Automotive Lighting Corp. (Juarez, Mexico) needed a machine to ultrasonically weld plastic lens-and-reflector assemblies. Initial designers envisioned a nine-headed welding unit. However, the concept was rejected, because the unit would have been difficult to align and limited to welding similar assemblies. It would also have been difficult to build because of size constraints and interference problems.
As a result, Automotive Lighting installed a workcell, designed and built by Dukane Corp. (St. Charles, IL), that included a six-axis robotic arm to take the place of nine pneumatic thrusters. Dukane was able to build the manufacturing cell in less time than it would have taken to create a conventional multihead system. According to Automotive Lighting Corp., the cost was slightly higher, but comparable.