Fastening
An automated screwdriving system feeds, drives, and documents a screw in one cycle, and the right level of automation is set by how many screws you run and how tightly each one has to be proven: a handheld feed driver at low volume, a fixtured station in the tens of thousands, a robot-mounted spindle above that.
WHERE IT GOES WRONG
The cost shows up later
Screwdriving gets treated as the last, cheapest step, so it is under-specified: an operator with a hand tool at a volume that needed a fixtured station, no torque/angle record on a fastener that mattered, a feeder that jams on the head style nobody checked.
Then a field failure traces back to a joint no one can prove was driven right. The volume sets the automation level and the documentation requirement sets the controller, and both are cheaper to decide before the first screw than after the recall.
HOW TO CHOOSE
Match the technology to the job
The system falls out of the volume and the proof each joint needs:
- Low volume, varied product → a handheld feed screwdriver: the screw is blow-fed to the bit so the operator never touches it. Weber's HSP (pneumatic) and HSE (electric, touchscreen) cover the 1 to 30 Nm range, and Weber calls a handheld economical from about 20,000 screwdriving operations a year. (Weber HSP/HSE.)
- Steady volume in the tens of thousands → a fixtured screwdriving station: the part locates, the spindle drives to spec, the cycle is logged. Weber's fixtured spindles run in series from 1 to 120 Nm, and the swivel-arm feed-while-you-drive holds the next screw ready so no cycle time is lost. Weber puts the fixtured crossover above 50,000 screwdriving operations a year. (Weber SER/SEB.)
- Hard-to-reach or top-heavy screws → vacuum pickup, where the screw is held on the bit by suction instead of a jaw set. (Weber SEV.)
- High volume or a cobot cell → a robot-mounted or multi-spindle system. Weber's SER-L and SEV-P are built for lightweight-robot and HRC reach. (Weber SER-L/SEV-P.)
- The joint has to be documented → a driving system with torque, angle, and depth monitoring per fastener. Weber's C30S controller stores the program and logs every joint, with redundant measurement to VDI/VDE 2862 sheet 2 category A where the joint is safety-critical. (Weber C30S.)
- The screw is odd, small, or awkward → step feeding: terminal screws and difficult head styles that a bowl won't feed reliably get a step feeder (the ZEL family) matched to the fastener, with threads to M16. (Weber ZEL.)
The fork is volume: handheld, fixtured, or robot-mounted, and the documentation requirement decides the controller on top of that. We carry one screwdriving line deep enough to cover all of it, so the job here is not over-automating: if your volume says handheld, we quote handheld instead of a station you won't fill.
WHY M6
One source, sized to the application
Screwdriving is easy to over-buy and easy to under-document. We size the system to your real volume, add traceability only where a joint needs it, and stock the consumables so a worn bit or a feed jam stays a quick phone call instead of a line-down, across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming.
You leave with the screwdriving level matched to your real volume and traceability added only where a joint needs it, sized before the first screw instead of after a recall.
WHAT WE CARRY
The lines we rep for this application
- Weber: handheld feed drivers (HSP/HSE), fixtured SER/SEB stations with swivel-arm feed-while-you-drive, vacuum SEV heads for tough access, robot-mounted and HRC systems (SER-L/SEV-P), ZEB bowl and ZEL step feeders (to M16, 160 mm), the C30S controller for torque, angle, and depth documentation, plus the consumables and spares that keep them running.
- Orbitform: for joints held by a rivet, pin, or formed boss instead of a screw. Orbital forming rolls the material over under continuous pressure at up to 80% less force than a straight press, so fragile housings and soft metals keep their shape, and hot upset forming handles fasteners too hard to form cold. Their Solutions Lab proves the joint on your actual parts before you buy the machine, and every cycle can be force-verified for audit.
- GCI Engineered Solutions: the operator side of a hand-fastening station. Torque reaction arms from 40 to 7,500 Nm absorb the tool blowback so it never reaches the operator wrists and shoulders, and AdaptiCS position tracking error-proofs the fastening sequence so the right fastener gets the right torque in the right order.
Automotive, electronics, appliance, medical device assembly
THE EQUIPMENT
What this looks like on the floor
THE COST OF WAITING
An automation project gets approved with two numbers
One is the equipment quote. The other is what doing this by hand costs you every month, and only you can add it up:
Labor on the task. Hours per shift, at your fully loaded rate.
The rate ceiling. What the manual step caps your throughput at.
Scrap and rework. What manual variation costs you per thousand parts.
Changeover. Time lost every time the part changes.
The hiring problem. Turnover, training, and the weeks the job sits open.
Exposure. Repetitive lift, pinch points, and what one recordable costs you.
We will get you the equipment number and a budget range early, so your request goes up with both.
COMMON QUESTIONS
Common questions
What areas do you support screwdriving systems in?
M6 Revolutions is the WEBER Screwdriving rep for Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming: heads, feeds, controllers, and the consumables that keep them driving.
Handheld, fixtured, or robot-mounted screwdriver for my volume?
WEBER's own thresholds are the guide: handheld feed drivers pay off from about 20,000 screws a year, fixtured stations beyond roughly 50,000, and robot-mounted spindles where the volume or the cell demands it. Over-automating a low-volume station wastes money; we size to the real number.
How do I document torque and angle on every screw for an audit?
The C30S controller logs torque, angle, and depth per fastener against the stored program, with transducer redundancy to VDI/VDE 2862 for safety-critical joints. The record exists the moment the screw is driven.
Can you feed my screw if it's small, terminal, or an odd head style?
Usually yes: step feeders singulate the short and tumble-prone fasteners that jam ordinary bowls, up to M16 and 160 mm long, and set screws and nuts feed the same way. Send the fastener; the feed test answers it.
Do you stock screwdriving spares and consumables?
Yes. Bits, feed parts, and wear items are stocked so a worn component is a quick call instead of a line-down.