With a record year on the books, NPK has been investing back into the company through facility updates. Low unemployment rates and a boom in the construction industry have made it difficult to hire skilled personnel to help keep up with the increased product demand, especially in the manufacturing division. In response, NPK has purchased two new welding robots, two new lathes, and a new blast booth. The first of the two robots is already onsite while the second robot and the lathes will be arriving in early December. The blast booth is scheduled to arrive in the beginning of March.
Prior to this year, NPK had already integrated two welding robots. The first robot has been in action since 2007. It was incorporated to help with welding GH6 – GH18 hammer brackets and C8C – C12C plate compactor components. The second, smaller robot was added in 2015 to work on smaller items such as PH series hammer brackets and components of C2D – C6C plate compactors.
The first of the two new robots was added to help with back plate welds for the GH series hammer brackets which were unable to be completed by the previous robotic welders. The unit that will be arriving in December is another larger robot that will be installed in the same pit as the original large robotic welder. This unit will assist the former large robot with GH series hammer brackets and large compactor component, but it will also be able to work on bases for pedestal boom systems. Additionally, this upgraded model will also save time in fit up and post welding which weren’t possible with the initial welder.
Finally, the two new lathes will be replacing two much older, out of date units. The new blast booth will replace the former as the primary blast station, but the current booth will be kept around for excess blasting needs. Additional plans are in the works as well, but the details haven’t been finalized. Stay tuned for further updates!
