The Fabricator March 2011

The long-held belief that setups should be amortized over the largest possible lot sizes needs to change. As setup times become shorter, they become less relevant, and, according to some, so does the old notion of economic order quantities.

The increased use of advanced high-strength steels (AHSS) have caused many fabricators to rethink the way they bend metal. AHSS have a relatively high springback associated with it, so much larger overbend angles are generally required. Rotary bending technology is a suitable way to product that overbend angle.

Emerson Network Power's Liebert Precision Cooling facility wanted to implement the idea of one-piece flow on its shop floor in Columbus, Ohio, but the only way that was going to happen effectively was with the introduction of an automated bending cell. The company found its answer with an electric panel bender from Prima Finn-Power.

Columnist Gerald Davis bypasses CAM software and uses his 3-D software to create a nest of parts.

By regularly checking the four key areas of a press brake—hydraulic circuits, mechanical systems, electrical systems, and tooling—the operator can help to ensure that the brake is always ready to tackle the next bending job.

White Castle’s metal fabrication subsidiary has abided by continuous improvement principles for decades—long before Toyota became a major player in the United States.

Lane Steel Co. marries a guillotine shear and a robot—and frees a major shop floor bottleneck as a result, leading to greater throughput, better quality, and more flexibility.

Effective sheet metal design should not set out to eliminate welding, but instead uncover the most cost-effective ways to manufacture a part. The best designs exploit strengths of the welding process and minimize its weaknesses.