subject: Robotics Changes In Modern Manufacturing Processes For Wooden Sash Windows [print this page] The modern manufacturing processes for wooden sash windows are a far cry from even just the recent past. During the last century, mass production required days of retooling if new specifications were introduced. Of course, even those time consuming factory procedures were an enormous improvement on the time it took to make window sashes by hand
There was a time when master craftsmen would teach one or perhaps a few apprentices. Each apprentice would then practice the skills required to properly construct a wooden sash. Each sash was handmade and required hours of work.
Today, a cutting edge, modern factory can change sash specifications in a matter of minutes. Just a few key strokes can reprogram dozens of robotic stations to perform the same tasks that would have required hours to set up in factories only few decades old. Now employees learn computer programs rather than how to sharpen a cutting tool.
Mass production is nothing new to sash manufacturing. As early as 1900 the idea of mass producing sash parts in a factory was well established. From there the mechanization of mass production increased rapidly until robots handle the majority of actions in some plants.
Because historical restoration often requires authentically produced, window sashes, the need for the skilled master craftsman will likely continue. Any house on the National Registry of Historic Homes would need the services of many such craftsmen. Of course the cost is enormously greater as well.
Window sash styles come in a huge number of profiles. It used to require hours of physical labor to change the cutting knives of factory equipment when one job was complete and another was to begin. The more modern factories can now instruct movable jigs to slide into the proper profile design in record time. The days of closing down while retooling are nearly gone.
This kind of flexibility allows for quick turn -around times and as -needed shipping. That helps to keep the cost of manufacturing at a minimum. Efficiency increases have cut the amount of waste products that require handling as well. Robotic arms move faster than the eye can follow. Facility structures have grown from small craft buildings and guild halls to vast automated factories
Such flexibility and efficiency have transformed the cost of manufacturing and the availability of products around the world. From single blade cutting tools, handled by master craftsmen, the modern manufacturing processes for wooden sash windows have truly advanced. The future can only add to that upward trend. Robotics and automated warehousing will only increase the level of efficiency and product availability.
