Page 26 - MetalForming September 2011

“Turnkey Comfort Systems”
columns, and smoke evacuation sys- tems were carefully lodged directly below 1916-vintage skylights.”
Overall, 55 percent of its total work- load occurs in the shop, the rest in the field. Anywhere from three to six projects occupy the shop floor at any one time, the average project taking 6 to 8 months to complete, even though some proj- ects can take 2 to 3 years to conclude.
When the high-rise commercial
construction market dried up in Cleve- land10to15yearsago,asitdidinso many traditionally rust-belt cities, Sick- le and his team repositioned the com- pany to focus on other more lucrative markets—hospitals and sewage-treat- ment plants, most notably.
“Hospitals are a completely different animal,” Sickle notes. “Laying out duct- work in hospitals requires us to maneu- ver amongst and around medical-gas
lines, tube systems, telecommunica- tions cable and such. The ductwork, therefore, takes a lot more twists and turns and requires more fittings and connections than does the ducting that goes into a high-rise commercial build- ing, where the runs tend to be straight with simple branches connected to move air in and out of offices.”
Automated Line
While the Duct Fabricators fabrica- tion shop includes a CNC plasma-arc- cutting machine, rollforming line, shear and press brake, the overwhelm- ing majority of the sheetmetal processed here runs through an auto- mated duct line. The line, an Iowa Pre- cision Industries’ Fabriduct model, pro- duces wrap-around and L-shaped duct sections in 5-ft. lengths. It holds as many as six coils of material—cold- rolled carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminum, in varying gauges prestaged and ready to roll.
From his control panel, an operator initiates the automated setup that begins with the steel running through a leveler. Then stiffening beads can be added if needed, and tie-rod holes and notches added to facilitate assembly. A shear cuts sections to length before snap-lock or Pittsburgh seams are formed to facilitate assembly. Before the duct sections then are wrapped into a one-piece duct or formed into an L shape, the operator can program the Fabriduct to apply a sound-attenua- tion liner to the inside of the duct.
Aside from its automated duct line, Duct Fabricators has looked to parlay its other fabrication capabilities into custom sheetmetal fabrication. “In the last couple of years,” Sickle notes, “we’ve consumed time on our press brake and plasma cutting machine to fabricate metal stairs, and we’re also busy press-brake forming plate for our neighbors, Cleveland Tank and Sup- ply, a manufacturer of fuel systems.
“Lately,” adds Sickle, “we’ve been taking on a lot of stainless-steel fabri- cation, and we’re even fabricating duct- work for some of our competitors in the contracting business.” MF
connect everywhere
Network your factories and offices with SmartPAC 2 and LETS (Line Efficiency Tracking Software)
Take advantage of
SmartPAC 2’s built-in Ethernet connectivity to communicate over your network.
Send and receive text messages, display setup sheets stored on a central server, back up your tools to a remote location, and view pressroom status over the network and internet. When you connect your equipment to LETS, you can collect production data, feed critical parameters reports automatically, view machine status in real time, and schedule a prioritized job queue for each machine.
To learn more about Wintriss Controls, please call 1-800-586-8324 or visit www.wintriss.com. ®2011 Wintriss Controls. All rights reserved.
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MetalForming/September 2011
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