Alpha Manufacturing, one of the UK’s largest precision sheet metal fabricators, has acquired a TruBend Cell 7000 high-speed robotic bending cell from Trumpf. The investment helps keep the company on track to achieve its ‘2020 Vision’ – a five-year plan to double turnover by 2020.

“We have for some time admired the TruBend Cell 7000 from afar, but had resisted as all of our existing bending machines [press brakes] are from another supplier,” explains operations director Paul Clews. “However, with press brake skills becoming increasingly hard to source, we knew it made sense to look closely at more automated solutions. At first we considered press brakes with automatic tool changers, but these did not compare with the TruBend Cell 7000. In my opinion, there is nothing else like it on the market.”
Clews and his team performed due diligence on the TruBend Cell 7000 and found the company would have no problem filling three shifts, 24-7, so the purchase decision was made. The machine is now hard at work bending a multitude of different parts.
“In comparison with a standard press brake, we are achieving 30-40% more efficiency,” says Clews. “However, it’s also about the skill set available on the machine. We now have complete peace-of-mind that no parts will be bent incorrectly. Such has been its impact that in 12 months we may look at taking another. Machines like the TruBend Cell form part of our long-term vision to deskill and automate.”
For further information www.trumpf.com

“We don’t do anything, anywhere in the business, without it being on Javelin.” Those are the words of Ian Cox, operations director at electronics housing manufacturer, OKW Enclosures Ltd.

“Javelin has played an absolutely vital role in getting the company to where it is today, and will remain crucial as we grow,” he adds. “As there are between 15,000 and 20,000 parts set up on Javelin across our five brands, we couldn’t run a business of this size without the information and control it gives us.”
The Fareham-based company has used Javelin and its forerunner, Jobshop, for more than 20 years, currently running the 2017 release.
“We updated our entire IT system in 2011, and now that we’ve also made a sea change to meet Javelin’s SQL database requirement, our philosophy is to work with the latest releases,” says Cox.
All shop-floor operations for manufacturing the company’s Metcase-brand enclosures are controlled with Javelin. The blanks are cut on two Murata Wiedermann CNC punch presses and then folded on Amada press brakes. Each part has a Javelin job card detailing every operation and drawing records. But before that stage, the software’s MRP system comes into play, providing precise control of all supply operations, addressing minimum stock levels and showing exactly what components need to be made.
Everything is also costed in Javelin, having been created on the system with a bill of materials and routing, which produces the standard costing.
“Modifications can be built
on to that, giving an accurate price for quotations,” says Cox. “And the standard costing is used in end-of-month stock and work-in-progress valuations.”
For further information www.javelin-mrp.com