The Safest, Most Operationally Efficient Method for Trimming and Sampling Coils in Wire Rod Mills
Maximum safety and efficiency through automated coil trimming— precise, repeatable, and complete elimination of manual intervention.
In wire rod mills, the final material properties of coiled wire rod are critical to the final product quality. The coil’s head and tail ends are typically removed from the main body and scrapped due to varying mechanical and metallurgical properties. Both ends must be removed before coils are compacted and bound, with mills relying on traditional methods to do so. These methods negatively impact operational efficiency, operator safety, and ultimately, the financial bottom line.
As pressures increase to enhance operator safety, improve yield, and modernize for future automation, the introduction of TrimRob, a robotic coil trimming and sampling solution, marks a significant leap forward for wire rod mills. TrimRob simultaneously addresses several of the greatest challenges that have been traditionally associated with wire rod mills.
High-Speed Shears
While high-speed shears offer accuracy and repeatability when installed before the mill’s laying head, they can be disruptive to overall operations. For existing mills, the integration of a high-speed shear into an existing line can be highly intrusive, requiring major modifications. High-speed shears are technically complex systems that demand significant predictive and preventive maintenance. Additionally, certain steel grades require manual intervention downstream due to their metallurgical behavior during cooling.
Manual Trimming
Manual trimming is the most common method, but it is inherently unsafe and very labor-intensive (in some cases up to a 4-person crew). Performed in loud, hot, dusty environments with significant operator exposure to moving coils, the risk of injury is substantial. Moreover, manual trimming is repetitive, ergonomically hazardous, and often comes with significant variation in ring counting and removal accuracy. Additionally, as workforce shortages grow and safety requirements become more stringent, manual trimming is becoming increasingly unsustainable.
Autonomous Trimming and Sampling
TrimRob delivers greater consistency and reduces risk in wire rod trimming and sampling. As the industry’s first foundry-rated robotic system designed for autonomous coil trimming and sampling, it offers a safer, smarter, and more efficient alternative to traditional methods. Installed within the coil handling area of a wire rod mill, the system simulates the manual trimming process with far greater precision, reliability, and safety.
For mills with slower production speeds, a single robot can manage both the head and tail of each coil. Integrated into the mill’s coil handling and quality control systems, TrimRob removes the precise number of rings and can take additional quality-assurance samples, delivering the samples to a separate sample handling system.
