#Chopper gun fiberglass series

When a carriage that is holding a mold arrives at the proper position at a production station, it triggers four pneumatic jacks, which rise up out of the floor to support the mold during that work step.

#Chopper gun fiberglass series

The conveyor consists of two parallel tracks laid in the concrete floor with a belt drive that moves a series of “carriages,” or carts, that support the pool molds. Says Chouet, “A forklift truck is only needed at the end of the process to remove a finished pool from a mold and transport it to the shipping area.” The fully automated carousel contains all of Ibazur’s pool molds in various stages of production the molds, each marked with a radio frequency tag that allows identification by the robotic controls, stay on the conveyor and simply circulate through the process steps, without ever having to be manually moved.

Matrasur tailors automated solutions to its customers’ requirements, and the company can supply floor, column or gantry-mounted work cells, as well as material and air-handling systems. Then, as benefits accrue, companies can add automation for trimming, grinding, adhesive application and/or material handling. He advocates a step-by-step approach for automation, starting with a single, affordable robot for sprayup, for instance. Benefits include not just productivity, but also greater part consistency and quality as well as reduced environmental impact and savings, in the long run, of material and energy costs. Chouet disagrees: “In fact, automation allows you to compete in the marketplace more effectively, since you can address environmental regulations and worker health and safety issues, and make open mold production ‘accessible’ so it can be done more logically.”Ĭhouet argues that small businesses can significantly benefit by adopting cost-effective robotic automation. The limited-series production, as well as large and often awkward mold sizes and shapes, seems to work against automation. The issue for most small composites molders, Chouet contends, is they typically offer their customers a large variety of parts, but they produce them in small quantities by hand in open molds. More importantly, the move to automation has proved affordable in light of the realities of the pool manufacturer’s business model and has contributed to significant improvement to the company’s bottom line. But production of its largest pools has doubled. For Poncin Yachts (La Seyne-sur-mer, France), Matrasur developed an automated RTM machine capable of injecting more than 1 metric tonne (2,205 lb) of resin in less than 40 minutes for large boat parts.įor Ibazur, however, Matrasur prescribed an “entry-level” automated system that did not require the pool manufacturer to radically depart from its legacy production practices - the company still forms its pools on the same type of open molds it previously hand layed. The RTM line produces components for Renault’s Espace multipurpose vehicle.

Past projects include an automated resin transfer molding (RTM) line for Paris-based Matra Automobiles, a supplier to automaker Renault SA (Boulogne-Billancourt, France). “Automation is the key to a sustainable market development approach,” says Claude Chouet, sales manager at Matrasur and a long-time champion of improved manufacturing. Matrasur has specialized in engineering automated solutions for decades. After determining that an automated approach was the answer, they approached Matrasur Composites (Marcoussis, France) for the solution. The father/son team opted to build a new facility, Ibazur, in a relatively remote part of France. When demand for its pools increased in France and northern Europe, however, son Mathieu Combes looked for ways to increase production, minimize environmental impacts, save energy and reduce labor cost.

Its parent company, Piscines Ibiza, was founded by Norbert Combes in Perpignan, France and continues to produce three hand-layed pools per day (an eight-hour shift). Their owners might agree that automation would enhance productivity and reduce costs, but most are reluctant, or believe they are unable, to purchase capital equipment.Īn exception is in-ground swimming pool manufacturer Ibazur (Pacage du Pessanin, France). Although awe-inspiring aerospace composite programs that depend on large automated equipment get a lot of press, most composites manufacturers are small- to medium-sized, with limited resources - job shops that use hand layup or sprayup.