The 2018 Guide To Selecting the Right Automatic Screw Feeding System

While sometimes overlooked, assembly design is a vital element of any product’s design. No matter how well a new product may be envisioned, without a capable and efficient assembly system to build it en masse, it won’t have a significant impact in the market. As such, a manufacturing company’s production potential and profit margin depend on the volume limits and efficiency of their assembly process, among other factors.

The importance of assembly registers across a broad range of products and industries, including aerospace and automotive products and articles, medical devices, and consumer electronics. Whether designing production processes for a single product or for a range, it’s necessary to pay close attention to the details. You must consider not only your operators, the assembly devices, and the product supply system but also the system that delivers screws or other fasteners to hold your product together. To help you find the best screw supply system for your product or factory, we’ve put together a guide to the different options available on the market today.

Different types of screw supply systems are best for different businesses. Small operations with limited production needs or low product volumes may be able to accomplish their work with only basic, non-mechanical screw supply systems. Most larger operations, with higher throughputs and the need for streamlined processes, are able to efficiently supply themselves with benchtop screw presenters. Lastly, production processes with extremely high throughput volumes and a need for constant production are able to realize their production goals with fully automated screw supply systems. Here’s a rundown of the various screw supply formats:

The smallest factories and assembly procedures, which are more exposed to the limits of product demand and capital than production capability, may be able to effectively manufacture using only open bins or shaker trays.

These basic screw supply systems are manually loaded and operated, thus requiring the user to look down at the tray to select the screw they need. This kind of system is entirely capable of supplying screws, but it does so at low volumes and low speeds. Also, neither open bins nor shaker trays have a mechanism to prevent operators from loading or fastening the wrong size screw. At the same time, they also lack a mechanism for recording the screws which have passed through the system. These quality control and documentation risks preclude the use of open bins or shaker trays in risk-sensitive assembly operations. All told, the primary advantages of relying on these basic systems are cost and simplicity.

Screw presenters, which automatically arrange and present screws to their operator, represent a significant improvement over non-mechanical screw supply systems. Moving from an open bin or shaker tray set-up to a screw presenter system can generate operator efficiency gains of 50%. Eliminating the need to look down and select a screw by automatically presenting one to the same fixed point dramatically reduces the time it takes to fasten each joint. Should your production process require robotic assembly, it will be necessary to move to a screw presented at a fixed point instead of an open selection system.

The speed and versatility of modern screw presenters allow for their efficient usage at most levels of manufacturing volume and complexity. Capable of presenting two screws per second, screw presenters are fast enough to keep up with both human operators and robotic assembly apparatus. One screw presenter can supply multiple operators during low-speed assembly, while dedicated screw presenters can each supply single assembly devices in high-speed applications. Further, screw presenters can be configured to present many different types of screws, enabling factories to repurpose them as new projects and different products arise.

Like basic screw supply systems, screw presenters are available in multiple varieties. Here’s a look at some of the different types of screw presenters available:

Screw presenters are supplied from hoppers on the back of the machine. To refill a screw presenter, it’s necessary to have an employee deliver new batches of screws or to install an automatic feeding system. Screw presenters also have various mechanisms for sorting and arranging screws for presentation as they come down the hopper. Some sort all the screws that can fit in the hopper. Others are more customizable, sorting screws based on adjustable rails within the machine.

Most factory applications can be accomplished using different configurations of screw presenters. However, at the highest ranges of volume and specialization in assembly design, precise and expensive automatic screw feeder systems begin to make economic sense over more basic designs.

Designed to fit the individual needs of the assembly process they are built for, the configuration of any automatic screw feeding system will be affected by the overall size, shape, and layout of your assembly area. Automatic screw feeding systems can supply tools or screw presenters from a central point or multiple nodes within your assembly area. This direct supply method improves the efficiency of screw presenters, and centralizing the supply simplifies the refill process. Streamlining the refill process can have a significant impact on efficiency, particularly in very high volume applications where numerous screw hoppers need to be filled.

In addition, automatic screw feeder systems provide the most advanced documentation abilities of any of the screw supply system types. Because automatic screw supply systems are computer-controlled as part of the larger assembly system, they are easily able to upload and store information on screw input, screw output, and system incidents or failures. In high-risk assembly operations, such as constructing satellites or internal medical devices, this level of oversight may be needed to comply with regulations or prevent critical product failures.

The right screw supply system is the one that’s right for your operation. Ultimately, your company’s product type and throughput will determine the ideal system for you. Just as open bins won’t work for fully automated automotive assembly, a centralized automatic screw feeding system may not be right for a small contract manufacturing outfit. Selecting and investing in the right screw system can provide a sound foundation for your assembly operation and return its value in efficiency gains and increased output. To learn more about which screw feeder models can best supply your operation, fill out our screw selection chart and submit it with a request for more information.