Balancing speed, capacity, and quality is a constant battle for job shops around North America. Precise Manufacturing & Engineering, a full-service job shop in Vancouver, WA, turned to Red-D-Arc and the BotX™ cobot welding system to streamline operations and maximize high-volume production without sacrificing craftsmanship.
The Customer
Precise Manufacturing & Engineering specializes in welding, fabrication, machining, and precision grinding. They manufacture high-quality components for secondary manufacturers who use them to build larger end-products.
The Business Challenge
The shop excelled at custom, one-off projects but turned away mid-sized production runs (50–100 pieces) because they couldn’t produce batches over 20–30 parts consistently or on schedule. Manual welding also created significant spatter and size variations, requiring excessive post-weld grinding and prepping. Additionally, repetitive welding was physically draining for skilled workers, and they found traditional industrial robots were too complex and slow to program for mid-sized batches.
The Solution
In search of a much-needed change, Precise Manufacturing & Engineering turned to the BotX cobot welding system from Red-D-Arc (in coordination with its parent company, Airgas).
- Fast Setup: The system was unboxed and actively welding in less than half a day.
- Easy Learning Curve: Red-D-Arc and Airgas specialists provided hands-on training for shop employees who had zero prior programming experience. Within four days, their team was operating independently, and within three months, they were running multiple welding stations simultaneously.
- Reliable Support: When an unfamiliar error code occurred, Red-D-Arc provided immediate phone support to get the machine back up and running in five minutes.
The Result
BotX transformed Precise Manufacturing’s capacity and overall workplace culture:
- New Growth: The shop scaled its operational capacity to run the robot 16 hours a day, allowing them to win 3 major new customer accounts.
- 80% Less Prep Work: Consistent welds and minimal spatter reduced grinding and cleanup time by nearly 80%.
- Strengthened Team Morale: Zero jobs were lost. Skilled welders were freed from monotonous labor to focus on complex, high-value custom work.
- Increased Bottom Line: Larger quantity orders became easier to manage and complete on-time, which led to a significant boost in profitability.
Future Plans
Demand for automated welding has grown so rapidly that jobs are now tacked up and queued waiting for the machine to free up. Having already proven that robotic welding is the right path forward, Precise Manufacturing & Engineering is actively planning to bring in additional BotX systems to keep expanding their capacity.
Watch the Case Study Video
To see the BotX cobot welding system in action and hear directly from the team, watch the full video:
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