Hirebotics said its Cobot Welder can bring automated welding to shops of every size. | Source: Hirebotics
Hirebotics LLC last week announced that Tate Inc. has deployed 58 of its robotic welding systems. The data center infrastructure developer has deployed them across its manufacturing facilities in Arkansas, Virginia, and Kentucky.
For 120 years, Tate has supplied structural ceilings, containment systems, and airflow management products. The Columbia, Md.-basedcompanynow faces intense demand for large data centers and tight project timelines with zero tolerance formanufacturingerrors.
Tate wanted to scale, but it didn’t want to lose out on precision. So, in 2024, it decided to transition from manualweldingto an agile, cloud-connected automation network powered by Hirebotics and its cloud-based, no-code Beacon Pro control platform. Beacon Pro enables the company to program, run, and monitor theCobot Weldersfrom any smartphone or tablet.
Tate looked at about nine automation providers, according to Daniel Adams, director of sales at Hirebotics. He said a few factors contributed to Tate’s decision. First, when Tate brought specific parts to Hirebotics, the Nashville, Tenn.-basedcompany‘s team was able to perform welds on the parts within 30 minutes of Tate’s arrival.
Next, ease of use was a top priority for Tate, said Abrams. Theconstructionprovider was able to program the robots while the Hirebotics team was still on site.
Finally, Hirebotics was willing to collaborate. Adams said the company worked closely with Tate to figure out how its process would change when it automated welding withforce- and power-limitedrobot arms.
Hirebotics shipped Tate’s first two robots in September 2023. “Tate had pretty quick adoption,” Adams toldThe Robot Report. “They had a bunch of people on staff who had beenweldingby hand for their entire careers, but they were able to see the benefits to both the company and themselves.”
To train Tate’s employees, Hirebotics used a combination of self-training with tutorial videos and Hirebotics employees providing hands-on training onsite. It typically only took only 10 to 20 minutes to train the employees to use the robots, Adams said.
“The majority of users are surprised at how quickly they can become operational with the robot,” he recalled.
“It was a fantastic process to learn to manipulate not only the movements of the welder themselves, but [also] to control the amperage, the heat, and travel speed,” said Jonathon Cook, a cobot welding programmer at Tate. “We can manipulate and curate every single weld that we make here for Tate to be exactly how it’s supposed to be as by spec every single time. And that truly is a marvel within itself.”
In addition to traditional welding projects within all three facilities, Tate has pioneered a unique workflow in its Arkansas plant, where the cobot systems handle the upstream precision step of tacking and pre-assembling parts to feed downstreamindustrialrobots. This helps to keep production moving at a steady pace.