Robotic Overmolding System Transforms Pipe Hanger Production
The Situation
A leading U.S. supplier of plumbing products, this manufacturer operates multiple facilities across the Midwest and produces components for major retail brands. For more than two decades, their pipe hanger hook assembly process remained largely unchanged, relying on manual labor and outdated equipment.
Tavoron’s DevLinks team partnered with the customer to design and implement an automated robotic overmolding system that modernized production, eliminated bottlenecks, and delivered measurable labor, quality, and operational improvements.
- Location: Midwest U.S.
- Equipment: Custom Nail Feeder, Multiple Robots, Automated Box Indexing
- Customer: Plumbing Product Manufacturer
The Challenge
The manufacturer’s legacy process required separate molding and manual assembly operations that created unnecessary work-in-process, consumed floor space, and frequently compromised quality.
Plastic pipe hooks were molded in one area, bulk transported to a different station, and then fed into large mechanical bowls where operators manually installed nails. This aging process had become unreliable and labor-intensive.
Key challenges included:
- Frequent feeder jams requiring manual intervention
- Misaligned or missing nails, leading to high defect rates
- Manual counting and rework slowing throughput and raising labor costs
- Large WIP footprint that reduced available production space
After years of incremental fixes, the customer sought an automation solution that would increase productivity, eliminate recurring inefficiencies, and improve consistency.
The Solution
Working collaboratively with the customer’s engineering and operations teams, DevLinks designed a fully integrated robotic overmolding system that brought nail installation directly into the molding process— eliminating an entire manual assembly step.
Key system elements included:
- A custom-engineered nail feeder for precise, jamfree nail handling
- Robot-assisted staging to position nails accurately before molding and laser inspection verifies correct placement into the mold cavity
- A press-mounted robot to insert nails into the mold and remove finished parts in a continuous cycle
- Automated box indexing and packaging that sends finished parts directly to shipping with no manual touchpoints
By integrating the nail overmolding step into a streamlined robotic workflow, the system delivered a complete, ready-to-ship part directly from the press.
This project represents Tavoron’s ability to take on select custom integrations that align with our engineering depth and application expertise, building smart, reliable automation tailored to the customer’s needs.
Results
The integrated automation system delivered significant improvements across labor, quality, and floor utilization:
- Three automated systems now run with a single operator, replacing eight manual positions
- Zero work-in-process - finished parts go directly from mold to packaging
- Major floor space savings, enabling a more organized and efficient production layout
- Dramatically improved quality with consistent, properly aligned nail installation
The solution transformed a decades-old manual operation into an efficient, reliable, and fully automated cell that reduces costs while improving throughput and product consistency.
Manufacturing Manager
Leading Plumbing Product Supplier
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