Page 19 - MetalForming June 2016

turing floor space has doubled, to 78,000 sq. ft. Now the com- pany has its sights set on expanding its customer base.
Make no mistake, Genesee is very much an automotive supplier, with 90 percent of its work going to that industry. And half of its work comprises stamping and welding of exhaust-system components, primarily for one customer. “But,” says Wright, “nearly everything we are working on now is nonautomotive. We have to develop a new customer base.”
What’s in the New Sandbox?
During the last 6 yr., Genesee has welcomed plenty of new equipment to its newly expand- ed metalforming plant, high- lighted by six new automated welding cells (resistance and arc), with plenty of room for more. And, most recently, the plant welcomed a new 660-ton Stamtec transfer press into the plant, that management believes surely will help the company expand its portfolio of work and customers.
Genesee and Stamtec worked together to specify the press for a takeover job handed over from Genesee’s largest customer: stamping 1.3 million muffler end plates per year, of 1.5-mm Type 409 stainless steel. Moving forward, though, the goal is to leverage the transfer press to expand beyond automotive work.
a speed rating of 15 to 30 strokes/min. Powered slide adjustment is 8 in., and win- dow opening is 90 by 76 in. The press takes direction from a Wintriss WPC 2000 and SmartPac 2 automation con- trol. Installed through-the- window is a Linear Transfer full-servo transfer system syn- chronized to press-ram motion via encoder feedback, with 900-mm max. feed stroke; 350 mm of clamp stroke per side; and 300 mm of lift. Payload: 150 kg (includ- ing tooling). It boasts a Bosch- Rexroth Indramat control sys- tem and 200-program storage capacity.
“In addition to providing what essentially is a custom press, with a much larger bed size than is typical for a 660-ton press,” says Wright, “Stamtec provided turnkey support. That included specification and integration of the transfer sys- tem, as well as the compact coil-feed line that serves the press, whether running in the progressive or transfer mode— with first-station inline blank-
Not only does the new press provide more tonnage than previously avail- able from Genesee’s presses (500-ton max.), but its bed size (196 by 60 in.) is nearly double that of its other presses. And, it’s the firm’s initial foray into transfer work.
That said, Wright was careful to ensure that the press, when installed early in 2016, had dies ready to run. “That’s why the board green-lighted the project,” he says.
Those existing tools, takeover work from Genesee’s largest automotive cus- tomer, stamp muffler end plates from 1.5-mm Type 409 stainless steel. But, says Wright, at 1.3 million end plates/yr., the job consumes less than one shift of the press’s run time. “While we speci- fied the press specifically for that job, we’ve got plenty of press time for sale,” he adds.
There are relatively few big-bed presses in the area, says Wright, so the press—which can run progressive dies as well as transfer, with the transfer system parked up and out of the way— gives Genesee a competitive edge. Neighboring OEMs are taking notice, among them the area’s HVAC and appli- ance OEMs.
“When we worked with Stamtec to specify the press,” he says, “I made sure to work with our management team here to get a good feel for the type of work and dies we wanted to grow into. We bought the biggest press that fit that scheme.”
Complemented by a Servo Transfer and Compact Servo-Feed Line
The press is a crank-driven plunger- guided model with an 18-in. stroke and
ing. That turnkey support was perfect for our needs, including all of the program- ming required to launch the initial dies running in the press.
“We did not want to acquire sepa- rate components of the line,” Wright continues, “and try to integrate every- thing internally. The strategy payed off, as we were able to install the line quick- ly and move it into production in time to meettight quality and delivery requirements of our customer.”
The feed line is a Tomac (a Stamtec sister company) Model TLF3-800 unit that combines a servo feeder-straight- ener with an uncoiler and a 5-ton- capacity coil car. It pays off material from the back of the coil, which allows a bit of slack to help even out materi- al feed into the straightener. An opti- cal sensor provides variable-speed loop control. Maximum coil width is
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