Page 33 - MetalForming-January-2019-issue

Radiant Products team to design a new part shape as a potential fix.
“We came up with an idea, cut it on the laser machine, attached it, and off we went,” explains Wortman. “Problem solved.”
Such quick design changes and rapid implementations are a common occurrence these days at Detroit Radi- ant Products. Another example, heaters for restaurant patios, which benefitted from more aesthetically pleasing rounded edges on corner sheetmetal parts.
the laser-cutting machine can run off of 145-psi shop air (courtesy of a boost- er compressor) as opposed to nitrogen, thus saving the gas for stainless and other fine-edged parts.
“The speed, ease of use, cut quali- ty—all of it has made our new laser cutter an amazing machine for us,” says Wortman. “Will this take the place of stamping for high volumes? No, but it has moved the economic threshold.
Whereas 2000 parts may have been the cutoff for moving from laser cutting to hard tooling and stamping, now it’s 3, 4 or 5000 parts. We’re still working to better optimize nesting and program- ming to reduce scrap, and to make sure that our engineering part files match with what technicians see on the shop floor, but, overall, the laser-cutting machine has worked out very well.”
MF
Fabrication: Laser Cutting
Sheet Metal • Pin • Arm Over • Toggle • Swing • Shot Pin • Frame • Transfer
“We do that on the laser-cutting machine...where looks matter,” Wort- man says.
Given all of these opportunities, the new machine stays busy, and has been identified as one of six key machines by company management, meaning that it runs 12 hr./day.
Advantages in Programming and Setup
Describing the company’s inven- tory strategy as “just in case” as opposed to just in time, company staff keep the laser burning to carve out extra parts for future orders and extra heating units and burners. The sea- sonal nature of its heating products demands that Detroit Radiant Prod- ucts keep its representatives stocked— stocked items will move, but if a heater isn’t available, potential customers tend to go elsewhere.
Quicker to program and set up than the company’s turret punch presses, the laser-cutting machine can have a sample part programmed and under the laser within 15 min., where pro- gramming and tool setup for a turret unit may take as long as a day. Quicker and neater cuts provide a laser-cutting advantage, especially, as mentioned above, on visible parts.
The new machine also saves on material as compared to the turret punch presses via optimized-nesting software, as well as the ability to cut closer to sheet edges use remnant sheets to cut parts.
Also, notes Stapleton, for mild-steel parts where cut finishes are not critical,
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