Page 71 - MetalForming October 2012

In Search of a Better Bending Solution
...QFI invested in a new automated panel bender—a P2Xe compact panel bender from Salvagnini. The machine is equipped with an automatic tool changer that enables setup changes to occur in a matter of seconds. That’s brought an entirely new level of flexi- bility to QFI’s production scheduling.
“Compared to forming the enclo-
sures on our old folding machine, cycle time and throughput have improved dramatically,” notes Tony Mautone, QFI vice president of manufacturing. “We’re able to form 400 units per shift, and with the typical lot size averaging 50 to 100, quick changeover becomes important. The automatic tool chang- er accomplishes that goal.”
Mautone cites a few key features of the new panel bender that allow it to
connect everywhere
Network your factories and offices with SmartPAC 2 and LETS (Line Efficiency Tracking Software)
Take advantage of
SmartPAC 2’s built-in Ethernet connectivity to communicate over your network.
Send and receive text messages, display setup sheets stored on a central server, back up your tools to a remote location, and view pressroom status over the network and internet. When you connect your equipment to LETS, you can collect production data, feed critical parameters reports automatically, view machine status in real time, and schedule a prioritized job queue for each machine.
To learn more about Wintriss Controls, please call 1-800-586-8324 or visit www.wintriss.com. ®2011 Wintriss Controls. All rights reserved.
To take advantage of the panel bender’s efficiency and capabilities, QFI engineers have redesigned some of the products it fabricates for customers, including this HVAC enclosure. Tabs were moved from the outside of the part to the inside to allow the part to run on the panel bender. As a result, productivity quadrupled com- pared to forming the parts on CNC press brakes.
Camacho, QFI vice president of oper- ations, “a substantial increase in annu- al volume from just a couple of years ago.” Enclosures are fabricated from 16 to 18 gauge cold-rolled steel or alu- minum sheet.
Such growth in sales, while a nice problem to have, challenged the firm’s fabricating capacity. Until recently, the firm fabricated cabinets and enclo- sures on a manually tooled folding machine, to the tune of 130 to150 per 8- hr. shift.
“When orders started ramping up, late in 2010 and into 2011, the folding machine simply couldn’t keep up,” says Camacho. “We had to offload some production to our CNC press brakes, not a very effective solution since the typical enclosure requires 11 different bends.” Among the concerns: operator error that crept in due to the excessive amount of blank handling required to make the large number of bends, as well as inefficient tool changes.
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