Coleshill-based automotive supplier Sertec has invested in a £500,000 robotic welding cell after winning a contract from Toyota supplier Adient to manufacture two variants of the rear-seat assembly for the new Auris (www.sertec.co.uk).

The new cell — designed and supplied by Southam-based Fanuc subsidiary Cyber-Weld Ltd — is scheduled to produce around 80,000 rear-seat assemblies a year.

The new MIG welding cell is equipped with two Fanuc ARC Mate 0iB robots, a 500kg-payload turntable capable of 180deg indexing, air-cooled welding torches and a torch-cleaning station.

Safety is provided by metal guarding and the Fanuc ‘dual check safety’ software package. Many of the welds on the Auris seat structures are deemed safety-critical, so the cell is equipped with the ARCAgent system to monitor and record every weld.

Sertec is leading supplier of structural body parts, specialising in aluminium welding techniques alongside more traditional resistance and MIG welding.

Colin Partridge, head of welding projects, said: “The contract to make the rear-seat assembly for the Auris is our first venture with Adient/Toyota and a very important one for the company.

“We needed a completely new robotic manufacturing cell, with the flexibility to weld the different seat structures required. Cyber-Weld suggested a design that impressed Toyota and Adient, while also delivering on the key performance indicators that we stipulated.”

Fraser Reid, managing director at Cyber-Weld, said: “We have a long relationship with Sertec that now includes more than 70 Fanuc robots at the company’s Coleshill and Tyseley sites.

“The new cell has a range of technologies that will ensure the highest levels of productivity, allied to guaranteed weld quality on safety-critical components.”