Page 20 - MetalForming July 2011

OEMs describe how automated material- handling systems drive laser-cutting productivity through the roof, keeping assembly lines stocked with precision-cut parts from sheet and plate.
Automated
Laser-Cutting
Systems
Run Lights-Out
18 MetalForming/July 2011
www.metalformingmagazine.com
Visitors to Bradford Built, a com- pany that manufactures special- ty beds for pickup trucks, often are amazed at the amount of automa- tion in use in its metal-fabricating facil-
ity. The shop incorporates automation wherever pos- sible, to streamline opera- tions and increase pro- duction output. It does so out of necessity—Bradford Built resides in a 1000-sq.- mile county with a popu- lation of less than 6000, so there’s not a huge labor
pool from which to draw. However, with automated systems and robotics, it easily meets order delivery times.
Its most recent automated system: a HyperGear flying-optics laser-cutting flexible-manufacturing system (FMS) from Mazak Optonics Corp., Elgin, IL. The fully automated system runs prac- tically unattended and pumps out work at production levels greater than the combined output of four previously used laser systems.
With 45 employees, Bradford Built produces four different truck-bed mod- els in multiple sizes per model. The
shop processes primarily 7-, 14- and 11-gauge material and 0.125-in.-thick tread deck plate, processing mil- lions of pounds per year. Manufacturing operations include robotic welding, robotic press-brake bending and CNC machining, but it all hinges on step one: the laser process.
Raw material, mostly 5- by 10-ft. sheet and plate, enters the shop and moves directly into the laser FMS stocker. From the laser, parts move to the robotic press brake and then are restocked and ready to move to assembly lines where four or five work- ers assemble products with the help of
automated welding systems.
Laser Takes Over for Plasma
Originally, Bradford Built would plasma-cut sheet and plate. However,
Bradford Built processes pri- marily 7-, 14- and 11-gauge material and 0.125-in.-thick tread deck plate. Raw sheet and plate enters the shop and moves directly into the laser FMS 10-drawer stocker (left). “We opted for all of the extra automation features available,” says co-owner Brad Portenier, “such as an automatic torch changer and automatic nozzle changer.”