Page 36 - MetalForming November 2022

and reliable,” says Rose, while pointing out that it’s been the workhorse at Fossil Industries thus far. “From a contract- manufacturing perspective, there’s demand for tubes cut to specific shapes. Imagine that you’re building scaffold- ing, race-car frames or off-road prod- ucts—that means a lot of work in pro- viding cut tubes. Jeeps, for example, are highly accessorized items, with roof racks, bumpers and more. A tube laser can produce all of that. The LT7 allows us to cut very precise parts from tubes that then go on to be formed or bent, which means even more work.”
Automation makes the laser tube cutting machine even more productive.
Fossil Industries recently opened its doors with a new tube fiber laser cutting machine taking on most of the initial work.
for our burn rate, and I’ve never been satisfied with relying on the gas sup- pliers. Given all of that, we generate our own gases. We can turn it off and walk away, and come back tomorrow and turn it back on. Or, we’ll turn it back on in a month when we have the work for it. The system we have, well- engineered, works as designed.”
People, and Manufacturing, First
While Rose certainly hopes to see Fossil Industries flourish with supply of its own patented products, he sets a loftier goal: “I want our people to learn everything there is to learn about metal fabrication, learn about being entrepreneurs, and then build shops right across the street and start making their own
stuff.”
Rose sees this goal as a way
to give back after a lifetime of serving in manufacturing.
“Manufacturing is a good career, and I don’t know why we in America have made the trades a second-class profession,” he says. “It’s what made this country great. If we weren’t such awesome manufacturers, we would have lost World War II. In addition to the awesome fighting men and women, we manufactured our way
out of the war.
“We’re community-focused and run
fundraisers here at the Fossil Indus- tries facility,” Rose continues. “And, even though we are only a few months old, we plan to continue that outreach, trying to bring some talented people and interest them in the trades and in manufacturing. We are focused on trying to steer people toward a good career in the trades. We train our peo- ple, and look for people with good character. Training is a small invest- ment when you start with a good- character person.”
In sum, stresses Rose, “Fossil Indus- tries is about creating jobs and creating an environment where we’re have fun and are challenged on a daily basis while serving the community.” MF
“We have a bundle loader
from BLM Group that feeds
raw material at the rear of the machine,” Rose explains. “We
have the largest configuration
of this machine that handles
tube to 7 in. dia. and tube as
long as 27 ft. on the inlet and
as the finished part. We have demand for these sizes in contract manufacturing and
own products. It will produce tubes for our assemblies easily and at the pace needed.”
Well-Equipped for Sheet Fabrication
Also on the Fossil Industries shop floor, an Elect 80 electric tube bender configured for right- or left-hand bend- ing of round or special-section tubes to diameters of 80 mm. Capable of multi-radius and different-interlock counterbends, the machine can be fit- ted with as many as eight tools at once, and allows for choosing the location of a variable-radius tool.
For sheet work, Fossil Industries employs two Bystronic machines, a Bystar Fiber 4020 flat-sheet fiber laser cutter with full automated sheet han- dling, and an Xpert Pro 320 press brake.
“We typically use the tube laser cut- ting machine to supply playground- equipment customers,” Rose explains. “For sheet material, we can cut parts with the flat laser and then form with
This fully automated fiber laser cutting machine, along with a press brake and laser welder, round out the capital-equip- ment roster at Fossil Industries.
the press brake, so those machines might work together on some of our jobs. We also brought in a laser welding machine. Once we set that up, it will help in the work process.”
Job runs may surpass 1000 parts on high-volume work at Fossil Industries, but Rose hints at coming orders that will require lights-out automation on plant-floor machinery.
Inhouse Nitrogen Supply
Unique among many manufactur- ers, Fossil Industries generates its own process gas for laser cutting.
“I’m not sure what the economics look like for a shop continuously run- ning one or two shifts, but our activity level goes up and down,” Rose says. “When a shop uses a lot of nitrogen for laser cutting, but perhaps doesn’t per- form laser cutting for a month at a time, the gas evaporates. We have to account
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MetalForming/November 2022 33
Fabrication: New Sheet and Tube Fabricator
for our