Page 30 - MetalForming November 2017

Curved Flanges No Problem for
This Punch Press
...thanks to its extra-wide die opening and to new custom tooling designed to optimize forming capabilities. Learn here how an aluminum-boat manufacturer applies the press/tooling combo to automate a previously manual forming process—an ergonomically poor process at that.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, PUBLISHER/EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Manufacturing these industry-leading boats at the Brunswick Corp. New York Mills (MN) operation still requires a great deal of manual labor, performed by experienced, dedicated artisans.
wrist strain and elbow extension. “During one recent ergonomic sur- vey of the fabrication shop,” says Ped- erson, “we identified one specific job that scored very high on the ergonomic scorecard: flanging of sheetmetal bulk- heads (of which four or five are riveted into each boat). The job required an operator to manually index sheetmetal blanks through a 1940s-vintage flang-
ing machine.”
Based on factors such as hand posi-
tion, the amount of repetitive motion involved, vibration and force required to do the work, the ergonomic score- card rated that job the third poorest task in the entire plant. While the com- pany had tried to find a better method, it recently worked with its press-brake supplier, LVD, and tooling company Wilson Tool, to come up with an auto- mated flanging operation.
Wide-Mouth Press Meets Custom Tooling
The solution to the New York Mills
The Brunswick Corp. New York Mills (MN) operation, home of Lund Boats and Crestline Boats, consumes 7 million lb. of aluminum per year, manufacturing watercraft from 12- to 24-ft. long. Tucked inside the 290,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing oper- ation is a 30,000-sq.-ft. sheetmetal-fab- rication shop where manufacturing engineer Nic Pederson supports the work of 32 associates. Their task: move aluminum coil stock (the plant takes in 8000-lb. coils from 5- to 6-ft. wide), mostly 0.063- and 0.080-in.-thick Type 5052-H34, through shearing, straight- ening, cutting, forming and assembly operations.
Manufacturing these industry-lead- ing boats, favored by the most serious
of fisherman the world over who seek the “ultimate fishing experience,” still requires a great deal of manual labor performed by experienced, dedicated craftsmen. With so much manual labor required, Pederson and other shop-floor leaders in the plant pay close attention to ergonomics and employee health and safety. To help evaluate the ergonomic risk of various tasks per- formed, plant management employs tools from workplace-improvement specialists Humantech, Ann Arbor, MI. Humantech provides survey and assess- ment methodologies designed to help managers identify and evaluate specific ergonomic risks associated with tasks throughout the shop, looking at factors such as the extent of back movement,
28 MetalForming/November 2017
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