Most of my life, I’ve either worked some stupid “McJob” or behind a desk. I’ve
never had what you’d deem a real gritty job before. Until now. Now I come home
every morning covered in carbon dust, coolant, and grease. It’s insane. My arms
are sore every day, and are getting… Gruesome.
I work in a “cell” that consists of a grinder station, six-axis FANUC robotic
manipulator, and dual-spindle FANUC CNC lathe. The grinder does exactly what the
term I used implies, it grinds the raw material down to size. The manipulator
takes the properly sized material and loads it onto the lathe chuck, which then
uses tooling to shape the material into the finished product. The manipulator
then sends the finished piece on down to me, where it’s gauged for accuracy and
I can make corrections near the end of the line when necessary. The cell
produces about a hundred pieces an hour. It’s overly complex for what’s actually
happening, and has a tendency to reflect that in what can (and does) go wrong.
I’ve noticed two tandem PLC’s, one to direct the manipulator and another that
apparently controls the lathe. The cell used to consist of two manipulators, two
lathes, and four spindles. It has since been found that it’s a freaking mess for
just one person to handle with just one series running. I think I’d die if both
were ever running cooperatively.