How IoT Boosts Metal Fabrication: 4 Proven Efficiency Gains

The Internet of Things (IoT) has caused tremendous changes in how commercial sectors operate. Thanks to industrial IoT technologies, companies can overcome many challenges and enjoy the benefits of improved operations.

Regardless of whether you’re ready to do the same, getting examples of what’s possible in a particular industry can encourage taking the plunge with technology investments. Here’s a closer look at how the IoT can improve metal fabrication efficiency.

1. Showing Weld Quality Parameters and Other Valuable Specifics

IoT solutions excel at collecting real-time data during all stages of the metal fabrication process. The workflow becomes more efficient overall because people can examine which aspects have the expected or desired outcomes and where room for improvement exists.

IoT-based weld monitoring allows people to move away from looking at spreadsheets and manual documentation to assess quality metrics. Instead, data-driven weld monitoring with IoT sensors gathers point-of-weld data for processing and analysis with almost no delay between collection and availability. People can also send the associated information to mobile devices for easy viewing.

These setups can often do more than just provide weld quality details. They might confirm the number of welding stations in use, their parameters and which operators work on the shop floor during a given shift. That makes it easier to get a helpful perspective of the facility’s overall output.

Some welding companies even provide IoT solutions to customers eager to improve metal fabrication efficiency. ESAB worked with technology partners to create three cloud-based products that help welding shops identify the reasons behind decreased productivity.

One of them used for metal inert gas welding helped customers see an average 20% increase in equipment utilization. It increased the amount of time workers spent welding versus doing other tasks. Another IoT tool sends digitized instructions to each welding machine, ensuring technicians know the necessary parameters to complete a weld. That information also increased productivity.

2. Improving Material Selections for Laser Cutting

One of the first steps for a successful metal fabrication process is to be aware of the material’s characteristics. Aspects like yield and tensile strengths, corrosion resistance and ductility must be considered during the selection process. They collectively determine the metal’s suitability for fabrication and how the result will look and function.

Laser cutters are often seen as some of the most versatile fabrication tools because of the range of materials they can handle. Besides metal, these machines work with wood, plastic and paper. Researchers at MIT recently showed how the IoT could improve the confidence of laser cutter operators as they work with various materials. They created a sensor-filled platform, appropriately named SensiCut. It’s an add-on for conventional laser cutters.

The innovation combines connected sensors, deep learning and an optical analysis technique called speckle sensing that allows a laser to pick up on the minute details on a material’s surface. The team said their solution could reduce waste and give people specific instructions about working with a particular material. It also automatically makes minor adjustments to prevent unwanted outcomes.

Mustafa Doga Dogan, a Ph.D. candidate who worked on the project, explained, “By augmenting standard laser cutters with lensless image sensors, we can easily identify visually similar materials commonly found in workshops and reduce overall waste. We do this by leveraging a material’s micron-level surface structure, which is a unique characteristic even when visually similar to another type. Without that, you’d likely have to make an educated guess on the correct material name from a large database.”

The researchers used more than 38,000 images to help the tool differentiate among 30 different image types. The system can also flag people before they attempt to cut materials that generate toxic flames. The team plans to expand their solution to gauge material thickness during later phases of their work.

3. Reducing Machine Downtime

The industrial IoT can also prevent issues where machines suddenly fail and disrupt the workflow. One study indicated that equipment monitoring could increase global productivity by up to 25% by 2025.

Broken metal fabrication machines could cause companies to miss deadlines or limit the number of technicians working certain shifts. Then, depending on what problem makes the equipment inoperable, people may need to wait days or weeks for replacement parts to arrive or specialized technicians to schedule service calls.

IoT sensors can prevent these challenges by gathering operating details that indicate abnormalities or that a machine needs maintenance to prevent complications. One company has an IoT solution that sends real-time equipment data to its service technicians. If a customer encounters an issue and needs technical assistance, the equipment provider already has some critical information about the scope of the problem.

Metal fabricators can also use sensor data to track which machines experience downtime most frequently or whether there are patterns in the problems. That information could shape their decisions about when to replace equipment or perform certain maintenance measures more often to avoid equipment outages.

4. Preventing Production Environment Abnormalities

A single aspect outside the recommended parameters could negatively affect metal fabrication efficiency. It could cause people to halt production and fix the problem. However, the ideal scenario involves individuals noticing issues before stopping a factory’s operations.

One application of the industrial IoT for metal fabrication involved a company improving a process called austempering. It hardens iron-based alloys by passing them through a hot furnace. The parts that undergo this process emerge as more fatigue-resistant and have greater resistance to shocks. Thus, they’re good candidates for components such as thrust washers that go into vehicle transmissions.

After the parts go through the furnace, they get doused in a salt bath that stays at a precise temperature. Nickel-titanium belts transport the parts through each phase. Technicians must stop production if the conveyors get out of alignment to address the issue. However, doing that means waiting up to 36 hours for the furnaces to cool.

Smart sensors give factory managers real-time alerts of any cases when a belt’s position falls outside of parameters or shows other abnormalities. Getting that information allows them to take corrective action before shutting down the machinery becomes the only option.

The Industrial IoT Can Promote Fabrication Efficiency

Numerous things can cause a facility to experience a short or prolonged drop in metal fabrication efficiency. IoT sensors do not guarantee a quick fix. However, they can provide better visibility, allowing decision-makers to address things that hinder business output more promptly. The real-time data could also help them determine the most effective solutions, whether they involve employee training, equipment replacements, different maintenance schedules or something else.