McConnelsburg PA-based Fulton Precision Industries, Inc. makes transmission shafts for Caterpillar and rock drill bits for Atlas Copco. The 94 separate Caterpillar parts range in diameter from 2” to 5.5” and in length from 27” to 42”, with individual shafts weighing up to 235 pounds. Lot sizes are relatively small, and each shaft has complex geometry that must be machined to tolerances of +/- .0007 of an inch.
According to Fulton’s President, Walt Barmont: “When we considered adding two new L 470 Okuma CNC lathes to our shop, Gosiger Factory Automation proposed automating our process by adding a Fanuc 165F robot to load and unload parts. Gosiger Factory Automation worked with us to make sure the system would not only increase productivity, but would deliver the accuracy and repeatability we require.”

