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ABB Robotics Atomizer upgrade saves 30% paint consumption for Toyota's Hino Motors in Japan
1/8/2015 |
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2015-01-07 - Faced with paint gun systems with a low transfer efficiency due to high flow rate spraying with high speed velocity, Toyota's Hino Motors turned to ABB Robotics' Japanese Customer Service Team to install brand new Atomizer systems for better transfer efficiency and less overspray.
West of Tokyo, in the city of Hamura, we find one of Hino Motors' four Japanese manufacturing plants. The history of Hino Motors harkens back to 1910 and today the company is a subsidiary of the Toyota Motor Corporation. With a revenue of ?1,314,588 million (2012), Hino Motors manufactures and exports heavy-duty trucks, buses and Toyota branded vehicles.
The Hamura plant's daily output is 550 Toyota SUVs (Land Cruiser Prado and FJ Cruiser), and 150 Toyota trucks (Dyna and Toyoace). ABB Robotics products involved in Hino Motors' SUV paint line include two IRB 5400-12 robots, 37 Atomizers (ROBOBEL031-PC, ROBOBEL951 and TR bell), paint circuit equipment, and gear pumps. The ABB robots are used at one of the primer lines and the Atomizers are used at the primer-, base- and clear coat lines.
In August, ABB Robotics was awarded the order, involving the replacement of Hino Motors' old paint guns with ABB Robotics' Atomizer ROBOBEL031-PC, plus service and spare parts. The factory's transition from using solvent borne primer paint to more environmentally friendly water borne primer paint was one of the main contributing factors for the upgrade.
The replacement was conducted during the summer shut down period to limit production impact. A total of 15 man days were spent, including installation, commissioning and standby after start of production.
One of the challenges faced by ABB Robotics' Japanese Customer Service Team was to spray water born conductive primer with a non-electrostatic rotary ABB Atomizer. Therefore tests were performed at the Atomizer Supply Unit (ASU) in Shimada Technical Center, Japan, prior to installation to ensure everything worked as promised. While the water born conductive primer consisted of "fast dry" material, adjustments needed to be made to the external Atomizer cleaning unit to allow for optimal application.
"The optimization of the cleaning unit and the robot program now enables the Atomizers to run for eight consecutive hours without manual cleaning," says Mitsuyoshi Taniguchi, Sales & Marketing Group, ABB Robotics Japan.
Prior to this upgrade, Hino Motors had experienced a low transfer efficiency with their paint guns due to the high flow rate spraying with high speed velocity. ABB Robotics' atomizer ROBOBEL031-PC offers better transfer efficiency and less overspray. Now having done the replacement, Hino Motors is able to save 30% in paint consumption.
About Hino Motors
Hino Motors, Ltd. is a Japanese manufacturer of commercial vehicles and diesel engines (including trucks, buses and other vehicles) headquartered in Hino-shi, Tokyo. Hino Motors is a constituent of the Nikkei 225 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation and one of 16 major companies of the Toyota Group. |
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