Southern Gear has equipped two Doosan CNC Horizontal Turning Centers with advanced RoboJob Turn-Assist robots, thus reducing workpiece load/unload times by 50 percent and allowing skilled machine operators to perform many other tasks.

The RoboJob automation is extremely compact and easy to integrate, and it delivers the highest level of reliability and repeatability for the automatic load/unload of gear blanks ranging in diameters from 1” to 5 ½”, making it ideal for the diverse needs of Southern Gear’s gear blank turning operations. These machines, together with 12 CNC lathes and two larger vertical turning centers, equip Southern Gear’s CNC turning department able to handle gear blanks as large as 40 in. dia.

“The new RoboJob automation not only adds much-needed capacity but also frees up our skilled machine operators for other tasks,” explains Southern Gear President Karen Malin. “These robots are exceptionally reliable, which is critically important to our fast-growing aerospace and defense business, where there’s no room for error.”

The addition of the new automation is part of a multi-million dollar, company-wide investment in new technologies, methodologies, and processes that, over the last several years, has, according to Ms. Malin, added much-needed capacity to Southern Gear’s vertically integrated shop floor.

southerngear.com