Page 36 - MetalForming April 2020

FABRICATION
User-Friendly Press Brake
Slashes Setups, Pushes Production
A small but extremely busy fabricator of three-point equipment for construction, landscaping and other markets benefits from the simple setups and ease of use offered by a new, 175-ton hydraulic press brake.
With SC Products’ 1962-vintage press brake, “manual setting would take 5 to 10 min. of tinkering prior to starting to bend parts,” says Brian Banks, SC Products foreman. With its new 12-ft.-bed 175-ton hydraulic press brake, “we were able to build a complete library in the system as we bent parts. Now we simply find the part number, the con- troller brings it up, and we are ready to start bending with all tooling and the backgauge set. So far we have not had any discrepancies in bends...it's been right every time.”
For fabricators large and small, upgrading capital equipment represents a huge decision. Return on investment (ROI) must justify the outlay, and any new addi-
tion must quickly achieve needed productivity, as the work doesn’t wait for machines to ramp up. Here’s a story about a Mid- west manufacturer that
took such a risk. It paid off not only in quick implementation and rapid ROI, but in significant setup-time reduction and improved accuracy as well.
Supplying primarily the mining and construction industry including its inhouse sister business, SC Products, formed in 2004 as a job shop, can’t afford to be offline, especially during the busy season. The Eldorado, IL, com- pany is small, with seven employees, but as a manufacturer of light- to medi- um-duty three-point equipment such as box scrapers, rear blades, aerators, disc harrows, rotary cutters and land- scaping rakes, its responsibilities are huge.
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MetalForming/April 2020
www.metalformingmagazine.com
BY LOUIS A. KREN, SENIOR EDITOR