When integrating automated material handling into large-press operations it must be capable of  running with multiple products.  Most automated systems will need to be custom made specifically for the company to meet all of their needs.

• You're an industrial engineer working in a large stamping facility, and your boss has just asked you to automate the entire process of producing a part that runs across four independently operated presses. To make things tougher, this workcell can't be dedicated to only one part; it must be flexible enough to run other products.
• When it comes to fully automating large-press operations, there aren't many off-the-shelf solutions. You know where to go to get coil feeders or precut blank de-stackers, but that just gets the material into the first press.
• For moving material in and out of large presses, you have many options. Coil feeders or blank sheet de-stackers can be configured to load a press from the front, back, or either side. Likewise, material transfer devices can be configured to take the drawn product out the same way it went in or out any of the three remaining sides of the press.
• After raw material has been loaded onto the press, one option (a) for transferring it into and out of the press is a through transfer device, which moves product through the press bed to a transfer conveyor. The second option for transferring material into and out of the press (b) is a lateral or inline transfer device, which moves product across the press bed to an adjoining press.
• If speed and overall capacity are concerns, dies can be reconfigured to eliminate the front leader pins. Once the leader pins have been removed, a direct lateral transfer can be accomplished before the product is removed from the die area.
• Integration of material transfer systems must be done with the greatest care and attention to detail because, in most cases, complete control of the press will be turned over to the material transfer system and its controllers. Hydraulic, pneumatic, and electrical systems must be monitored and controlled precisely. Staff operators must be trained in system setup, operation, and adjustment. The system designer and integrator need to develop and supply a system that is user-friendly, quick to change over, and easy to troubleshoot.
• In most manufacturing facilities, numerous parts usually share a number of geometric characteristics. Parts of similar shape and size, called part families, frequently can be produced on the same set of machines. Identifying these families is an important step in applying GT to different manufacturing problems.
• A GT analysis looks for natural breaks in product groupings by sorting the gathered data and determining a fit for production cells by their associated volumes and by their product alignment characteristics. This usually is an iterative process, which means you'll conduct it several times to determine a best fit for each cell type.
• Using quick-coupling devices, you can convert presses from stand-alone units to fully automated workcell components and back again in a matter of minutes. The appropriate through press and lateral material transfer methods, along with GT analysis, can lead to flexible and highly productive pressroom operations