Page 34 - MetalForming August 2013

Smooth-
Operating Servos
Usher in a
Stamping Renaissance Period
Six—count ’em, six—servo-driven presses in the Acro Metal Stamping pressroom have the metalformer optimistic about its future. Tighter tolerances, deeper draws, variable speeds and in-process secondary operations are attracting new customers at an accelerating pace.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITOR
The last five years for Milwaukee, WI metalformer Acro Metal Stamp- ing have been a renaissance period. The company has “reinvented” itself to
emerge from the
industry downturn
and recover from a
Chinese invasion of its
customer base. So says
Acro president Jim
Wolfenberg, who admits
that from 2005 to 2008, Acro
lost 20 to 25 percent of its book of busi- ness to China. Add recessionary pressure during that time and “we needed to rein- vent the company,” Wolfenberg admits.
Before its renaissance, Acro’s custom- stamping business centered on a fleet of 20 to 25 conventional mechanical presses from 32 to 150 tons, with bed size to 27 by 53 in. In 2010 its pressroom makeover kicked off with the acquisi- tion of a pair of Komatsu servo presses —a 110-ton and a 200-ton model. Two more servo presses landed in 2011, 60- and 80-ton models. Finally, early in 2013 Acro added another 200-ton Komatsu servo press and a 60-ton servo press.
“Some 50 per-
cent of our production
now runs through the six servo press- es,” says Wolfenberg, noting that the productivity gains realized have allowed him to decommission several of his conventional mechanical press- es. “The capabilities of the servo press- es have allowed us to expand our foot- print into our traditional key markets, such as electronics and electric motors, while bringing an entirely new set of customers to our door.”
Acro stamps these parts for the iconic barber’s jar of combs on a 110-ton servo press. It was able to reshore the job from China thanks to the ability of the servo press to
draw and form the prepolished stainless steel without affecting its
surface finish. Under previous produc- tion methods on a conventional press,
the stamped parts required a second- ary hand-finishing process.
New Capabilities, New Jobs
Wolfenberg credits his servo- press stable with attracting a set of “more complex stamping jobs” that ultimately account for as much as 20 percent of the firm’s business. “And, I’d say we’ve increased our ability to quote a wider variety of jobs—and reduced no-quote jobs—by as much as 60 per-
cent, thanks to the servo presses.” Asked to elaborate, Wolfenberg cred- its the flexibility and stroke control that comes with servo-press technology with Acro’s ability to add deep drawing of stainless steel to its resume. Case in point: stamping parts for the iconic comb container found in nearly every
32 MetalForming/August 2013
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