Fountain of Growth: Automation

It began as a quest to transform the costly process of manufacturing couplings. In the traditional process, 30% of every coupling is scrap. Making matters worse, it’s labor-intensive, at a time when labor costs are skyrocketing. LB Pipe & Coupling, located in Magnolia, Texas, produces API 5CT couplings for OCTG waterwell couplings, limited service couplings, micropile and API (American Petroleum Institute)-certified pup joints 2' to 20' and 4-1/2" to 14". The company was founded in 2010 for the specific purpose of solving the coupling challenge – by finding a way to build quality couplings while significantly reducing costs.

Rising to the Challenge

The LB Pipe team knew the answer to increasing productivity and reducing labor costs was to create an automated system for manufacturing API couplings. Okuma, Partners in THINC member FANUC and distributor Hartwig worked with the LB Pipe team to automate their CNC machining process for the couplings. The front end of the process was streamlined by adapting a rotating head cutoff machine so that coupling stock could be cut into exact lengths, each having a good face on a square part with a ready OD clamper. This is necessary for repeatability of the coupling cell and its robotics, and also eliminates some of the manual labor associated with the traditional band saw approach. What used to be their regular saw time is now the same as their complete run time.

Growth Rate of More Than 100% Annually

With the parts prepped for the coupling cell, integrated support equipment orchestrates the workflow. The blanks go to a FANUC robot, which loads two Okuma 2SP-V60 twin spindle four-axis vertical turning lathes, unloads them and then places them on an outbound conveyor. With this new process in place, the results were measured. The general rule of thumb in the industry is three people per spindle. With the automation cell in place, it now requires only 1.5 people per spindle. Today they’ve added six more Okuma CNC machines. In this one work cell, with a total of 18 spindles, each now requiring only 1.5 workers per spindle, 27 people can do what would have required 54 people using the old technology. Their reject rate of less than 0.5% adds to the productivity equation. LB Pipe’s consistent growth rate of more than 100% annually is the result of competitive advantage gained through the low overhead enabled by automation.

Check out the full story and video in our case study “CNC Machining Vision Becomes Reality – and Transforms an Industry.”