Case Study

Six-FANUC-robot machining and washer line for transfer case shafts at 200 parts per hour.

Industry: Transportation

A Tier-1 automotive driveline supplier producing 4-wheel-drive transfer case shafts needed to increase production while simultaneously reducing labor cost per unit and improving worker safety on an aging line. The existing manual line relied on operators to load, unload, and transfer parts across multiple machining operations, used equipment up to 15 years old, and was generating repetitive-motion injuries that affected both employees and throughput. The customer’s automation strategy combined five customer-supplied FANUC robots, multiple legacy Okuma and Chiron machining centers, and a new dual-lane washer into a single coordinated cell, all controlled by one integrated system.

Han-Tek engineered, built, and integrated the complete automated cell: two parallel conveyor loops feeding turn, roll, drill, grind, straightener, and washer operations, with all five (later six) FANUC robots tied into a unified Allen-Bradley DeviceNet field network and Modicon-based system controls. The system was fully assembled and dry-cycled at Han-Tek’s Victor, NY facility before shipment, then installed under Han-Tek installation supervision at the customer’s plant.

Their Challenge:

Reduce labor cost per unit while meeting increased production requirements (target: 200 transfer case shafts per hour) on an aging manual line where operators were generating repetitive-motion injuries.
Integrate new automated material handling with legacy machine tools up to 15 years old, including multiple Okuma turning centers, Chiron machining centers, spline rollers, gun drill and cross drill machines, a straightener, and grinding machines.
Integrate five customer-supplied FANUC robots (four R-2000iB heavy-payload and one M-710iB mid-payload) directly into the cell architecture, with all robot interfaces, end-of-arm tooling, and machine handoffs engineered to operate as one coordinated system.
Build the washer into the same coordinated line so freshly machined shafts moved cleanly from cutting and grinding operations through wash, rinse, and dry without an operator handoff, while supporting the full range of part configurations on the line.
Reduce repetitive-motion injuries that were affecting line operators, by replacing manual load/unload and transfer steps with automated material handling at every station.
Deliver a measurable reduction in cost per unit, while improving throughput, product quality, and worker safety simultaneously, on a sensitive capital project with the existing production line still required to ship product through the build phase.

Our Solution:

Han-Tek engineered a complete robotic machining cell and washer line built around two parallel conveyor loops: a “turn, roll, and drill” loop feeding the Okuma turning centers, spline rollers, gun drill, and cross drill operations, and a “hard, grind, and turn” loop feeding the straightener and grinding operations, with a shared dual-lane washer between them.
Conveyors use 7.5-inch wide Rexnord hardened steel tabletop chain on a 7-gauge steel frame with tubular steel supports, 41-inch top-of-chain height, Reliance drives with Dodge gears, and full-length drip pans. Thirty custom pallets (fifteen per loop) each carry four shafts, with manual load and unload escapements operated by palm-button controls at the line ends.
Han-Tek integrated five customer-supplied FANUC robots into the cell: four R-2000iB heavy-payload robots handle part-swapping into and out of the cutting machines, gun drills, cross drills, and grinders, with one M-710iB mid-payload robot at a separate station. A sixth FANUC M-16iB robot was added during the project (Change Order #1, February 2006) to automate the straightener station as the customer expanded scope mid-build.
Each FANUC robot is fitted with a custom dual-part end-of-arm tool engineered by Han-Tek, with gripper open and closed sensors and individual cell guarding (one guard door per cell with a safety switch and request-to-enter button). FANUC collision avoidance is enabled on every robot.
The cell runs on a Modicon Compact PLC integrated through Allen-Bradley DeviceNet (1747-SDN scanner, 1794-ADN adapter, 1770-KFD interface) to all robots, conveyors, machine tools, and the washer. A Schneider Magellis touchscreen HMI provides single-pane operator control across the cell, with a Pilz PNOZ X3 safety relay coordinating E-stop and guard logic across every robot station.
Han-Tek selected the washer through a competitive vendor comparison (HRB Systems, Ransohoff, and Jenfab were all quoted) and integrated the chosen unit into the line with the same controls architecture as the rest of the cell, so the washer became part of the integrated system rather than a standalone subsystem with its own operator interface.
Two 75 KVA isolation transformers (one per conveyor loop) and Hoffman free-standing control enclosures complete the electrical architecture, with all field control equipment, junction boxes, conduit, and wire engineered to integrate cleanly with the customer’s plant power and controls standards.
The entire system was assembled, wired, and put through a 20-hour dry-cycle test at Han-Tek’s Victor, NY facility before shipment to the customer’s East Syracuse plant, with Han-Tek installation supervision through commissioning and customer runoff.

The Results:

Labor cost per unit reduced: Replacing manual load, unload, and transfer steps with automated material handling at every station delivered a meaningful reduction in cost per unit, directly improving the profitability of each transfer case shaft produced.
Throughput target hit: The system was engineered for 200 transfer case shafts per hour and delivered that rate consistently once commissioned, exceeding the throughput the prior manual line could sustain.
Repetitive-motion injuries reduced: Operators no longer perform the manual lifting, twisting, and transfer movements that had been driving repetitive-motion injuries on the prior line, improving worker safety and reducing absenteeism and related costs.
Product quality improved: Consistent automated handling eliminated the part-to-part variability that manual handoffs introduced, with each robot and machine handoff running on a coordinated DeviceNet-networked cycle.
Legacy equipment service-life extended: Integrating new automation around equipment up to 15 years old (rather than replacing it) preserved the customer’s installed-base investment while still delivering the throughput, labor, and safety improvements of a new line.
Scope flexibility absorbed mid-build: When the customer added a sixth robot for the straightener operation in February 2006 (Change Order #1), the existing cell architecture and controls absorbed the addition without disrupting the build schedule or overall system design.

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