Page 20 - MetalForming April 2017

Hydraulic Press Takes Forming to a New Level
performance features. Buy-in was cen- tral to moving the company forward.
Empire Level’s transformation also included updating processes and replacing old production equipment that was no longer efficient. Milwaukee Tool bought the company precisely to manufacture products in America and continue to compete globally, so using outdated equipment was not an option.
One of its newest pieces of equip- ment is a custom 450-ton hydraulic press from Beckwood Press, St. Louis, MO. Empire Level needed a complete forming solution that could integrate with its existing die-transfer system and accurately form precision rafter squares using progressive dies, accord- ing to Steve Lallensack, Empire Level’s director of operations.
New Press Addresses Reliability, Flexibility Needs
“This new press grew out of our commitment to people and equipment, and, in fact, was the flagship project
for that initiative,” Lallensack says. “We went after reliability with this project. At the time of the acquisition by Mil- waukee Tool, equipment reliability was this plant’s biggest production issue. The rafter squares are an important product line for us, and we needed to gain equipment reliability to ensure the success of that line.”
Besides eliminating the mechanical and maintenance issues caused by the older equipment, the new press offers production flexibility and process repeatability.
“We boosted the desired tonnage on this new press to allow the addition of new products,” Lallensack explains. “We had some similar style rafter- square products that had been running in a 1000-ton hydraulic press, and by installing the 450-ton press, we could move that product over and open up the 1000-ton press for other work.”
The resulting gib-guided press fea- tures a 60 by 100-in. bed as well as magnetic platens, die rollers and lift-
off die consoles to facilitate quick die changes. Its structure is engineered for long life using finite-element- analysis testing, according to Beck- wood officials.
“We knew from our first conversa- tions with Empire that we’d be dealing with an off-center-loading application due to the nature of the progressive dies,” says Josh Dixon, director of sales and marketing for Beckwood Press. “Beckwood’s gib-guided design allows the machine to effectively handle the dynamic loading, and the magnetic platens and other die-change equip- ment allows Empire Level to drastically reduce the machine idle time caused by tool changeovers.”
Empire Level’s arsenal of machin- ery includes both mechanical and hydraulic presses. It relies on the hydraulics to assist with heavier coin- ing operations while the mechanicals tackle more straightforward punching and stamping jobs. This diverse mix of machinery gives Empire Level
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18 MetalForming/April 2017
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