Mon, 16 February, 2026
Two experts from TWI were invited to visit Franklin Hodge Industries Ltd in Birmingham for a technical review of their vision-guided robotic welding system.
TWI’s Senior Engineer, Karan Derekar and Principal Project Leader, Robert Shaw were joined by Caterina Bittendorf from ABAGY Robotic Systems for the visit to investigate how 3D modelling, point-cloud matching, and touch sensing are being combined to generate and verify weld paths automatically.
The day included constructive discussions around capability, repeatability and next steps in the light of the global shortage of welders within industry.
As well as offering a potential solution to the global welding skills gap, this visit demonstrated how these types of advanced manufacturing technologies can progress from simply being ‘interesting tech’ to becoming a reliable and scalable method for future production.
We would like to thank Franklin Hodge Industries Ltd for taking the time to invite us to their facility to get a first-hand look at their new robotic welding system.