Welding Support Fixture | Case Study | Special Purpose Machinery | ION Precision

Welding Support Fixture Case Study

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An example of our design and special purpose machinery capabilities…

A recent case study of a collaboration with ION Precision and Hartech Automation Ltd.

The brief

ION Precision and Hartech Automation were asked to design and manufacture a special purpose machine; a welding support fixture. As part of our on-going collaboration, ION was responsible for the bespoke design element and Hartech oversaw the electrical and control. The client is well-known for manufacturing vehicles used mainly in mining and the movement of large volumes of materials. The vehicles are known to transport raw material from the mining site to the processing facilities. It was a very exciting brief and something that we couldn’t wait to get started on together.

Main objectives

The bespoke machine needed to be designed to ensure that the welding operators were able to accurately assemble part of a vehicle within tolerance of design and the parts could be physically held in the correct positions so the operator can tack weld the individual parts together.

Working together

For this project, ION Precision designed the fixture mechanically, using models provided by the client, ensuring that the design fit the format of existing functionality the clients previously used. Hartech were responsible for developing the control system for the machine. They were also able to convert the client’s system methodology from Rockwell to Siemens whilst still ensuring the functionality remained the same for the end user.

The result

After completion of the special purpose machine, the client now has a PLC controlled and monitored process which allows their operators to assemble a vehicle part under complete control and quality assurance. It also has the flexibility of step back and forwards procedure and has step by step diagnostics that the operator can see and read from the HMI terminal as each step is completed.

We will be starting to share some of our recent collaborations across our social media channels and within our news page on our website. To make sure you don’t miss out and keep up to date with all the latest information, please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

If you would like to chat with us about our special purpose machinery or bespoke design engineering, please contact us here.

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ION Precision and Hartech Automation

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The history of the collaboration between ION Precision and Hartech Automation.

How our mechanical and electrical minds work together.

Our working relationship…

ION Precision and Hartech Automation have been collaborating on various types of precision engineering and special purpose machinery projects for the better part of 20 years now. To celebrate this huge business milestone, we thought it was a good time to share some of our recent ventures, starting with the background of the ION and Hartech relationship.

Where it all began

Over 20 years ago, ION Precision (then PTSM) and Hartech Automation were introduced through a mutual client. Initially, ION required some specialist electrical engineering assistance for some fixtures and Hartech were recommended. After this first collaboration, the rest is pretty much history. We both soon realised that we could assist each other on a regular basis to ensure that our clients received the best possible solution to their needs.

When do we work together?

ION and Hartech generally always have something on the go these days. With the working relationship growing from strength to strength over the last two decades, we have learnt how to utilise each other in the best possible way for our clients.

With ION specialising in bespoke CNC machining and mechanical engineering and Hartech in electrical engineering, we have learnt to know the full capabilities of our companies to ensure the client always gets the result they need.

As both companies are based and well-known within the North East, our partnership is sometimes assumed but we have and will travel further afield to continue offering the best possible service to our customer base.

How do we work together?

With many of our collaborations being within the automotive sector, we have built up a strong working relationship with our regular clients over the last 20 years. We have also worked within Power generation and hygienic production in the past too… there is no limit to our collaborative engineering minds.

The original master minds were both Managing Directors; Stephen Metcalfe for ION and Mark Hardy for Hartech. As each company is growing and the shared projects are getting more frequent, the collaborations now tend to filter down to most team members.

The future…

Our relationship is continuing to grow, as is our joint customer base. We will be starting to share some of our recent collaborations across our social media channels and within our news page on our website. To make sure you don’t miss out and keep up to date with all the latest information, please follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram.

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