Page 18 - MetalForming November 2013

When Presses Show Their Age
that began in 2010 led to a 35-percent uptick in work. That rush of orders caused the company’s pressroom to go, in 90 days, from having 25-percent excess capacity to being 15 percent undercapacity. To keep up, the firm, which also counts automotive and HVAC OEMs as customers, added two new Aida presses (a 660-ton link-drive press bought in 2012 and a 300-ton standard mechanical bought in 2013)
to its stable, as well as a 440-ton Seyi press also added in 2012.
“The acquisition of those three presses, as well as an 1100-ton Aida transfer presses purchased in 2008,” says Chadwick, “represents the begin- ning phases of our expansion. Now we’re in a strategic-planning phase for the future, and expect to purchase another four presses by 2016—maybe even a servo. Three of these will replace
older presses, and the fourth will be a larger transfer press, since the 1100- ton transfer is maxed out.
“Five years ago, a 144-in.-bed press was considered big,” Chadwick con- tinues. “Now we don’t have anything on our books less than 240 in. left to right, and the new transfer press we’re look- ing at purchasing soon (1250 to 1500 ton) will have a 320-in. bed. Parts are bigger, but we also need to use more stations in the dies to satisfy part-com- plexity challenges.”
New and Improved
What’s the “improved” part of the “new and improved” press promise? When it comes to mechanical presses, Chadwick not only notes the need for bigger bed sizes to handle more com- plex tools and part features, but also appreciates improved rigidity.
“As the tools get larger and work- piece material gets thinner—appli- ance customers, for example are spec- ifying 0.020 to 0.025 in. material —clearance in tooling sections can shrink to as little as 0.001 to 0.0005 in. There’s no way to run those critically toleranced dies in older presses, unless you want to watch your dies head to the toolroom for maintenance every other run.”
Already Chadwick has seen note- worthy improvements in die life from his new presses. “How else would I be able to justify the investment?” he asks. “For example, one of our dies that stamps an appliance part, when run on one of our older (15 yr. old) presses, required maintenance after every 100,000 hits. Running the tool on our 660-ton Aida allows us to make 250,000 or more hits between maintenance cycles.”
While adding to his press inventory, Chadwick took the opportunity to rearrange the shop floor and improve material flow. Earlier this year he added 75,000 sq. ft. to one side of the building and located all 14 of his automatic presses, including three big-bed trans- fer presses, into the addition. He looks forward to welcoming four more press- es to the new space soon. MF
16 MetalForming/November 2013
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