Page 27 - MetalForming magazine • December 2022

FABRICATION
EFFICIENCY
is the Name of the Game
...when it comes to sheet metal fabricating, in particular when discussing CNC punch-laser combination machines. Efficiency comes in many forms—energy, labor, material utilization and machine availability.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
CNC punch presses have been called the “Swiss Army Knives” of the sheet metal fabrication world, and when appropriately tooled up can perform a wide variety of processes—marking, deburring and forming (countersinks, embosses, extrusions, louvers and more). Enabling these capabilities: precise, accurate and infinite stroke control of the machines, including control of the ram upstroke, as well as the use of adjustable-length punch holders.
However, when you combine a CNC punch press with fiber laser cutting, the opportunities to improve workflow, productivity and efficiency become magnified.
“Energy efficiency is top of mind for many metal fabricators right now,” says Roger Michaud, TruPunch and TruMatic product manager at Trumpf. “With the move away from hydraulic punching machines to electric, we’re seeing as much as 50-percent reduction in energy consumption on the shop floor. Then, when using a combination punch-laser rather than a laser-only machine, shops further can reduce energy consumption by opting to punch some parts of a sheet metal nest rather than laser cutting. The punching process is significantly more energy efficient than laser.”
Don’t Forego Standby Mode
Energy efficiency improves even more when shops employ the standby mode available on the machines, par- ticularly useful when machines run unattended for long periods of time, or lights-out overnight. Be sure to include a switch to standby mode in the part program at the end of any long, unat- tended run, Michaud recommends.
A machine can enter standby mode under another condition, he explains. “The part program can initiate an auto- shutdown or a move to standby mode if a process becomes interrupted for some reason, such as a light curtain being interrupted,” says Michaud. “If the machine has no movement for a specified period of time, we can send
it into standby mode, dramatically reducing its energy consumption. And, shops also can keep the machine in standby mode when loading tools.”
The efficiency conversation sur- rounding punch-laser combination machines goes beyond reducing energy costs. Don’t ignore the labor-efficiency gains from a punch-laser, Michaud says. He notes that this conversation goes beyond the simple fact that com- bining cutting and punching processes into one machine eliminates the labor involved in moving parts among sep- arate machines.
“With automatic part unloading, sorting and stacking, in addition to automatic sheet loading, operators are freed up to concentrate on setting tool- ing for the next job or performing other more productive tasks to help optimize machine utilization and minimize downtime for changeovers,” says Michaud. “And, we now network the machines back to the plant’s ERP sys- tem to automatically track production, avoiding the need for the operator to keep track of and report on the number of sheets processed and parts produced.”
The Need for Nimbleness, Flexibility
The efficiency gains from material- handling automation become more important as lot sizes trend downward and shops seek to become nimbler
24 MetalForming/December 2022
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