The main goal of this project is to reduce the argon gas used in laser welding and cut down cycle time by 10%. TOMZ Corporation sees the need to lower the cycle time of the welding of the spinal screw assemblies due to it being one of its main revenue drivers. The welding of the spinal screw assemblies is done in a laser welding cabinet. The cabinet is filled with argon gas to avoid metal discoloration when the screw assembly is chemically exposed to the oxygen in the air while welding. The fixture, where the screw assembly lays on as the laser beam welds it, needs some improvement as the current cycle time is 45 seconds per part or assembly. In addition, the current chamber uses 0.121 liters of argon gas, which needs to be reduced. No specific reduction volume was given. Therefore, it is of great importance to design a more effective and innovative fixture that reduces the argon gas and minimizes cycle time to allow more throughput and less labor time on a single screw assembly. This new fixture cannot introduce adverse effects to the weld as it must yield a good weld seam as well as a shiny silver color. In addition, the fixture must not interfere with the rotation of the part as the laser welding process itself cannot be modified. Apart from that, we were given freedom of design as long as the resulting welding is not negatively affected and we hit our targets of reduction. Using a budget of $10,000 that comes from the company’s capital expenditure (CapEx) fund, we are to design a new laser welding fixture by May 2023. We have taken into account the risks we may encounter and assessed each of them while also developing a schedule for the project to ensure we stay on track to achieve our goal in time.

Our team collaborated with Mechanical Engineering 57 on this project.