W & G Sissons – automated polishing improves quality and increases output

Sissons, a leading producer of stainless steel catering and sanitaryware, has installed an automated polishing system significantly increasing productivity, improving quality and reducing health and safety risks.

Speed of polishing has been increased four-fold with a bowl taking 6 minutes instead of the 24 minutes required manually.

For mirror finished parts the improvement is even greater with a WC taking 30 minutes compared with the 3 hours previously.

The system is designed to operate ‘lights-out’ overnight polishing and stacking 100 bowls ready for the day shift.

The robot cycle is reproduced exactly for each product ensuring a consistent, high quality finish. Health and safety has been improved by the reduction of the arduous manual polishing activity. In addition, the dust and fume is constrained within the robot area improving the environment for the workforce.

Flexibility has been retained by the use of a robot which is programmed to handle the 50 different variants.