Part of Rentokil Initial plc, Lytham-based Dudley Industries Ltd is a market-leader in the manufacture of stainless-steel washroom equipment, producing a wide range of products for both its parent group and for other businesses as a sub-contract manufacturer.

The company has a well-equipped manufacturing facility that features a variety of presses, laser/punching machines and welding systems.

The finishing and weld dressing of its fabrications have a huge effect on the aesthetic quality and function of its products, which is why particular attention is paid to these procedures.

However, this focus on finish resulted in a ‘bottleneck’ in production, as output increased. The answer to eliminating this problem was found in a fabrication/finishing and weld-dressing robotic cell designed and manufactured by Autopulit and installed by Christchurch-based Ellesco Ltd (www.ellesco.co.uk).

Dudley Industries’ managing director, Gordon Higham, said: “Dudley was one of the first companies in the UK to achieve ISO 9001:2008 accreditation, and the quality of our products remains the company’s number-one priority. As our finishing routines provide the product appearance that we insist upon, reflecting the quality of our products, we pay particular attention to this area.

“Given our urgent need for a finishing system that could handle our significantly increased production volumes, I contacted Ellesco Ltd.

“My staff and I were able to explain our ‘wish list’ to the company, and our discussions resulted in a system design consisting of an automated robotic finishing cell with two long-belt grinding heads, a double-ended Scotch-Brite buffing unit, an 850mm-wide Scotch-Brite buffing unit, and an 850mm-wide Scotch-Brite polishing unit with automatic polishing compound application via spray guns.

“Now installed and fully operational, the Autopulit finishing and weld-dressing robot cell has not only removed all current finishing bottle-necks but also increased finishing efficiency to the extent that it will be able to handle all anticipated increases in production.”

Each product is now precisely loaded onto its own dedicated fixture, and then held securely by means of a vacuum.

After the relevant program has been selected, the fixture holding the part is picked up by the robot and taken to each of the cell’s individual abrasive-belt machines relevant to its finishing requirements.

The robot then manipulates the product, according to its program, and applies it to each appropriate finishing station with a pre-determined pressure.

Ellesco’s managing director, Vincent Simonis, said: “When designing Dudley Industries’ system and choosing the correct abrasive grades — given the company’s exacting standards related to safety, hygiene and the visual appearance of its products — we understood that extremely high standards of stainless-steel component finishing and weld-dressing were of paramount importance.

“It was not only essential to achieve the required surface finish but also vital that the resulting finish was uniform across the entire surface of each component; it was also essential that each mating component displayed exactly the same surface-finish characteristics.

“Moreover, when weld-dressing, the system had to finish with the same grain direction as the welds’ surrounding areas.”