Page 4 - MetalForming May 2010

Contents
May 2010
Volume 44 — Number 5
Cover Story
14 Fabricated Metals in Flat- Plate and Trough-Style
Solar-Thermal Collectors
Features
10 Robots Move Dishwasher Parts Press-to-Press
18 Adding Capacity Rate to the OEE Equation
Tooling Technology
26 Simulation Software Streamlines Die Build
Commentaries
Editorial ........................2
Energy-Saving Green Schemes, Part II
Brad F. Kuvin
TheScienceofForming ............24
Material Properties for Virtual Metalforming Stuart Keeler
Tooling by Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
High-Strength Energy Crisis
Peter Ulintz
Metalforming Electronics. . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Free Die-Protection Seminars
George Keremedjiev
The Business of Metalforming . . . . . . . . . 31
Innovative Tech: Riding Coattails
Michael Bleau
Blackman on Taxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Succession Planning—Often Your Achilles’ Heel—How to Avoid the Pain
Irving L. Blackman
Departments
News Fronts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 TechUpdate .....................6 SafetyUpdate ....................8 Tooling Update. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 New Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Ad Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Serving those who create precision metal products using stamping, fabricating and other value-added processes.
“New air curtains at Talan Products’ drive-in dock bays will result in a 3-yr. ROI of 200 percent.”
EDITORIAL BRAD F. KUVIN
Energy-Saving Green Schemes, Part II
Last month we offered several rela- tively easy moves metalformers can make to save money while going green—information gathered from a brief survey of a handful of forward- thinking metalformers. Here’s more energy-saving advice, right from the source.
A manufacturer of washers, shims and stampings, Phoenix Specialty Man- ufacturing, Bamberg, SC, recently put its four air compressors under the control of a PLC that monitors air-pressure levels at all times. The PLC starts and stops the units as needed. The shop uses compressors to blow parts out of its compound dies.
In addition to adding the PLC, the firm also revised its pneumatic system to use a much larger storage/reserve tank than before to alleviate some of the on-off cycling. Air lines were expanded to equalize air pressure throughout the plant. Power consumption to drive the compressors has been reduced so much that the system overhaul will pay for itself in less than 2 yr.
Cleveland, OH stamper Talan Prod- ucts explained to us its focus on recy- cling, by first contracting a company to take away its recyclables mixed rather than having to sort them. The firm also acquired a cardboard baler, reducing trash-hauling fees by $3000/yr.
To reduce energy costs, Talan—a member of E4S (Entrepreneurs for Sus- tainability)—modified its air-com- pression system with bigger pipes and smaller pumps. New air curtains at drive-in dock bays will result in a 3-yr. ROI of 200 percent, while new metal- halide high-bay lighting installed with T5 fluorescent bulbs will reduce the
plant’s electric bill by 73 percent. The stamper’s also adding oil-containment units to presses to capture overspray, reducing use and easing cleanup.
In New Jersey, metalformer Weiss- Aug received a $9000 rebate from the state’s Smart Start Building program to replace 1980’s vintage 50-hp air com- pressors with new 75-hp variable-fre- quency drive units that promise to reduce air consumption and improve efficiency.
Lastly, consider what Ford Motor Co.’s doing to conserve energy through- out its vast network of manufacturing facilities. Since 2000, the company’s U.S. factories have slashed energy con- sumption by a whopping 35 percent, and during 2009 its overall energy effi- ciency improved by 4.6 percent, saving the company $15 million.
Its newest project: a personal-com- puter power-management program that is expected to save Ford $1.2 million. Software called NightWatchman will centrally control power settings on lap- top and desktop computers, and will shut down computer systems when not in use, particularly overnight and on weekends.
Smart, simple and savvy money-sav- ing solutions that if you’re not already leveraging, why not start today?
Editor
bkuvin@pma.org
2 METALFORMING / MAY 2010
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