Intelligent lifting for high-velocity suspension assembly

The Challenge:

An automobile manufacturer in Turkey needed to build two different car models on a single assembly line. The suspension station created a bottleneck. Workers had to switch between 100 kg front units and 75 kg rear units rapidly.

The production schedule demanded 50 installations every hour. Their existing tool, an old pneumatic loader, failed to keep up. It struggled with speed and control, often leaving workers frustrated by the difficulty of adapting to changing weights. This slowed down the entire line.


The Solution:

The manufacturer partnered with Gorbel® to deploy the Free Standing Easy Arm® Intelligent Assist Device. This system uses servo-drives rather than air pressure. The engineering team installed two separate units to manage the workflow.

For the heavier 100 kg front suspensions, they selected a Q 330 model with a 10-foot reach and height. For the 75 kg rear units, they deployed a Q 165 model with the same dimensions.


The Execution:

Integration took place directly on the assembly floor. The Easy Arm® allows operators to use "float mode." A worker grabs the inline handle and guides the arm down to the container.

Because the system senses force input instead of relying on air pressure balance, the arm moves without hesitation. The operator lifts the 100 kg part with one hand, moves it laterally, and secures it to the chassis. The 10-foot reach allows for precise alignment into the wheel well without the bouncing common in pneumatic hoists.


The Result:

Operations improved immediately. The team finished this upgrade project in just 5 weeks. Workers accepted the new tools quickly because the weightless handling removed the physical strain of repetitive heavy lifting. Production hit the required 50 units per hour target, as the devices adapted instantly to the shifting load weights.




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Technical Questions

1. Why use the Easy Arm® Q 330 and Q 165 instead of a single higher-capacity unit? A single Q 330 could handle both loads. However, deploying dedicated units for the Front (100 kg) and Rear (75 kg) lines allowed for optimized tooling. The Q 165 offers a lighter physical structure for the rear suspensions, maximizing efficiency for that specific sub-task.

2. How does the Easy Arm® handle the weight difference compared to a pneumatic balancer? Pneumatic balancers often require manual adjustment or complex logic circuits to switch between load settings. The Gorbel Easy Arm® uses servo-drive technology to detect load weight in milliseconds. This allows the operator to switch between 100 kg and 75 kg parts instantly without changing settings.

3. What are the installation requirements for the Free Standing Easy Arm®? The Free Standing units used in this project required a standard 6-inch reinforced concrete floor. They are bolt-down units, which eliminates the need for overhead structural steel modifications.