SGUS Advanced Welding Technologies Pte ltd
Project Plan
Robotic Welding for Handrails
Project Sponsor: NTU Simtech
Project Manager: SGUS Advanced Welding Grp 3
Department: Engineering
Date: 18/2/2021
Group Number: 3
Group Members:
Abdul Haris Bin Badaruddin
Chong Jun Hua @ Chong Kin Wah
Lee Meng Kong
Lim Lee Kuan Trevor
Ramzi Bin Hashim
Timothy Richard McIntyre
Wong Man Ming Simon
1
Project Summary Page
Expecting increasing demand, SGUS Advance welding Pte Ltd is looking for automation solution for
fabricating a range of guard railing frames. Among the series of the fabrication processes, from beam
members preparation, cutting, grounding, fitting, welding, and inspection, welding is identified as the
“hot-spot” for automation.
We are building a feasibility study to build a robotic system that can increase our production by 300%
and improve weld quality with 0.5% rejection rate and ability to bid for high specifications projects.
Project objectives:
1. The objective of this project is to develop a robotic welding system that will increase the
production of the handrail frames by at least 300% by the end of September 2021.
2. Reduce the cost of the product by 20% by benefiting from process
3. Reduce reliance on manual welders in tight labour supply situations by 80 % using robotic
automation.
4. Increase the quality and consistency of the final deliverable product with rejection rate from
5% to 0.5% so as to be able to tender for higher precision, high-specification,and higher
margin projects.
Final deliverables:
1. Robotic MIG welding system
2. Operation manual
3. Maintenance manual
4. Annual preventive maintenance programme
Project start date & end date:
Start: 1 Mar 2021
End: 27 Sep 2021
List of major milestones:
Project Approval: 1 Mar 2021
2
Overall Design Completion: 14 Jun 2021
Testing and Commissioning: 20 Sep 2021
Total budget:
Total budget is 250k
Project team:
Abdul Haris Bin Badaruddin
Chong Jun Hua @ Chong Kin Wah
Lee Meng Kong
Lim Lee Kuan Trevor
Ramzi Bin Hashim
Timothy Richard McIntyre
Wong Man Ming Simon
Project background
Expecting increasing demand, a local metal structure fabrication company is looking for automation
solution for fabricating a range of guard railing frames. Among the series of the fabrication processes,
from beam members preparation, cutting, grounding, fitting, welding, and inspection, welding is
identified as the “hot-spot” for automation. The objective is to increase the productivity by eliminating
the manual welding process (Figure 1) while improving welding quality.
Figure 1
3
The railing frames that the company wants to fabricate are the handrails and fences (Figure 2, 3 & 4) for
protecting workers and pedestrians in industrial sites and roadsides. The volume is high, and the
configuration variety is also high. In other words, it is a high volume and high mix type of manufacturing.
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4
The welding for connection joints of handrails is considered as most time consuming task in the whole
process. Firstly, the welding path of these 3-dimensional geometric joints are very complicated and
various for different diameter of pipe combinations and angle of the components of the joints (Figure 5
& 6). Secondly, it demands the highest skill of welders for these joints comparing with the typical flat,
horizontal or vertical weld joints. Under the current pandemic situations, the shortage of skillful welders
poses the challenge for the company to fulfil the production schedules.
Figure 5
Figure 6
The brief fabrication steps are as follows:
a.
Measure and cut beam / bar members
b.
Machine and grind the joints to required geometric dimension and tolerance
c.
Position be frame in a template or fixtures
d.
Tack weld or fasten the beam members to hold the member in the required positions
e.
Weld the joints in full length (Targeted process for this project)
f.
Remove the finished frame from the welding station
4
Project Objectives
1. The objective of this project is to develop a robotic welding system that will increase the
production of the handrail frames by at least 300% by the end of September 2021.
2. Reduce the cost of the product by 20% by benefiting from process
3. Reduce reliance on manual welders in tight labour supply situations by 80 % using robotic
automation.
4. Increase the quality and consistency of the final deliverable product with rejection rate from 5%
to 0.5% so as to be able to tender for higher precision, high-specification,and higher margin
projects.
Project scope
The robotic system must be able to produce the handrails of the following specification:
●
●
●
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Precision to +/- 1 mm tolerance
Rail size < 1.5 m x 3 m
Rail configuration in T, K and Y joint types
Quantity > 300 per month
Exclusion
●
●
●
●
Fluctuation of subsequent part price
Expansion plan and volume of demand
Fully Automated system
CNC cutting of rails tubes
The major components of the required robotic welding system are listed as follows:
1.
