1. What Is An Automatic Street Light Pole Production Line?

As the name implies it’s a set of machines working together to produce street light poles.

Steel plates are fed into this production line and output as a finished or half finished product.

There can be many stages in this type of line.

Such as but not limited to.

• Steel Plate Feeding Machine

• Plate Cutting Machine

• Plate Trapezoid Shearing Machine

• Pole Forming Machine

• Pole Longitudinal Welding Machine

• Pole Straightening Machine

• Pole Head Bending Machine

• Pipe Head Shrinking Machine

• Grinding Machine

• Hole Processing Machine

• Inspection

• Material Transfer Machines

So when we say automatic we don’t just mean throwing a CNC machine into your facility.

We are referring to the automation of these processes and controlling materials flow, controls and data.

Depending on your production needs you can automate more or less of these steps.

Street Light Pole Production Line

2. How Does It Work?

Once you know what your desired process flow is it’s easy to map out a pole production line.

Here is what one could look like.

Steel Plates are loaded into your production line and cut into the desired size. Then it goes through the trapezoid blanking machine and is sent to the forming machine. From there its welded, straightened and head processed. Finally it’s ground and inspected.

Other processes can be added to your line if needed.

Like flange production or pole access door processing.

Material will be transferred between each stage of the line using long piece transfer equipment.

Controls will be used to adjust machine data.

Allowing the manufacturer to eliminate many of the repetitive tasks of moving materials.

Of course the more automated your line will be dependent on what size poles your producing and how many types.

3. Street Light Pole Production Process

Its good to know the whole process when trying to purchase your pole production equipment.

First you need to know what your starting material is.

Most will use steel plate to manufacture street light poles.

You can use any size and thickness plate to make your street light pole.

Second the plate will need to be cut to your desired size.

If your making a taper street light pole your going to need a trapezoid blank.

Next is pole forming. A hydraulic pole forming machine will take your blank and form it into your desired shape.

You can form many different shapes on a hydraulic pole forming machine.

After forming the machine will close your pole along one side of the body. This side will need to be welded.

After welding you can run your pole through a pole straightening machine. This will ensure that there is no warping from your previous processes.

Now its time to bend or shrink your pole head depending on your pole design.

Once you have your pole shaped you can start doing secondary operations on your pole. Such as pole doors, holes, etc…

Then you will want to grind your pole. This will get rid of any bumps or burrs on your pole from the welding process.

Once you have ground your pole you will want to inspect it for any flaws or errors.

Last step would be to send your poles to be galvanized or painted.

4. Machines Used In A Street Light Pole Production Line

There are many machines that can be added to your pole production line.

Here are some examples.

Depending on your pole you may not need all of these machines. Make sure to find out what poles you will be producing and build your line around those products.

5. Steel Plate Cutting

One of the most important parts of your pole production line is how you cut your steel plate.

If your producing taper street light poles you will need to be able to cut a trapezoid shape.

You can do this with an automatic cutting machine that can feed the plate, square it up and cut your plate.

Things to consider when looking for a steel plate cutting machine are.

• Length of plate

• Thickness of plate

• How accurate your machine can cut

• Can it cut taper’s

• How much material you can use out of your plate

• How you will load your material into the machine

• How fast you want to run the machine.

Material usage is something you will want to focus on when purchasing your machine. Steel can get expensive so you will want to use as much as possible.

Not only will this save you money but it will also make the next step easier. When your cutting more accurate your pole forming machine will be able to align better.

Plate Trapezoid Shearing Machine

6. Pole Forming Machine

Your now ready to form your pole.

You can use a hydraulic pole forming machine to form your blank into a pole.

By changing the tooling you can form many different shapes on a hydraulic pole forming machine.

Here are some examples.

• Octagon

• Polygon

• Taper

• Round

You can form almost any shape you would like. Just make sure to give us some sample poles to look at when buying your machine.

The more accurate your pole is formed the easier it will be to weld.

Hydraulic Pole Forming Machine

7. Pole Welding Machine

Another key process in a pole production line is welding.

Once your pole is formed you will want to align the seam and weld it closed.

