Samsung Heavy Industries has successfully automated the production of ‘pipe spools,’ which were considered the last manual process in the shipbuilding industry, using robots. Pipe spools are unit components pre-assembled in sections to connect pipes inside a ship.

Samsung Heavy Industries announced on the 16th that it held a completion ceremony for ‘PIPE ROBOFAB’ at the Chilseo Industrial Complex in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, and began full-scale operations. Pipe spools are created by welding elbows (bent pipes), tees (T-shaped pipes), flanges (circular connecting plates), and other components. Thousands of these are used in a single ship, and since their length, angle, and diameter vary according to design specifications, there are almost no identical spools.

Due to the difficulty of automation, skilled welders have manually assembled these pipe spools one by one while referring to blueprints for decades. Samsung Heavy Industries introduced a smart management system integrated with vision AI technology, automating the entire process from design to logistics, processing, measurement, and welding. This marks the first time the pipe spool manufacturing process has been automated in the shipbuilding industry.

The PIPE ROBOFAB, spanning 6,500 square meters, can produce approximately 100,000 pipe spools annually. The completion ceremony was attended by approximately 70 guests, including Choi Sung-an, CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries, representatives from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources, and shipping companies such as ENI and MISC.

CEO Choi stated, “We have innovated the pipe spool process by integrating skilled welding techniques with AI and robotics,” adding, “This will serve as an opportunity to elevate the manufacturing competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry to the next level.”
Source: The Chosun Daily