Page 28 - MetalForming-May-2018-issue

Fabrication: Laser
A productive find by Fab Metals is a sorting option that allows the laser-machine opera- tor to handle parts off of the machine during production. If the operator falls behind, the system will hold sheets until he can catch up.
ments and repair needs.
“I’m glad that we brought in another
machine so quickly,” Hensley says. “We have no problem keeping the machines busy, and the automated material han- dling allows us to keep material ready continuously. If need be, we can run 50 different jobs on 30 variations of material every day or night.”
Both fiber-laser cells run lights-out from about 2:30 a.m., when the last second-shift employees leave, until the first shift arrives by 6 a.m. Automatic dialers built into the automation can alert operators and managers to inter- ruptions during lights-out work, and the company can monitor production via installed webcams. The towers, each with 36 shelves, automatically load the machines in tandem with the LiftMas- ter Compacts according to job pro- grams, and return processed sheets back to assigned shelves during lights- out work. Come morning, processed sheets and parts can be picked back off of the shelves and routed to what- ever processes come next.
Surprising Benefits
During attended operations, Fab Metals makes good use of Trumpf Part- Master conveyor units running off of the towers, where cut sheets and parts can route after exiting the cutting machines. The capabilities and advan- tages of the PartMaster option proved a pleasant surprise to Fab Metals.
“We did not use it during the first three months after installing the 6- kW machine,” says Hensley, “but we’ve taken advantage of it since then. If we don’t want to place processed sheets and parts back into a shelf, we unload them via the PartMaster and our oper- ator picks them from there. The con- veyor just keeps feeding material to the operator.”
Hensley reports significant labor savings in being able to free up employ- ees for other work due to the conveyor’s capabilities.
“With the old CO2 machine, sheets would stack up*, and in the morning four employees would spend half a day stripping off the parts,” he says. “Now
A huge chunk of that growth revolves around Fab Metals’ laser-cut- ting capabilities. The company added its first machine, a CO2 model, in the mid-1990s, followed by a 4-kW CO2 machine in 2002. Due to resulting growth, in 2017 the company decided to upgrade its laser-cutting technology and capacity.
Automation an Eye-Opener
The 4-kW laser, a Trumpf model with a LiftMaster material-loading arm, opened Hensley’s eyes to the benefits of automation.
“From using that first laser cutter without automation in the mid-’90s to bringing in the 4-kW, we learned our lesson about manually loading and unloading laser cutters,” he says, noting the difficulty and time commitment in manual sheet handling as well as the production bottleneck it caused. “We have to be automated, and we just won’t load a machine by hand. Automa- tion really spoiled us.”
Fast-forward to early-2017.
“We were worried about our work- load,” Hensley recalls. “We had run that 4-kW CO2 laser cutter for 15 years and it was a good machine, but we needed something faster.”
With a need for speed, by June of last year Fab Metals replaced its CO2 laser cutters with a Trumpf 3030 6-kW fiber-laser machine, backed by Trumpf material-handling automation that includes a TruStore 3030 tower and LiftMaster Compact sheet-loading/ unloading unit. Though impressed by the speed and cut quality of the laser machine as well as the sheet-handling automation, Hensley found that grow- ing orders taxed even this workhorse.
“We still couldn’t keep up because of all of the new work we had coming in,” he says.
Three months after installing the new fiber-laser 3030, Fab Metals brought in another fiber-laser machine, a Trumpf high-speed 5030 8-kW model equipped with the same TruStore 3030 and LiftMaster Compact automation as the 3030.
Both machines primarily process thin stainless-steel and aluminum sheet at Fab Metals, with the 6-kW machine able to cut material to 1.25 in. thick and the 8-kW capable of 1.5-in. cuts. Company officials report significantly higher cutting speeds and smoother cut edges as compared to the old CO2 lasers, as well less energy usage, maintenance require-
26 MetalForming/May 2018
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