There are many variables to control when welding a street light pole.

Current, speed, position and more.

All of these can be done with an automatic pole welding machine.

This will allow you to not worry about the welding process and focus on running your line.

Make sure to inspect your welds to ensure they meet your specifications.

Automatic Pole Welding Machine

8. Bending And Shrinking Your Pole Head

Some poles will require you to bend your pole head others you can just use a pole arm.

If you want to bend your pole head you can add a pole head bending machine to your line.

This machine will allow you to control the location of the bend and how far you want to bend your pole.

You can also use a pipe head shrinking machine to decrease the diameter of your pole head.

Pole Head Bending Machine

Pipe Head Shrinking Machine

9. Straighten Your Pole

Just like we talked about earlier you can run your poles through a pole straightening machine.

This will help to make sure your pole is straight and true.

There are many ways to do this some even fully automatic.

Just make sure the machine you choose is big enough for your pole.

10. Grinding Machine

You may want to add a grinding machine to your line.

This will help to finish off your weld seam and get your pole ready for the next step.

There are many ways to do this as well. Some are fully automated.

11. Pole Flanges And Access Doors

If your producing street light poles that require flanges you may want to invest in flange production equipment.

This could include plate cutting, punching and welding your flanges to your pole.

Make sure you know how your pole will be anchored when selecting your flange.

You will also want to think about pole access doors. You can use CNC machines to process these into your pole.

12. Material Handling

Some steel poles are very long so it can be hard to handle them.

That’s why material handling becomes a key aspect of automation.

There are many ways to incorporate this into your production line such as:

• Loading platform
• Powered roller
• Transfer table
• Positioner
• Overhead crane
• Auto feeder

Properly designed handling systems will decrease idle time between processes.

They can also decrease lift operations.

Make sure that your production line is automated where its needed.

If you add transfer tables that aren’t properly designed into your production flow your total output may not increase.

13. Control System

Most machines today have a PLC control and HMI screen.

You can set production data on the HMI screen.

Based on the machine you may have options for:

• Dimensions of product
• Feed distance
• Form position
• Weld speed
• Bend angle
• Order of process

Using digital controls can help with product change over.

You can also collect production data to help monitor your processes.

Some lines are capable of logging alarm and run data.

Which can help you troubleshoot and manage production.

14. Quality Control

Just because your line is automated does not mean you shouldn’t inspect your product.

Quality control should be incorporated into your process flow.

Ensure you have mill certs that meet your spec. Check pole dimensions and surface.

Ensure your blank length and taper are correct.

Raw Material QC

Cutting QC

Forming QC

Welding QC

Straightness QC

Dimensions

Inspect the cross section of your pole and seam.

Make sure your weld meets your projects welding specs.

After forming and welding, check the pole for proper straightness.

Finally, record the required dimensions, including pole length, diameter, wall thickness, and flange dimensions.

• Pole length
• Bottom diameter
• Top diameter
• Wall thickness
• Taper
• Hole location
• Flange dimensions
• End of line QC

Make sure your pole has no deformations, scratches, or burrs.

15. Why Have An Automatic Street Light Pole Production Line?

As stated above there are many reasons to have an automatic production line.

Increase Production Efficiency

By having your line automated you can decrease man power and excess movement of material.

Improved Process Control

Your machines will stay at the same setting for the duration of the process.

Decrease Man Power

With proper transfer tables you can help your workers handle longer products.

Quicker Product Change Over

If your machine is programable you can save product data and quickly switch over.

Manage Production

If your machines are digital you can collect information about how they are running.

Grow Your Factory

When you need to increase capacity you can easily add onto your production line.

There are many reasons to automate but make sure you are balancing your production line correctly.

16. Automatic or Semi Automatic Street Light Pole Production

As we discussed above there are pros and cons to both. It depends on what your business needs.

Automatic vs Semi Automatic Production Line

As you can see neither is better then the other. If you make a wide variety of poles you may want a line that can quickly change over. If you make one style of pole and have a high demand then you may want a fully automated production line.

17. Production Capacity & Factory Floor Plan

Another thing to keep in mind when purchasing a street light pole production line is capacity.

