Page 54 - MetalForming September 2012

Tooling Technology
Punch Tooling
Supports Rapid Growth
...at this sheetmetal fabricator, which has standardized and simplified its tooling inventory rather than use multiple types of thick turret tooling. As a result, the company has realized immediate cost savings, and it’s getting more life from punch inserts.
Twelve years ago, the workforce at Pulverman Precision Metal Components numbered eight and generated annual revenues of roughly $500,000. Today the company employs 190 people, with annual rev- enues approaching $30 million. To say the company has grown quickly is per- haps an understatement.
Founded in the early 1940s in Wilkes-Barre, PA, Pulverman now oper- ates out of an 80,000-sq.-ft. plant in Dallas, PA, supplying custom-fabricat- ed metal products. The firm performs laser cutting, stamping, precision form- ing, welding, powder coating and assembly for customers working in the transportation, construction, HVAC, electronics, computers and appliance industries. Its rapid expansion can be credited in part to a boom in the heavy- trucking industry, as its fortunes grew along with a major customer in that industry.
The Downturn Sparks Diversification
During the recent economic down- turn, the company chose not to rely so heavily on its one major trucking- industry customer, so management made a serious effort to diversify its product line and acquire new cus- tomers in new industries. The strategy has worked remarkably well. Not only has Pulverman gained customers
across a wide
range of industries, but
it has experienced double-digit
growth during all but one of the past 12 years.
Its equipment list includes three CNC laser-cutting machines, rated to 4000 W; 15 stamping presses, from 60 to 300 tons; several arc- and resistance- welding machines; 12 CNC press brakes, the largest a 10-ft. by 140-ton model; and seven CNC turret-punch presses.
To equip its hard-working turret presses, over the years Pulverman has accumulated a varied tooling inven- tory from several tooling suppliers. Its variety of machine and tooling suppli- ers tended to cause confusion. Enter Wilson Tool, White Bear Lake, MN, which introduced its EXP punch tech- nology to Pulverman to help ease the confusion. And when the Pulverman
This truck heat shield, the first part Pulverman produced using its new turret- press tooling, is manufactured entirely on a turret punch press from 14-gauge Type 304 bright annealed stain- less steel. The material tends to wear tooling quickly, but that’s not been an issue since switching to Wilson Tool’s EXP tooling.
management team learned that EXP tooling utilizes standard punch holders with universal punches, it leapt at the opportunity to standardize and sim- plify its tooling inventory. Rather than use multiple types of thick turret tool- ing, it now sources with one tooling manufacturer—Wilson—and stocks a single punch inventory that can be used throughout the shop.
Pay Now, Save Later
“By buying EXP punch holders, we’ve been able to standardize our tur- ret tooling,” says Ken Yermal, Pulver- man’s sales and engineering manager. “I only have to buy one punch that can be used for any of the three styles of tooling that we use. It’s been a big help.”
EXP punch technology is available for all major brands of thick turret tool- ing and is fully compatible with all cur-
52 MetalForming/September 2012
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