Innovation is at the heart of the metalworking industry, and it takes centre stage at Walter Metals. Nonetheless, theOhio-based tool steel distributor for Ellwood Specialty Steel was experiencing bottlenecks because its four manual bandsaws were inefficient and required a significant amount of operator interaction to handle material.

General manager Mike Kaufman says. “They needed replacement, also due to their age. We therefore started exploring options for how we could do things better, faster and safer.”

The company eventually purchased two HBE411A Dynamic automatic horizontal bandsaws from Behringer.

“We looked at three or four other manufacturers, but none of them had the level of automation on the handling system that we saw with the Behringer.”

Behringer also reportedly presented the lowest total system cost when compared with the other competitors under consideration. The saw builder’s extensive parts inventory and enthusiastic team of technicians further solidified the decision to partner with Behringer.

“They have a large amount of supplies and spare parts on the ground in the US,” Kaufman says. “As far as service goes, typically we get resolutions in under 24 hours.”

The Behringer bandsaws at Walter Metals straight-cut solid round bar from 2 to 10inch diameter. The workpiece materials are tool and die steel, such as D2 and S7, most annealed up to 42 HRc hardness.

With the introduction of the Behringer saws and their automated systems, WalterMetals witnessed remarkable improvements.According to Kaufman,efficiency soared as the company reduced material handling time by 50%. He says: “We do almost two times the amount of production on two saws than we did previously on four.”

More information www.behringer.net