Page 34 - MetalForming-Mar-2018-issue

FABRICATION
RV Industry Supplier Ramps
Up Production Using
Brake and Bender
Fiber Laser,
North American recreational- vehicle (RV ) shipments hit their highest level ever in 2017 (472,200 units), according to the Recre- ation Vehicle Industry Association, marking the industry's eighth consec- utive year of gains. Those shipments should grow even more in 2018, accord- ing to the group.
That is great news for Rock Run Industries, LLC, Millersburg, IN, a man-
ufacturer of RV parts (waste- tank supports and chassis- prep components) for more than 150 RV OEM plants. Located near Elkhart, IN, known as the RV Capital of the World, Fritz Schlabach
founded the company in 2007 after quitting his full-time job as a plumber in the mobile-home industry and pur- chasing an old punch press and other used equipment. Today, Rock Run, with its 51 employees and 84,000-sq.-ft. fab- rication facility with powder-coating capabilities, is riding the RV wave, hav- ing doubled its sales since 2013.
It also has expanded its production capabilities to include outdoor kitchen cabinetry that utilizes galvannealed steel for the countertops and doors. Until recently, Rock Run outsourced
the production of this product.
“We are cutting a large amount if 16-gauge galvannealed steel every week,” explains Schlabach. ”We had our CO2 laser, but it did not do a good job on coated materials such as gal- vannealed steel. As a result, we were
outsourcing all of this work.”
That changed, he says, when Rock
Run purchased a Platino 2.0 fiber laser with 10-shelf tower from Prima Power, Schaumburg, IL, which in 2015 sup- plied Rock Run with an E6x servo-elec- tric turret punch press.
“The RV industry is very demand- ing,” explains Schlabach. “We are a high-mix, low-volume industry with short lead times, less than two weeks most of the time. In order to meet the just-in-time demands of our cus- tomers, we began searching for new
32 MetalForming/March 2018
www.metalformingmagazine.com
Equipment enables Rock Run to bring production of a new product line back inhouse.
BY JOE JANCSURAK, ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Rock Run Industries’ Prima Power 2.0 fiber laser with a 10-shelf tower. The compact tower server allows for easy loading and unloading of blanks and processed sheets.