Page 38 - MetalForming May 2013

Tooling Technology
The Fruits of
Forming Threads
in a Turret Press
Sales-producing point-of-purchase displays require a keen sense of design and manufacturing know- how. For Midland Metal Products, Chicago, IL, designing a new display for fabricating recently opened up a faster, more cost-effective way to attach com- ponents to the display racks.
By using a new Hybrid Threadform forming tool (from Mate Precision Tool- ing) for a display, Midland realized a 150-percent cost savings compared to previous fastening methods that required spot welding and use of self- clinching nuts. But the cost savings tell only half of the improvement story. Time-to-market facilitated by Mate’s fast threadform tooling process is equally important to Midland Metal Products, where selling seasons come and go quickly and the race to be first often determines overall success.
Midland Metal Products is a fourth- generation family-owned designer and manufacturer of point-of-purchase dis- plays. In addition to its turret punch presses, the firm also operates wire- forming machines, a six-axis gas-metal- arc-welding robot and an automated high-speed laser cell that process 60- by 120-in. sheets as thick as 7⁄8 in. Its pair of turret punch presses (Finn-Power/ Prima Power models) process 50- by 100-in. sheet to 3⁄8 in. thick, boasting the ability to carry 43 punching tools. Mid- land’s tooling library consists of more than 3000 tools.
In a 100,000-sq.-ft. plant, Midland
To manufacture cell-phone display kiosks,
Chicago sheetmetal fabricator Midland Metal Products dials up big savings by employing threadform tooling in its CNC punch presses to eliminate welding
and use of self-clinching nuts.
36 MetalForming/May 2013
www.metalformingmagazine.com
Chicago’s Midland Metal Products fabricates these in-store cell-phone displays for a major discount retailer. Panels are punched in CNC turret presses from 4- by 8-ft. 20-gauge cold-rolled steel.