Best Transformer: 8-Axis Gantry Welding Cell for Transformer Side Walls
An 8-axis gantry cell welding transformer tank walls up to 15 metres long. Programs are prepared with AutoCAM Moses in 15–20 minutes per part, without stopping the line.
2025
- 8-axis gantry robotic welding cell
- FANUC robot integration with synchronized gantry axes
- AutoCAM Moses offline programming with CAD integration
- Program transfer from the operator panel
The customer's starting point
Welding parameters had to stay stable from one end of a long seam to the other, so that the result would not depend on the operator.
The system Robentex built
Robentex installed an 8-axis gantry welding cell at the Best Transformer plant. The gantry bridge carries the robot over the part; the FANUC robot and the gantry axes move together to give uninterrupted access along long wall seams. The part stays still; the system moves.
The other half of the cell is software. AutoCAM Moses offline programming provides an AutoCAD-based interface, so the engineer builds the welding program at a desk rather than beside the line. Tank parts that have CAD data are programmed in the background while the robot keeps producing. Preparing a new program no longer stops the line.
The result is that hours of teaching drop to 15–20 minutes per part. Once ready, the program is transferred to the robot from the operator panel and welding starts; because the parameters live in the program, weld quality no longer varies from operator to operator.
Values measured after commissioning
- Programming per Part
- 15–20 minutes
- Line During Programming
- Keeps running
- Part Envelope
- 15 m × 4 m × 1 m
The program is built at a desk, not beside the line.
The CAD model of the tank wall is imported into AutoCAM Moses, where weld paths, torch angles and reach are resolved virtually. The robot keeps producing meanwhile; programming time is no longer downtime.
- Weld paths derived from the CAD model
- Reach and collision checked on screen
- Programming in the background while the robot produces
No new software to learn.
AutoCAM Moses is AutoCAD-based, so the engineer works in an environment they already know. After commissioning there is no residual dependence on an external robot programmer; program preparation stays inside the production team.
- Familiar, AutoCAD-based interface
- Program preparation kept in-house
- 15–20 minutes of programming per part
The same seam, shift after shift.
Current, travel speed and torch angle live in the program, so long wall seams run end to end on the same parameters. The result does not change when the operator does, and rework and grinding drop.
- Stable parameters along long seams
- Repeatability independent of the operator
- Less repair and grinding
“Programming a transformer wall takes me 15-20 minutes at most.”
“Thanks to this system we can weld the 15m x 4m x 1m front wall without any manual programming; using AutoCAM Moses offline programming, raising productivity and keeping human error to a minimum. Because AutoCAM Moses is AutoCAD-based, the interface is one we are used to, and it has sped the process up enormously.”
İlhan Arabacıoğlu Mechanical Production & Welding Engineer · Best Transformer
System families used in this project
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