Page 42 - MetalForming May 2011

Tooling Technology
Turret-Press Tools
Among the benefits realized from a fresh approach to tooling up high-speed turret presses at Red Dot Corp., a fabricator of HVAC systems for heavy vehicles: improved part-edge quality, prolonged tool life and more efficient sheet utilization.
Punch-press tooling gets a real workout when punching 298,000 lb. of sheetmetal per month. That’s Red Dot Corp.’s (Seattle, WA) average monthly throughput of punched components used in its broad line of heating, ventilation and air-con- ditioning systems installed in heavy- duty commercial and military vehicles.
With this volume of punched com- ponents, tooling life and costs con- tribute mightily to the bottom line. A focus on tool usage can reveal a wealth of possible efficiencies and savings by making changes, according to the tool- ing experts at Mate Precision Tooling, Anoka, MN.
With Mate’s help, Red Dot recently reviewed its punch-press tool usage, resulting in changes that significantly extended tool life and reduced tool- replacement costs. While reducing setup time also resulted, lights-out seven-day operation of Red Dot’s tur- ret-press department became a reality, with substantial labor savings.
Punching Performance Picks Up
Red Dot Corp. employs 400 people to manufacture HVAC systems for the
heavy-vehicle industry, on- and off- highway. The firm operates three Finn Power machines: C5 Compact Express and F5 hydraulic turret punch presses, and an L6 laser-cutting machine. It processes galvannealed and hot-rolled pickled-and-oiled steel sheet from 26 to 11 gauge. Part runs range from just a few components, punched in minutes, to long runs of hundreds of parts taking 7 hr. or more.
“Like all companies, we’re on a tight budget,” reports Eric Cates, Red Dot’s laser and turret cell leader. “We strive to improve productivity from our manu- facturing processes, and one of the areas we regularly analyze is punch- press tool usage.”
The C5 boasts a 20-station turret expandable to 100 tool stations using Mate Multi Tools. It can punch maxi- mum hole diameters of 3.5 in. with accuracy of ±0.005 in., at press speeds to 1000 strokes/min; Red Dot typically runs its presses at 600 strokes/min. Important to the firm’s lights-out plan- ning: the C5 features load-unload mate- rial-handling automation. Combined with careful tool and die clearance selection, the full 24/7 lights-out poten-
Red Dot manufactures rugged HVAC systems fabricated from 11- to 26-gauge galvan- nealed and HRP&O steel. Shown is a roof- top unit fabricated from 12-gauge steel.
tial makes planning and scheduling Red Dot’s heavy fabricating workload optimally efficient and productive.
Maintenance-Free for 1.8 Million Hits
Cates, along with Gary Wilson, Red Dot’s manufacturing production man- ager, and Todd Schwartz, sheetmetal supervisor, challenged Mate to see what its tooling could do for them. Testing began with Mate’s Ultra 1 by 0.250-in. trapezoid parting tool in the C5 turret press.
“We set up the tool with a 0.006-in. die clearance on all gauges except 14 and 16 gauge,” says Cates, “which called for a 0.012-in. die clearance. We com- pared the punching performance with the previous brand of parting tool being used.”
Cates reports that the new tooling and the change in die clearance paid immediate dividends in improved edge quality for the parted sheets. And, the tool itself operated maintenance-free
40 MetalForming/May 2011
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