Case Study: Thunder Creek Equipment boosts output and reduces labor strain with FANUC America and The Way Automation

Thunder Creek Equipment boosts output and removes 150-lb lifting strain with FANUC America Corporation

Thunder Creek Equipment, a manufacturer of fuel and service trailers, faced significant challenges with its manual brake press tending process. The labor-intensive work required operators to repeatedly lift heavy steel plates, which led to safety hazards, ergonomic concerns, and difficulty staffing the role. This manual handling also resulted in inconsistent throughput. To address these issues, the company partnered with vendor FANUC America Corporation and its authorized system integrator, The Way Automation, to implement an automated solution using a FANUC R-2000 robot.

The solution from FANUC America automated the entire loading and unloading process on a press brake. This implementation delivered measurable results, including increased throughput and consistent cycle times. The automated process removed the employee pain point, allowing operators to be redeployed to higher-value tasks. The robot's precision also improved part quality and created more accurate automated welding downstream. The success of the first cell led Thunder Creek to install a second FANUC-powered system.

Thunder Creek Equipment