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  July 28, 2021 2:21 AM EDT

  Shops have plenty of reasons to automate their CNC lathes. Throughput becomes more predictable. Labor costs go down with unattended machining. There’s a subsequent increase of available working hours. And don’t forget the primary motivation behind any foray into automation: It’s tough to find people with the required skills.Get more news about Automatic Cnc Lathe,you can vist our website!

  Adding a robot can make people cringe at the thought of further complicating an already challenging shop-floor equation. The installation process means undergoing a machine tool risk assessment, most often followed by investment in safety fences or light curtains. There’s automation integration to think about, along with conveyors, grippers and programming systems. The lure of increased uptime notwithstanding, is it really worth the hassle?
  Al Bingeman, deputy general manager at Doosan Machine Tools America Corp., Pine Brook, New Jersey, thinks that automation is worthwhile. He said last year’s sales figures for robotics show that many manufacturers agree.

  There’s the labor part of it, certainly,” he said, “but I think a lot of shop owners and managers are also realizing the payback on one of these systems is usually measured in months, not years.”

  One such system is Doosan’s GL series of fast gantry loaders. Some models boast load times of 5.7 seconds and traverse speeds in excess of 5,900 ipm.

  But why focus on lathes? It should be clear to anyone who’s watched CNC machining centers sit idle that they are also begging for automation—perhaps even more so than a lathe, which can be equipped with a bar feeder, eliminating the need for a robot in bar stock applications. And why a gantry robot? Aren’t robotic arms the dominant technology for machine tool automation?

  Bingeman said Doosan offers “traditional” robots as well, including the company’s DooCell drawer-style robotic loading cell, but gantry loaders offer several advantages in certain applications.

  “They’re in many ways simpler,” he said. “Simpler to program and operate, simpler to integrate to the machine tool. Compared to a pedestal-style robot, they can be very cost-effective, particularly in higher-volume jobs where speed is paramount.”