Editor's Note: This article has been excerpted from an earlier issue of Wood & Wood Products. To read the article in its entirety, click here.

Retrieve. Scan. Place. Repeat. Demonstrating precise accuracy and flexibility, the robotic cell at Wichita, KS-based Custom Cupboards builds face frames for the company’s line of traditional cabinetry. This cell is the first of its kind in the United States.

The robotic cell is being used with bar code scanning, although it can use RFID technology. Custom Cupboards worked with Stiles Machinery on integrating the cell and RFID technology.

Face frames are staged in a queue, then retrieved singly by the first robot. After scanning, the robot readies the part for glue application. Meanwhile, the second robot readies to place the stile into correct position. When the final stile is positioned, the first robot picks up a sponge and cleans the glue nozzle in preparation for the next frame. At full capacity, the robots should be able to build as many as 400 face frames a day.
 

Photo: Smith & Hopper Photography