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High-tech stamping in Amish country

Automated production system helps stamper meet million-volume demand

The SUPERB™ factory in Sugarcreek, Ohio, performs surprisingly high-tech operations in a traditional village in Amish country, including stamping components for next-generation power grid storage units for Alevo, a Swiss company with its manufacturing plant in Concord, N.C. Top photo courtesy of SUPERB Industries. Inset photo courtesy of Alevo.

The village of Sugarcreek, Ohio, with 2,000 inhabitants, is nestled between picturesque hills. It is part of the largest Amish community in the world and home to one of the world’s largest cuckoo clocks (see Figure 1).

The village—where horse-drawn carriages are part of daily life—also is home to the headquarters of U.S. high-tech manufacturer SUPERB Industries. Founded in 1986 by John and Dan Miller, the manufacturer has expanded from a garage workshop to a medium-sized company with more than 80 employees and a related entity with 50 employees.

100 Million Battery Components

Recently SUPERB Industries received a major order from Alevo Group to produce 100 million stamped battery components. Alevo, a Swiss company with its manufacturing plant in Concord, N.C., is an energy storage manufacturer that claims to be solving one of the world’s greatest energy challenges: being able to “time-shift” energy by storing and delivering electricity to the power grid on demand.

The company’s GridBank™ units are 40-foot-long, shipping container-sized energy reservoirs that store and deliver large-scale electricity on demand to the grid using inorganic lithium-ion batteries (see Figure 2). The batteries serve as “shock absorbers” for the power grid, storing electricity when too much is produced and releasing it during peak demand (see Stamping Storage sidebar).

Individual power units are stored in battery containers (see Figure 3). The project entails the production of 3 million stamped components before the end of this year. Production is projected to increase steadily over the next few years and to reach 100 million components per year by 2019.

Automated Production Meets Volume Demand

Producing more than 100 million components requires a system with the workings of a finely tuned cuckoo clock. To meet the volume demand, the manufacturer installed two new Bihler BIMERIC servo production and assembly systems (see Figure 4).

The stamping manufacturer produces the battery containers by merging multiple manufacturing processes into one automated process using two automated assembly systems. In addition to internally installed stamping, forming, and assembly tools, the machines are equipped with laser welding, cleaning, and inspection devices.

The BIMERIC production and assembly system performs subassembly in a configuration of modules—material feeder, press unit, forming units, and pick-and-place units.

From left to right, the coil or strip material is first fed to the machine, stamped inside the press, then formed by means of forming units from below and above. Then additional components and subassemblies join to complete the final assembly.

If more process steps are required for downstream applications, additional standardized modules for contact welding, tapping, adding screws, and bunkering plastic parts can be installed. Individual processing stations are separated to ensure accessibility to each individual station for retrofitting and maintenance operations.

Figure 1
The 24-foot-tall contender for “World’s Largest Cuckoo Clock” resides in Sugarcreek, Ohio, also home to two automated servo production and assembly systems at SUPERB Industries.

The systems have been in operation since June 2015.

The SUPERB-made battery containers are then shipped to Alevo’s North Carolina facility where the battery electronics are inserted.

Ready for Future Challenges

If demand for the containers increases as planned, SUPERB will add another eight automated production and assembly systems in the next four years to prepare for future challenges, President John Miller relayed.

The systems are equipped with state-of-the-art servo and control technology.

Intelligent Control Technology. The integrated VariControl VC 1 control platform handles complex automation tasks intuitively, the OEM states. All machine functions and several axes movements are configured directly on the controller without external programming devices. Changeover procedures are done on a customized menu. The multimedia diagnostic and online help system supports operators with videos and graphics, and allows them to optimize processes.

Continuous Flow Production. “Bihler’s BIMERIC technology has given us an advantage over our competitors. It allows us to combine different manufacturing operations into one process.” SUPERB needs skilled employees to set up, operate, and maintain the systems, Miller said, but during production, no human intervention is required. “We stamp, form, laser weld, leak test, and package without human intervention. This continuous production flow from raw material to finished product delivers consistent quality and value to our customers,” he said.

Miller credits the Alevo project for its recent plant and manufacturing capacity expansion. Last winter the company expanded its climate-controlled facility from 60,000 to 72,000 square feet and hired both experienced and entry-level people to support operations.

Other projects the manufacturer has implemented on its automated production and assembly machines include energy absorbers for the automotive industry and millions of thermostatic contact assemblies for appliance manufacturers (see Figure 5).

SUPERB supplies the automotive, appliance, medical, and electronics sectors, bucking the trend to outsource production to low-cost countries. More than half of the 130 million products produced in Ohio each year are delivered to low-cost countries such as Mexico and China.

Miller said the manufacturer remains committed to its manufacturing location in Amish country, Ohio because of its access to a dedicated workforce. He attributes the company’s success to the work ethic of the region’s Swiss and German immigrants. “We have been passing on the acquired technical skills for 10 generations,” Miller said. S

Figure 2
Alevo’s shipping container-sized energy storage units compensate for power fluctuations, especially critical in supplying continuity for renewable energy integration into the power grid. Image courtesy of Alevo.

SUPERB Industries, 330-852-0500 www.superbindustries.com

Bihler, Germany, 49-8368-18-280, vinzenz.hoermann@bihler.de, www.bihler.de

Alevo, 704-260-7400, www.alevo.com

Stamping Storage

SUPERB’s shipping container-sized energy storage units compensate for power fluctuations, especially critical in supplying continuity for renewable energy integration into the power grid.

The batteries are part of a vertically engineered turnkey energy storage system that can be placed anywhere in the electricity supply chain to reduce energy waste, lower greenhouse gases and other emissions, create efficiencies, and lower costs, company literature states. 

Alevo’s proprietary inorganic electrolyte (Alevolyte™) is nonflammable and has long life and stability, according to the company.

About the Author

Kate Bachman

Contributing editor

815-381-1302

Kate Bachman is a contributing editor for The FABRICATOR editor. Bachman has more than 20 years of experience as a writer and editor in the manufacturing and other industries.