Retooling for profit in the world robotic welding

Adam Truog works on an inverted rotation boom at Wolf Robotics LLC’s plant in Fort Collins. Wolf Robotics’ unseen hands are on many of America’s large-scale welding fabrication projects, and in the process it’s helping to rebuild the nation’s manufacturing industry, one weld at a time. Michael Myers

Dan Cook
That Harley-Davidson motorcycle that passed you on the freeway today? Wolf Robotics LLC helped build it.

The John Deere tractor at work on a nearby farm? Wolf again.

And what about the Caterpillar backhoe digging trenches for that downtown construction project? Yes, Wolf’s there, too.

Wolf Robotics’ unseen hands are on many of America’s large-scale welding fabrication projects, and in the process it’s helping to rebuild the nation’s manufacturing industry, one weld at a time.

“We’re focused on large fabrications, and we’ve got some strengths in that area,” said Doug Rhoda, chief executive of Wolf Robotics. “We feel our mission is noble. We’re automating things that have never been done before. You read about reshoring in American manufacturing, and we’ve got a small part of enabling that.”

Wolf builds fully integrated robotic welding systems for the construction, agricultural, mining and transportation and fabrication industries. Located in an 110,000-square-foot facility in Fort Collins, Wolf has installed more than 8,400 robotic systems throughout North America.

One of Wolf’s strengths is in retooling older robotics systems. In 2006, Caterpillar Aurora management realized the robotic welders it purchased in 1980 were outdated. Replacement parts were not available, but the positioners supporting the weight of the materials being welded were still usable.

Wolf stepped in with a robot, robot carrier, controller and motor/gearbox, integrating them with the existing positioners, saving Caterpillar Aurora hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Because Wolf provides expensive capital equipment to other companies, the recession took a big bite out of its profits. In order to stay in the black and avoid layoffs, everyone at the company took a reduction in pay while top management looked for ways to diversify.

“We were still profitable through the recession, but we all took some austerity measures you might say,” Rhoda said. “We took the medicine, and we’ve come out of it well. I’d say we’re thriving right now.” Wolf is thriving because the company sought defense contracts, providing equipment to fabricate parts for large land-based armored vehicles transporting soldiers in Afghanistan.

“These contracts really helped us bridge the recession,” Rhoda said.

Another profitable government partnership came the company’s way thanks in part to its partnership with the Colorado Association for Manufacturing and Technology, or CAMT.

A CAMT workshop helped Wolf develop new products focusing on innovation, and connected the company with NASA technologies. That partnership is expected to help Wolf turn federal research-and-development and technology into products that will improve American manufacturing productivity.

Also, CAMT’s ExporTech program helped Wolf find a number of international clients by providing overseas networking opportunities. Those opportunities were expected to boost international sales for the company from 1 percent in 2010 to 4 percent or 5 percent in 2012. This year Wolf is looking forward to overall revenue growth of around 20 percent.

Wolf has been manufacturing robotic automation cells since 1978, originally as an arm of ABB, a giant Swedish electrical company. In 2003, Wolf broke away from ABB and has grown from 20 employees to 115. With increased demand for its expertise, more hiring is expected. The company will be looking for the kind of person who once would have been holding a blowtorch to make the robots that now do hazardous welding work.

Wolf has been able to find those people so far. “I’m really proud of our team.” Rhoda said.

“The welding industry ... can be a dirty, undesirable environment,” Wolf Robotics spokesman Chuck Boyer said. “With a number of older, skilled welders retiring, fewer people are taking their place. Robots can produce 20 times what a human welder can. But we want people with the attention to detail and care who would have been on the lines to help us put together and program the equipment.”

Some of the equipment those programmers will work on include Wolf’s robotics that both weld and grind when finish work is required. Previously, a part that was welded and needed the weld bead to be finished smooth or the weld spatter removed required a human to do the clean-up work or relocation of the part for further processing. Now, the robot performs the weld, then changes heads and completes the finishing work.

Such innovations have helped Wolf gain a firm footing in the robotic welding industry, with a future as bright as a welding arc.

“There’s a real need for large-scale fabrications. When things go overseas and are shipped across the ocean, if there’s a design change and it’s halfway home … ‘well, too bad,’ manufacturers used to say,” Rhoda said. “Now we’re able to help meet that need and keep that work in America.”