ROBOTIC INSPECTION

By: Scott Bahr

In November, we introduced you to our latest team member in our Esterhazy location—Reggie the Robot—a Motoman by Yaskawa. Bringing a Motoman into our facilities has improved our products without needing to cut back on our human workers. One of the essential tasks our human staff is responsible for is the inspection of Reggie to ensure prime functioning.

Currently, in our Esterhazy location, Reggie is responsible for inspecting the bits produced with unmatched precision. Since introducing this Motoman, the quality control in our manufacturing process has been streamlined, providing all production quality inspections at our Esterhazy location.

We hope to implement more robotic technology in our Esterhazy and Saskatoon production facilities as time progresses to maximize our consistency and further streamline the bit production process. 

Reggie’s work process is a bit different than the other workers at the location. Equipped with digital cameras and a scanner, information is carried to the Motoman robot’s visual system. Once scanned, Reggie can assess the bits’ production value and lets workers know if they are up to Bit Service standards.

This technology takes digital scans and exact measurements in an instant—surpassing human capabilities substantially. Reggie works with extreme consistency: without the factor of the subjective nature of human eyes or human comparisons, the process is uniform every single time. 

Whoever is responsible for operating Reggie for the day is responsible for ensuring Reggie functions at the prime condition and adjusting settings if the robot is not. While many people think robots replace operators, robotic implementation actually increases the amount of work required. Instead, the intention behind implementing a robot-like Reggie is about upscaling our workplace and streamlining our production. 

We pride ourselves on the parts we produce, and being able to change the course of our production process has excited us for the future potentials robotics can bring to the mining industry. Contact us at Bit Service if you’re interested in chatting about what we do and where we can lead mining’s future.