Behind the Project: Weldon Solutions Partners with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and the U.S. Army

 

Weldon Solutions is a proud partner in the new 155mm artillery production facility project spearheaded by General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems and the U.S. Army in Camden, Arkansas.

Q: What made the General Dynamics Camden project a significant endeavor for Weldon Solutions?  

A: With the General Dynamics Camden project, the greatest challenge we faced was the timeline. This is one of the largest projects in our company’s history, and it had to be completed in less than a year.

Q: What were the key technical or operational challenges involved, and how did Weldon’s automation solution address them?  

A: There were many manual processes for marking, assembling and handling of the projectiles. There was an element of safely working with equipment operators as it was not practical to automate every task. For the manual tasks we could automate, we determined a way for each task to work together with adjacent tasks. Fortunately, several process machines only had to be tended, but there were several other items that required custom design.

Q: What specific technologies or capabilities did Weldon deliver to meet the production and safety requirements for this project? 

A: Conveyors and robots were the primary means of material handling throughout the work cells. Robots and other process equipment (e.g. threading, swaging, marking, printing) were integrated together to create an efficient workflow. From a safety perspective, standard safety components (e.g. Gate Interlocks, Light Curtains, Laser Area Scanners, Safety Controllers, Safety Fence) were configured to ANSI/RIA R15.06 standards following a comprehensive Robot Safety Risk Assessment. 

Q: How did your team ensure the solution could scale with General Dynamics’ production goals at the Camden facility?  

A: We were provided a required Cycle Time per part. Each work cell, robot and process machine were selected and customized to achieve throughput requirements based on that Cycle Time.

Q: Looking ahead, how does Weldon Solutions see automation shaping the future of U.S. defense manufacturing—and what role do you aim to play in that evolution? 

A: The U.S. will demand improved efficiency in cost, quality and throughput for all of the items that it consumes. Automation will play a key role in this continuous improvement effort. Weldon Solutions is proud to work with certain segments of the Defense Industry where our capabilities and experience with custom automation projects provide the most value.

Q: Are there any other key aspects of this project that you wish to highlight?

A: The Weldon Solutions team demonstrated its capabilities to adapt and add greater value when an equipment supplier declared bankruptcy well into the project. We worked with the supplier to obtain a few components and some technical documents. The primary responsibility fell on our engineering, procurement and assembly personnel to complete. Since these items would ultimately be delivered well after their anticipated delivery date, the engineering start-up team modified their approach so that progress could continue until all items had been received.

As this project demonstrates, automation is solving today’s manufacturing challenges and laying a strong foundation for a more efficient and secure future. At Weldon Solutions, we’re committed to advancing manufacturing through innovation and supporting critical industries like U.S. defense with precision and purpose.

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