| The problem | CNC Group ran over 30 laser etching machines by hand, one operator loading one glass at a time against a job queue they checked themselves. |
| What we did | Cambridge Dynamics replaced the manual loading step with a single robotic cell serving 15 laser units, reading every job straight from CNC Group’s own scheduling system rather than a separate one. |
| The outcome | The cell now loads, marks and sorts glassware around the clock, without an operator lifting a single item. |
Want the same for your line? Get in touch on 01480 459555 or enquiries@cambridgedynamics.co.uk.
CNC Group marks drinking glasses to order, and every job has to match exactly what the customer specified. Whether this is a single glass, or a full batch, every output has to be perfect. Their production line ran on more than 30 separate laser etching machines, each fed by hand. An operator checked the job queue on CNC Group’s own scheduling software, picked out the right glass, loaded it into the marker and triggered the etch. It worked, but it put a ceiling on how fast the line could run and how many machines one operator could keep busy at once.
The challenge
CNC Group wanted to keep the parts of the system that already worked. Their scheduling software, the database holding every job, and the laser control system their operators already knew. What they needed was a way to take manual loading out of the process without touching any of that, and to keep every laser as close to fully busy as possible, day and night.
The solution
Cambridge Dynamics designed and built a robotic loading cell serving 15 compact laser marking units, arranged around a central robot arm. Glasses arrive on a single infeed conveyor holding 15 to 20 items at a time. The robot reads the next job directly from CNC Group’s own database, picks the matching glass and places it on the vacuum table of a free laser unit. Each unit carries five axes of movement, so a single machine can present a glass in whatever plane a design calls for and each vacuum table holds several of CNC Group’s regular glass variants without needing to be reset between jobs.
Once a glass is marked, the robot retrieves it and sends it down one of three outfeed conveyors, split by order type: single item, batch, or incomplete. Sorting happens as part of the cycle, not as a separate step further down the line.
Timing had to work in both directions. A mark takes around two minutes on average and loading or unloading a glass takes roughly eight seconds, so the robot has time to serve several laser units within a single marking cycle. The cell was designed to keep laser utilisation above 80% on that basis, running 24 hours a day at full duty, outside of scheduled maintenance.
Because glass breakage is always a risk on a line like this, the conveyors, robot and laser units were laid out with enough clearance for straightforward housekeeping, rather than tucked into corners that are hard to sweep out. Guarding and controls keep the cell safe to work around and day to day operation does not need a specialist. Where CNC Group’s original laser units had parts worth keeping, Cambridge Dynamics reused them, rather than specifying everything from new.
The cell was also built with room to grow. A second infeed conveyor and a third, can be stacked onto the existing design later, so CNC Group can add volume without a rebuild.
At a glance
| Laser marking units | 15, each with five axes of movement |
| Infeed capacity | 15 to 20 glasses queued at once |
| Outfeed conveyors | 3, split by order type: single, batch, incomplete |
| Average marking time | Around 2 minutes per glass |
| Handling time | Around 8 seconds per glass, loaded or unloaded |
| Target laser utilisation | Above 80% |
| Operating cycle | 24 hours a day, 100% duty cycle, outside scheduled maintenance |
The result
A single cell now does the work that once needed more than 30 individual machines and manual loading at every single one of them. Glasses move from infeed to laser to sort outfeed without an operator lifting a single item, freeing CNC Group’s own systems from the start, so it runs on the same job data and the same laser control platform they already relied on, with no separate system for anyone to learn.
Get in touch
If your production line still depends on manual loading, get in touch on 01480 459555 or enquiries@cambridgedynamics.co.uk to talk through what a cell like this could look like for you.