Just like profit margins, the margin for error in the metalforming industry is getting tighter and tighter. If you choose the wrong technology – or even worse, hold off on making new technology investments – your pressroom’s production capabilities will quickly become uncompetitive. And these days, once you get behind, it’s almost impossible to catch up.
So for companies like Venest Industries, an auto parts supplier based in St. Catharines, Ontario, selecting the right technology is now seen, literally, as a life-or-death decision. “It’s simply a matter of survival,” says Shaun Reycraft, Program Manager at Venest. “We have to scrutinize every operation to see how we can maximize efficiency and stay at the technological forefront. If we don’t, we risk losing a substantial amount of profitable business.”
Therefore, when Reycraft and his team went searching for an automated transfer system for a newly acquired 7,000 kN press, they looked long and hard at the alternatives, eventually gathering no less than a halfdozen detailed proposals. “We knew the more we could get out of a transfer system, the more we’d be able to get out of our new press – in terms of productivity and ROI,” Reycraft explains. “That’s why we were determined to find a system that offered the most potential with the fewest compromises.” After careful evaluation, they chose the AP&T SpeedFeeder Transfer system for the 7,000 kN press. Now, a year after the SpeedFeeder Transfer system came on line, all the evidence indicates that they made the right decision.
Logistical
Challenges
Meeting the specification for
Venest’s new press transfer system was not as straightforward as it might
first appear. The press – a four-year-old 7,000 kN unit acquired from
another subsidiary of Magna International, Venest’s parent company – was
intended to replace a 3,500 kN transfer press equipped with a cam-driven
transfer system. As delivered, however, the PTC press was designed in a
pure progressive die configuration, and set up to produce a single part.
“It was the exact opposite of what was needed, which was a configuration
that could accommodate a broad range of both progressive and transfer jobs,
Reycraft recalls.
This operational flexibility significantly complicated the transfer system
specification. The new transfer system had to be parked away from the
machine bed during progressive operations and during die changes, so that
new dies could be delivered to the press via an overhead crane. “That was
our basic challenge,” says Reycraft. “Getting a system that would reach in
when it was needed, and get out of the way when it wasn’t.” Space
constraints provided other potential headaches. The new 7,000 kN press was
installed in the area previously occupied by the 3,500 kN unit, putting
available room for the transfer system at a premium, especially when the
transfer units were parked away from the bed during progressive operations
or die changes.
Of the half-dozen proposals presented to meet these requirements, the one
submitted by AP&T addressed all the challenges. “The system is
space-efficient and it showed AP&T clearly understood what we needed,”
Reycraft states.
AP&T’s proposal was based on an adaptation of their modular SpeedFeeder
Transfer system. Introduced in the mid-1980’s as one of the first
servo-driven systems, AP&T’s transfer automation technology is now in
its sixth generation. According to Anders Vesterholm, Sales Account Manager
for AP&T, “With each generation of our servo technology, we take a good
thing and make it better. For the sixth generation, we concentrated on
further simplifying and standardizing our designs, which has allowed us to
reduce each module down to about sixty total components.”
The modular nature of the AP&T system was a feature that Reycraft
liked. The SpeedFeeder system is built around four standardized SpeedFeeder
‘press robot’ transfer units, with two units mounted on either side of the
press. These SpeedFeeder units, in various sizes and combinations, are used
for every AP&T press automation system, whether it’s press-to-press,
in-press transfer, in-bed transfer or a destacker. “Thanks to the modular
approach, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel with each application,”
Vesterholm points out. “This means we can design, build and install systems
faster, while paying more attention to the unique characteristics and
challenges of each individual application.”
In the case of this application, the primary challenge involved engineering
a mounting for the system’s Y-beams that would allow unrestricted transfer
operations in the tight quarters provided – including the complete
retraction of the transfer units during die changes and progressive
operations. Unable to mount the beams in the ideal location between the
press columns, AP&T’s application engineers had to mount them on the
press’s external frame. In their final design, the AP&T transfer units
took up considerably less space than the systems submitted in the other
proposals. “I think this is what really proved to Venest that we were truly
paying attention to their needs,” Vesterholm remarks.
But it was more than hardware alone that attracted Venest to the proposal.
They were also impressed with the comprehensive way AP&T approached the
project. “We had never worked with Venest before, so we wanted to make them
familiar with how AP&T designs, builds and operates in the field,” says
Vesterholm. “We showed them similar applications, both old and new,
introduced them to other customers, and took them to our headquarters and
plants in Sweden.”
Installation was another area where Venest set some high goals – and
AP&T met them. “We gave them a very small window,” Reycraft admits. All
work, up to system commissioning, had to be accomplished during the plant’s
two-week shutdown in July, 2005. Thanks to the modular nature of the
system, AP&T’s crew was able to get the system up and running within
the deadline. “Once the mountings were installed, everything went like
clockwork,” Reycraft says. “Some debugging was needed once production
started, but everything was up and running on time.”
“’Improvements’ alone
are no longer enough”
The new transfer system
has allowed production speeds to increase by nearly 50% in some cases,
according to Venest. Where the old press maxed out at 15 strokes per
minute, the new press/transfer system combo often runs at speeds up to 22
strokes per minute, and Reycraft estimates the average productivity for all
transfer jobs is about 20 strokes per minute. “When you’re talking about
hundreds of thousands of parts per year, a difference like that really adds
up,” he says. And while Reycraft is careful to point out that the
productivity improvements are not only due to the transfer system, he
clearly believes that the AP&T SpeedFeeder Transfer system is enabling
the press to operate at its full potential.
Part of unlocking that potential has to do with maximizing the press’s
operational flexibility. The new transfer system provides infinitely
variable placement all along the X, Y, and Z axes, and the Siemens-based
control system offers an unlimited range of programmability within those
parameters. With a user-friendly graphic interface the transfer system can
be easily programmed to accommodate virtually any part that can fit in the
press. Currently, the transfer system is handling parts that range in
widths from about 100 to 1,200 mm; everything from a bracket that weighs
barely half a kilo to an 8 kg. cross-member.
While the old 3,500 kN press was constantly in demand, it could only handle
three jobs. By contrast, the new 7,000 kN unit is currently running twice
as many different transfer jobs, with more to be added this fall. All this
is in addition to the work the press does with progressive dies, which
accounts for nearly 20% of the work done on the press.
“If you can do every job faster, you can do more jobs on the same machine,”
Reycraft says. However, there are other factors that also contribute to the
new system’s enhanced productivity. For instance, the transfer systems’
ability to park away from the press bed permits fast and easy changeovers
to different or progressive operations – further increasing the press’s
uptime. Also, the transfer system is virtually maintenance-free; the only
preventative maintenance requirement is bearing lubrication. When the
occasional operational glitch has arisen, AP&T engineers in Sweden have
been able to troubleshoot the system in Canada via modem and quickly
resolve the issue.
Reycraft sums it up by saying, “With the cutthroat competition out there,
you’ve got to be the first through the door with the best technology. Any
of the proposed transfer systems would have helped us improve productivity
over the previous press. But ‘improvements’ alone are no longer enough.
These days, you’ve got to maximize your productivity and your ROI to stay
competitive. And we’re confident the transfer system we chose is allowing
us to do that.”
