Page 37 - MetalForming September 2017

High Precision Guide Elements
Preloaded high precision guide systems for stamp and mold tooling allows for tighter tool clearances, more stability and lower cost of maintenance.
Greater Accuracy Added Stability Lower Maintenance
AGATHON Machine Tools, Inc
9 Parklawn Drive Bethel, CT 06801 Tel: 203-730-8741
mailamt@agathonusa.com
www.agathon.com
Everything Supports Lean
Bringing in this panel-bending technology fits nicely with Bretford’s lean quest—a big reason why the company can meet its target of a five-day lead time to the customer.
“We try to keep as little material on the floor as possible,” explains Raddatz. “Our materials supplier takes a daily inventory and delivers each day based on what we used the day before. And, we don’t stock products, but build to order—we have about 8000 part forms, but can’t make 8000 different parts each day. Orders are released to the shop floor on the first day, and we route what we can to cells, where productivity is very high. On higher-volume products we might route that to a cell outfitted with a turret press, press brake, spot welder and robotic welder, with one to three employees staffing it, depending on the volume. We’ll move people to the product that sells rather than just build to stock.”
That said, Bretford kanbans its inventory, with some parts premade and pulled as needed.
“As they are pulled, the signal goes back to replenish the bin,” Raddatz says, “so we constantly produce the parts that we need. We are driven both by kanban and by work order.”
Joining the P4 and coil-fed laser cutter on the production floor are two laser-cutter/turret-punch-press combos—six press brakes are dedicated to output from the coil-fed unit, and six to the combos. From there, parts go to electrical, assembly and the paint line.
“Throughout our plant, if you just look at production time, without waiting time, it takes 10 hr. to go from cutting the material to packing,” says Raddatz, rightly proud of Bret- ford’s lean practices. “There’s not a whole lot of sitting around. For example, we have leaned out our paint hooks. We looked at hang patterns to optimize those, and as soon as we hang something on the paint line, our Packsize machines (two inhouse used to make cardboard boxes) get the signal to cut cardboard.”
Bretford also produces its own electrical units...and again, ‘not sitting around’ is the theme.
“We produce schedules each day that cover today’s pro- duction and two days ahead,” Raddatz says. “With this sched- ule, we begin premaking the units so that they are completed eight hours ahead of packout—not much buildup here. And, we generally ship the same day that a product comes off of our packout lines.”
During MetalForming’s tour of Bretford, Raddatz and Santaromana detailed the equipment and operations with obvious pride, which is no accident, as the company has worked hard (and successfully) to rework operations and, just as it claims, reimagine its product line and processes.
“This is a family-owned company dedicated to what we do, and it costs a lot of money to do lean,” Raddatz concludes. “I am proud of our plant, I’m proud to give a tour and I’m proud of our employees. We work together, and we get good products to our customers when they need them.” MF
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