be purpose-designed and built to match your unique manufacturing application requirements.