Arc Welding System
2.
Fixture for the Handrail Assembly
3.
Robotic System
4.
Robot Teaching and Sensing Parts
Assumptions
1. Ability to train up or hire qualified operators to operate Robot safely & productively.
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2. Contractor is able to manufacture the components and parts meeting the specification and
delivering them on schedule.
3. Economy situation is in Singapore
4. Communication Plan for project is in place
Constraints )
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ability to retrain existing staffs to learn new skills
Limitation of suppliers to ensure best value for the investment
Budget limitation for cost effective ROI implementation .
Workspace Space planning & Workflow constrain to meet worksafe environment
The waterfall model approach will require a longer time and personnel coordination
Getting certified operators
Project approach/methodology
We will adopt the waterfall model, which is a linear project management approach, where stakeholder
and customer requirements are gathered at the beginning of the project, and then a sequential project
plan is created to accommodate those requirements. The waterfall model is so named because each
phase of the project cascades into the next, following steadily down like a waterfall.
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List of milestones
Milestones
Description
Planned Date
1
Project approval
1 Mar 2021
2
Completion of overall design
14 Jun 2021
3
Arrival of all key components
9 Aug 2021
4
Completion of testing and commissioning
20 Sep 2021
5
Robot start production
27 Sep 2021
Deliverables and requirements
1. Robotic welding system of the following specification:
a.
Overall dimensions range of guard railing frames: Length 1 m to 3 m; Height: 500 mm to 1500 mm
b.
Joint type: T, K or Y configurations
c.
Tolerance requirement of finished frame: +/- 1 mm
d.
Members diameters: 25 mm to 65 mm
e.
Materials: Mild Steel, Stainless Steel, Aluminum
f.
Welding processes: Arc Welding
g.
Number of passes: one
h.
Production volume: Over 300 pieces frames per month (3 times of current)
i.
Batch size: 10 to 200 pieces per batch
2. Operation manual
3. Maintenance manual
4. Annual preventive maintenance programme
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Acceptance test and criteria
Production dept will be signing off the acceptance test and the new robot system is able to run in
parallel with the existing manual process and collected data shows the new system achieving 300%
productivity improvement defined in the project goals.
Work breakdown structure
WBS Dictionary
ID
Activity
Resources
Total Cost
6.1
Overall Design of robotic system
Design Engineer
$20k
6.3
Installation of robotic system
Project Engineer
$40k
6.4
Testing and commissioning
Testing Engineer
$10k
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Activity list
1.
2.
3.
4.
Upload CAD file of railing into robotic system
Install and clamp rail tubes into jig
Robot teaching - scan and collect ACTUAL coordinates of rail and weld points
Synchronise the scanned data with CAD data - adjust/compensate for discrepancies between
CAD coordinates and actual coordinates
5. Dry run (and if no issues, perform welding)
6. Welding
( For duration of activities , please refer to Gantt Chart)
Project schedule
9
Project risk management (Haris)
●
●
●
●
Risk breakdown structure
Risk levels for probability and impact
Probability/Impact matrix
Risk register
Probability/Impact matrix
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Risk register
Risk
#
Risk Description
(eg risk, cause &
effect)
Risk Category
Probability
Impact
RPN
Strategy
Mitigation
1
Supplier End of life
product for
effective use and
parts
Commercial
3
4
12(H)
Mitigate
Source for
second
suppliers
from china
Contingenc
y Plan
Risk
Trigger
Risk
Owner
Status
Opened
Haris
Finding model
sold and
countries
available
2
Financial
Internal
3
3
P(M)
Accept
(active)
Second-hand
acceptance
impact
Internal
3
4
12
(H)
Mitigate
Implement
risk
assessment
program
regulation
2
2
4
Accept
acceptance
test from
MOM
ROI Risk
3
Safety Risk
Govt risk
11
Gloomy
economy
inspecto
r
Ramzi
Opened
Haris
Opened
william
opened
Project resources
Resource breakdown structures
RBS Chart
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Budget
Budget breakdown table
Budget Breakdown
Name of Items
Manpower
Budget-Total
(SGD)
Research & Development
30,000
Engineering
30,000
Commissioning
10,000
Training
5,000
Total Manpower
Equipment
75,000
Procurement of Robot &
Robot Programming
100,000
Procurement of Welding
Machine set
20,000
Procurement of SemiAutomated Fixture
50,000
Total Equipment
Materials
170,000
Feeder Wires
4,000
Consumables
1,000
Total Materials
5,000
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Actual-Total
(SGD)
Total Project Cost
14
250,000