Second robot installed for plasma coatings

Poeton Industries has invested in a second thermal spray robot, effectively doubling its capacity to provide specialist plasma coatings and to tap the growth potential in the market

Poeton Industries has invested in a second thermal spray robot, effectively doubling its capacity to provide specialist plasma coatings for components in the aerospace, automotive and general engineering sectors.

The new 3 Series ABB IRB 2000 six-axis robot will be operated by members of the existing thermal spray team headed by newly appointed business manager Mike Chedzey, who explains that the four computers controlling the functions of the robot enable it to combine the flexibility of the human arm with the consistency and repeatability of a machine.

Announcing the £100,000 investment, managing director Anthony Poeton says the second robot will enable the company to tap the growth potential in plasma coating, and adds: "The installation of the first robot six years ago was a breakthrough that allowed us to expand beyond our traditional manual and semi-automatic plating capacity into fully automated thermal spray technology.

That experience has since been used to automate many of the company's other surface treatment operations." Poeton's involvement in the first UK testing of the Indocot project (Industrial Optical Diagnostic for On-Line Control in Thermal Spraying) - which involved seven European partners and was funded under the European Union's 'Brite' support scheme - is an endorsement of the company's leading position in this field.

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