Page 27 - MetalForming Magazine October 2022 - FABTECH

Press-Control
Upgrades Elevate Die Protection, Press Automation
Celebrating its 100th year in 2022, General Stamping & Metalworks has enjoyed great success serving primarily the agricultural and solar-power industries with stamped and fabricated parts and
asse
mblies. Here we sh
ine ent g
st nd ace
ve
ebrates its centennial anniver- sary in 2022. Boasting an array of other leading-edge process- es and services including kan- ban, a safety-stock program, kitting operations and the abil- ity to distribute those kits to solar-power field installations, has GSM poised to enjoy suc- cess for decades to come.
That success comes in part from investing, in 2017, in a new 190,000-sq.-ft. manufac- turing operation, along with upgrading the controls on 12 of its 15 presses, and, in 2022, acquiring and refurbishing a used 2000-ton press to expand its stamping capabilities. The new press controls support the firm’s efforts to boost its use of electronic die protec- tion and press automation.
Die changes are relatively frequent throughout the firm’s pressroom, as production-lot
sizes fall in the 1000-20,000
range before changeovers. Efficient die changes represent another area where new press controls help, as the new controls—all SmartPac 2 units from Wintriss—automate some press-cell setup functions. These include coil- line settings, shut-height adjustment and counterbalance settings.
Presses at GSM range from small OBIs to its 2000-ton Danly accompa- nied by a compact Coiltech feed line— a significant increase from its previ- ously largest press, an 800-ton
the li succ
ght on its most rec ess story: upgradin
its p die-
ess controls to bo rotection efforts, a
In 2017, General Stamping and Metalworks moved into a new 190,000-sq.-ft. facility in South Bend, IN, acquired and refurbished a 2000-ton press to expand its stamping capabilities, and upgraded the controls on 12 of its 15 presses to Wintriss SmartPac 2 con- trols, to help in its efforts to increase use of electron- ic die protection and press automation.
addi to th
ng a network interf e controls to impro
oper
ational visibility.
BY BR EDITO
D F. KUVIN, IAL DIRECTOR
machine. While much of its work is carbon-steel sheet and plate from 0.040 to 1⁄2 in. thick, it’s lately been stamping a newer corrosion-resistant alloy for the solar industry.
That material is called ZAM, which, per Wheeling-Nippon, is a “corrosion- resistant hot-dip zinc-aluminum-mag- nesium alloy coated-steel sheet prod- uct that exhibits exceptional alkaline resistance, even in direct contact with concrete and mortar.” The material meets ASTM A1046/A1046M Type 1.
Adaptive scheduling, electronic data interfaces, top-shelf MRP/ERP—all of these technol- ogy-based capabilities have enabled South Bend, IN-based metal former General Stamping & Metalworks (GSM) to remain a key supplier to OEMs in the agricultural and solar industry, among others, for decades. One-hun- dred years to be exact, as the firm cel-
24 MetalForming/October 2022
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