Make sure you know how many poles you want to produce per shift/day. What length of pole you want to produce. What diameters and thicknesses you want to produce. And how many styles of poles you will be producing.

Once you have all this information you can begin to build your production line.

You also want to make sure you have enough room in your factory floor. Street light poles can get long so make sure you have room for each process to load and unload their product.

A good flow to have for your production line would be.

Raw Material > Cutting > Forming > Welding > Straighten > Secondary Process > Finish > QC > Finished Goods

18. How to Find the Right Street Light Pole Production Line

When finding the right automatic street light pole production line there are many things to take into consideration.

Pole Length

Know what the shortest and longest pole you want to produce is.

Pole Diameters

What diameters do you want to produce.

Pole Thickness

This will dictate the size of machine you need to produce.

Style of Pole

Round, Octagon, Polygon, etc.

Drawings

Have some examples of what you want to produce.

Capacity

How many poles do you want to produce per day/month.

Automate or Not

Do you want your production line to be semi automatic or fully automated.

Other Sizes of Poles

In the future you may want to produce larger or smaller sizes of poles.

Once you know all of this you can start looking for an automatic street light pole production line.

19. What Can An Automatic Pole Line Produce?

There are many things that an automatic pole line can produce.

Street Light Poles

These can be used on city streets to illuminate roads.

Solar Street Light Poles

Solar street light poles hold lights and solar panels.

Highway Poles

Used to light up highways.

Smart Poles

Can hold lights and technology.

Traffic Poles

Used for traffic applications.

High Mast Sections

With the right machine we can produce some high mast products as well.

20. Why Nanjing Bangwin Machine?

Nanjing Bangwin Machine is a supplier of industrial machinery. We can build you a complete automatic street light pole production line. We can start with your finished pole drawing and determine what equipment is needed to build your production line. Based on your pole dimensions thickness and production needs we can add equipment to your line. Some examples of equipment that can be added to your production line.

• Plate Trapezoid Shear
• Hydraulic Pole Forming Machine
• Automatic Longitudinal Welding Machine
• Pole Head Bending Machine
• Pipe Head Shrinking Machine
• Straightening Machine
• Grinding Machine
• Material Handling
• Production Line

We can also take your factory layout into consideration and add machines to your production line. 

Home

21. FAQ

l What is an automatic street light pole production line?

An automatic street light pole production line can consist of many machines that are used to produce street light poles.

l What machines do I need to produce street light poles?

There are many machines that can be used to produce street light poles. Some basic machines that you will need are a plate shear, pole forming machine, welding machine, straightening machine and finish machines.

l Can I produce different sizes of poles on my automatic production line?

Yes as long as they fall under the machines capacity. You may need to change some tooling out and adjust your production.

l Can I produce octagon light poles on my automatic production line?

Yes as long as you have the correct tooling for the machine you can produce octagon light poles.

l Can I produce solar street light poles on my automatic production line?

Yes as long as the poles fit under your machines capacity.

l How automatic can my street light pole factory be?

Your factory can be very automatic. Depending on your production needs and products we can help automate your production line.

l Will your production line include galvanizing?

Your factory can include galvanizing but it will require additional space and equipment.

l How much space do I need for an automatic production line?

It all depends on how big your machines are, what size of poles you want to produce and how much space you have to store your material and finished goods. We can help you come up with a factory layout for your production line.

l What information do I need to provide you to get a quote?

We will need drawings of the poles you want to produce. The length of pole, diameters, thickness, material and production needs.

l How much will an automatic street light pole production line cost?

There are many factors that can affect the price of your production line. Machine capacity, size of pole you want to produce, how automatic you want your line to be and what other machines you may want to add on to your line.

22. Conclusion

An automatic street light pole production line can consist of many machines that can help you produce your street light poles. From cutting your raw material to finishing your pole there are many machines that can be used. By having your production line automated you can help increase efficiency in your factory. Make sure to balance your production line and take into consideration what you want to produce. Nanjing Bangwin Machine can supply you with street light pole machines and automatic production lines.