Page 11 - MetalForming July 2010

soon as dies are changed, the lead changeover tech completes critical inspections and a line’s ready to run,” says Butler, adding that the firm’s typi- cal die change now takes just 20 to 30 min. from run to run. “The lead changeover techs visually inspect and approve the first parts off of a new setup, and we run parts in containment until quality can come out to the floor and check the parts.”
Among the steps taken to quicken die changes: the shop now assigns a primary and secondary press for each tool, and stages the tools near that primary press; and, it is modifing all of its tools to accept a standard locating method in the press.
“We machined a slot down the center of each bolster and keyed the dies to locate them in the slot,” says Butler, who was the plant’s die-maintenance manager back in 2006-2007. “We also purchased new quarter-turn quick-acting clamps.”
Getting Ahead of the Maintenance Curve
“Slashing die-change times from hours to just minutes made a huge impact on scheduling and lead times, and simplified our ability to manage the visual manufacturing process, continues Butler. “Also, back at that time we could never get ahead from a die-mainte- nance standpoint. We’d spend thou- sands per month repairing broken dies, and experience as many as 20 mishits or crashes in a given month.”
Butler and his team had installed a die- protection program at the time, but he feels they had taken it as far as they could have with their current press controls.
“We could only manage three sensors and were certain we’d benefit from upgrading our controls to handle more sensor inputs and outputs,” he recalls. “I started looking for more die-protec- tion capacity, and specified at least 16 inputs or outputs and another 16 automation inputs. And we also wanted to add tonnage monitoring. The Automa- tor II delivered all of that and more.”
Throughout 2006, Butler and his team retrofitted 10 of its highest-output coil-fed presses with the Cieco units, upgrading two presses every six weeks to
A Clairon Metals associate tends to one of 10 new press controls installed among the firm’s coil-fed progressive-die presses. The new controls not only manage the firm’s aggressive die-protection program, but also direct all of the action in and around each press cell, including pulse-spraying of lubricant, operation of pick- and-place part-handling automation devices, pulsed air ejection to move parts off of dies, and shaker-conveyor action.
One of Clairon Metals’ fully sensored dies ready for action—parts eject at the top of each stroke onto a mechanical unloader. The die includes short-feed sensing, ejection cylinders are monitored at each of the stroke. Form punches are sensored to ensure part ejection, and a through-beam sensor covers the lower die to catch parts if they fall into the die.
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avoidinterferingwithproduction.“We went through a learning curve with Cieco’s technicians,” Butler says, “and working together we identified several ways to customize the controls to best-fit our needs. For example, they switched out the capacitive-type monitors on the controls with resistive monitors, to better resist the rigors of the pressroom.”
Other custom upgrades at the time (which now have become standard fea-
tures on the controls) include an auto- logout feature so that if no one accesses a controller within a 5-min. timeframe, the control locks out access to prevent someone from changing any settings on the control. “And, we asked for the ability to set 250 individual passwords for access to the control,” says Butler, “rather than the standard 50 passwords.”
Butler quickly went to work taking advantage of the new-found die sensor