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Product category: Machinery and Production Equipment
News Release from: LVD (UK) | Subject: Axel 3015/PPEB
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial Team on 02 July 2002

Productivity is key to turnkey finishing
solutions

With the strength of sterling and international competition in the finishing industry growing in intensity, the need to reduce manufacturing costs has become as critical as product capability.

With the strength of sterling and international competition in the finishing industry growing in intensity, the need to reduce manufacturing costs has become as critical as product capability for Willenhall-based metal finishing plant specialist Ercon Group Ercon is very successful as the UK's only turnkey designer and producer of industrial paint and powder coating lines which includes pretreatment and wash, spray booths, spray equipment, curing ovens and conveyor systems

But as managing director Colin Green outlines: "We face such considerable competition that the reduction in manufacturing cost has become highly important".

He explains: "A couple of years ago we had to make the choice between investment in more capable manufacturing equipment or ditch our production activities altogether in favour of subcontract supply.

We decided to invest in new equipment to bring production under our control and instigated a design for production philosophy which is now paying dividends".

A prime example is the installation of an LVD Axel 3015 flying optics profiling machine and LVD PPEB 135 tonne, 4.2-metre multi-axis press brake.

"These have proven to be our best investment in our 25 years history", he says.

He then qualifies his statement describing how component lead times have been able to be slashed from four days to just six hours and maintains: "We have reduced reliance on subcontractors, improved fit and accuracy on profiled and formed parts and gained so much flexibility in what we are doing".

The Ercon group comprises a series of specialist companies which trade independently but are able to co-operate on major projects in the supply of finishing plant to domestic and overseas manufacturers.

The group has been particularly successful in the Middle East, where it has established a trading partner to provide local support.

In the UK, it has moved into providing subcontract powder coating and this has led to development of its own subcontract sheet metal fabrication operations for which the LVD machinery is providing an important capability.

Prior to acquisition of the LVD Axel and PPEB press brake, the manufacturing division had used manual shearing and bending to produce the larger fabricated components and tended to rely on subcontract for any smaller parts.

Now stainless steel components up to 6mm thick and mild steel parts between 0.9 and 12mm are processed in house with cycle times on the 2kW Axel varying between five and 10min for a sheet.

However, when large nests of thicker materials are required, these tend to be processed overnight.

The turnkey systems are built to order with the product range based on standard modules which are customised to meet specific applications, when the investment was made, it was anticipated that a laser would prove to be of greatest value in production of large oven, spray booth and wash station fabrications, and the associated filtration systems.

However, while the production benefits have proved to be considerable, there have also been numerous additional areas where the Axel's capabilities have become very valuable to Ercon's operation.

As Green outlines: "Before we installed the laser we outsourced smaller components such as chain links for our conveyor division which were produced using tooling owned by us.

As a result, we were tied in to large quantities to achieve economic pricing which then meant we had to store parts for later use.

Now, we can make-to-order using the Axel and simply profile overnight the batch of those parts we need.

As a direct result, stock levels have now been cut dramatically, making more space available for manufacturing".

He follows on to describe how other wide ranging benefits have arisen from the laser and press brake.

While maximum sheet size on the Axel laser is 3000 by 1500mm, the company has been able to exceed that on large panels required for curing ovens by profiling the sheet in two operations, using the 'laser eye' datuming facility.

This feature of the Axel ensures alignment and accuracy are maintained, the fit of components has therefore improved to the point where assembly of individual modules means exactly that, with the total elimination of fitting.

Stuart Marson, Ercon's production manager comments: "Both the laser and press brake have given us the ability to improve productivity and quality, basically without having to do anything else.

We have had a CAD system for some time so provided our original design is correct, then so is the assembly and fit of the product.

You would not believe how this has fed across to when the modules are put together on site.

We now have very few assembly issues to contend with, which makes our job easier and impresses the customer because everything is basically spot on".

He compares what is happening now, to the largely manual production routes that prevailed and pronounces that lead time savings have made a large improvement to the whole business.

"On one sizeable filter assembly, to generate all of the plate and sheet for assembly used to take four days.

Today, the same set of components can be profiled and bent to shape in just six hours", he says.

"While that maybe our best example to date", he maintains that, "every part that goes onto the Axel and the PPEB press brake is a testimony to a productivity improvement as well as fit and finish.

We also have much less waste material through a combination of fixed nests and dynamic nesting and resulting component accuracy is better than we need at around 0.2mm".

A further saving has been made by 'engineering' components such as the conveyor links and rings which are now completed in a single operation with pitch circle diameter bolt holes included within the laser cycle.

As well as sheet/plate profiling, Ercon uses the Axel to cut holes in tube using a location fixture in conjunction with the machines capacitative height sensing fitted as standard to the z-axis stroke of the cutting head.

At the other extreme, the Axel's ability to engrave component identification codes in cycle has proven essential for easier work control as a lot of the factory throughput comprises single assemblies.

Since the installation of the Axel, Ercon has been able to engineer, design and develop its products around the technology resulting in costs being so much lower compared with using third party suppliers.

Restrictions imposed by manual working methods have also been lifted.

Moreover, the company has been able to move into more general sheet metal subcontract work as a result of referrals from the group's Powder Coatings Division which creates added revenue and helps on the return on investment.

While much of the company focus is on the laser, the PPEB multi-axis press brake plays no small part in this operation.

The machine is highly specified with CNC driven V-axis crowning listed among its eight controllable axes.

"Had we been buying the machine to our own specification we probably would not have gone for such a sophisticated machine but we certainly wouldn't change it now".

Green admits: "The PPEB was available on short delivery and has proved to be extremely capable especially with its automatic CNC crowning system.

While the machine is ideal for bending stainless steel, it also works very well on other material types due to its multiple tool set-ups that can be accommodated along the beam", he says.

Other features of the machine include hydraulic tool clamping and the latest Lazer-Safe guarding system which allows the operator to work close to the machine in total safety.

Not only does this save a lot of body movement, making the operation quicker with less fatigue for the operator, it also allows parts to be bent much faster.

Unlike the Axel laser, press brake programming is done at the machine using the LVD CADMAN, windows-based software with on-machine graphics simulation and operation instructions.

"This was our first CNC press brake and the operators found it a bit daunting in the early days but they soon picked-up what was required", says Marson.

But as Colin Green concludes: "We're very pleased with the performance of both machines they constitute a tremendous investment for the company and are providing generous returns across the business.

We had a lot of confidence in LVD and that has been borne out by the service that we've had from them.

In terms of the benefit for the business, it is without doubt, the best investment we've ever made".

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