Trailer Coupler Component Forming

Road-Worthy RIBS

Building strong and reliable trailers requires large components formed from heavy parts. Great Dane wanted a safer, faster solution for forming 120lb pieces of their trailer couplers—a process that used to require 2-3 operators per cycle, and five minutes per cycle.

Acieta automated the process with a Robot Integrated Bending Solution (RIBS), replacing the high-strain, labor-intensive process with a consistent, high-quality process that takes a fraction of the time.

Results:

Faster Cycle Time

Robotic handling reduced cycle time from five minutes to one, giving Great Dane significantly higher throughput.

Safer Work

Removing operators from the handling of 120 lb parts eliminated one of the highest ergonomic risk tasks on the floor.

Consistent Quality

With the robot managing all lifting, positioning, and part transfer, production quality and throughput improved.

System Components:

Robotic Handling: The system is built around a FANUC M-2000ic heavy payload robot.

End-of-Arm Tooling: Vacuum EOAT handles parts from inbound, through positioning and forming, and sets finished parts on an outbound pallet.

Squaring Table: Proper orientation of every sheet is ensured by a gravity blank alignment table.

Heavy-Duty Press: A 750-ton Cincinnati press forms heavy gauge structural steel into trailer coupler components