home
arrow
CASE STUDIES

Plasma cutting and MIG welding cobots eliminate manual clean-up and double output

Ontario Heavy Industry (Mining, Oil/Gas, Construction) Medium-Sized Enterprise (~99-499 FTE) Indoor High Mix/Low Volume (HMLV) Semi-Automated
BY: Universal Robots
|
Feb 17, 2026
Plasma cutting and MIG welding robot

AT A GLANCE

CLIENT
WEIR logo

LOCATION:

Sudbury, Ontario

SECTOR:

Heavy Industry & Infrastructure

SUPPLIER:

Universal Robots

UR-logo

 

TECHNOLOGY / PRODUCT USED:

UR10e Collaborative Robot (Cobot)

TARGETED APPLICATION

Automated Plasma Cutting and MIG Welding of Heavy Earth-moving Equipment

LEARN MORE

Read The Full Case Study Here

2X throughput and enhancing worker safety by automating precision welding on 15-ton industrial assets

76%

Reduction in processing time

80%

Post-cut grinding & 

cleanup eliminated

↗↗↗

Ergonomics by automating
high-strain, long-reach welds

"UR is definitely a platform we’re going to continue to work with. The ease of use and the approachability of the platform is very appealing for the company"

Pierre Levesque, Manager of Innovation and Technologies
See how WEIR empowered employees to drive output and cost savings.

The Challenge

 

WEIR manufactures heavy earth-moving equipment, including 15-ton truck bodies, for the demanding mining industry. The primary bottleneck was manual plasma cutting; 80% of the process time was spent on "cleanup"—grinding away dross and jagged edges left by unsteady manual hands. Additionally, welding long ribs on these massive structures created severe ergonomic strain, forcing workers into awkward, high-fatigue positions that limited production capacity.

The Solution

 

WEIR integrated the Universal Robots UR10e cobot to automate both plasma cutting and MIG welding. Since the 15-ton parts are too massive to move to a fixed station, the team developed a custom mobile forklift skid to bring the robot to the work. For welding, they mounted the cobot on a 7th-axis lift to reach the top of the truck bodies. A custom user interface (URCap) was developed to allow operators to easily program paths that automatically adjust for minor imperfections in the heavy steel plates.

KEY FEATURES

Mobile Forklift Skid:

 

Enables the robot to be transported and deployed anywhere on the factory floor.

7th-Axis Vertical Lift:

 

Extends the UR10e’s reach to accommodate the scale of massive mining assets.

Custom URCap Interface:

 

Simplifies programming for operators, allowing the robot to navigate geometry imperfections in real-time.

Collaborative Safety:

 

Can be used alongside custom-built recovery tools like booms and anchors.

RESULTS

 

The automation of the trimming process was a game-changer; what previously took 50 hours of manual labor now takes only 12 hours, saving approximately $90,000 and 1,000 labor hours on a single project. In the welding department, WEIR doubled their output by implementing a "leap-frog" workflow where the cobot and a human welder work on adjacent sections simultaneously. This shift has not only increased throughput but also improved employee retention by removing the most physically taxing aspects of the job.

0

in savings on a single large-scale truck body project

0

Of labor reclaimed by automating the trimming process

0
In processing time (50 hours down to 12 hours) per unit
0
MIG welding output through a human-robot "leap-frog" workflow
Improved employee retention by removing manual grinding and awkward welding positions
Enhanced output quality by eliminating 80% of dross and jagged edges
Increased operational flexibility with a mobile "robot-on-a-skid" deployment
ur10e robot arm
The UR10e delivers an impressive payload of 12.5 kg and 1300 mm reach, making it ideal for a wide range of applications.

Showcase how you achieved real results

Submit My Success Story
Get The Case Study Toolkit