Before investing in Radan CADCAM software, creating manual nests at Kansas-based Tindle Construction Inc (TCI) took the sheet-metal fabricator several hours, meaning shop-floor personnel moved on to other tasks while the nests were generated. But now a day’s worth of nests are produced in just a couple of minutes.

“This makes a huge difference to us,” states engineering manager Jesse McGinnis. “We have an employee who only programs for half the day, freeing him up to spend the rest of his time on engineering projects. Because of what we’re able to do with Radan, it’s not necessary to have anyone generating nests full time anymore.”

Operating across two divisions – Industrial Services and Fabrication – the company manufactures products for a variety of customers, while also offering design and planning services.

“We have several machines with a lot of different capabilities, and combining those is like playing chess,” says McGinnis. “It’s interesting to see what we can come up with to get the job done, and that’s definitely a challenge I enjoy.”

McGinnis was recruited by TCI specifically for the fabrication side of the business and was tasked with hand-programming the company’s latest laser. TCI eventually invested in a CNC programming solution for the laser, but over time found that the system was significantly limited in efficiency and flexibility. After investigating all options for implementing a new sheet-metal solution, TCI made the switch to Radan.

“I felt like Radan was a better fit for us,” says McGinnis, who also uses the software to program TCI’s waterjet. “We wouldn’t be as efficient as we are without Radan’s nesting and the system’s ability to do what we need.”

Unlike many other solutions for sheet metal, he says Radan also allows the company to edit automatically generated nests.

For further information
www.radan.com

LVD has introduced MOVit, a range of automation systems that includes TAS (Tower Automation System) and WAS (Warehouse Automation System) options for LVD Phoenix and Electra laser-cutting machines. MOVit systems also include LVD’s Compact Tower (CT-L), Flexible Automation (FA-L) and Load-Assist (LA).

MOVit TAS is a single or double tower storage system that can be integrated with up to two laser-cutting machines. This tower system offers 16 different configurations available for 3015, 4020 and 6020 laser machine formats.
Also new is MOVit WAS, which offers a custom number of towers beginning at a minimum of three, in single or double-row configurations. Each pallet has a capacity of 3 or 5 tonnes, and a stack height of 90 mm. Multiple laser-cutting machines can be connected to the system using integrated load/unload devices, while output stations can be added to deliver cut sheets to a sorting area or sorted parts to other machines such as press brakes. WAS is available for 3015 and 4020 laser machine formats.
Both TAS and WAS offer the option for unloading directly on the machine(s). Cut sheets are unloaded on a third table where parts can be sorted and made available for additional processing.
The automation systems feature highly customisable configurations that are designed to keep material flow continuous, production uninterrupted, and sheets and parts organised efficiently. Standard TAS and WAS configurations allow for
full lights-out production as finished sheets are returned to available storage.
For further information www.lvdgroup.com

The Laser Cutting Co (TLCC) has taken delivery of a new Trumpf TruLaser Tube 7000 at its Sheffield facility.

This customer-focused supplier of subcontract laser cutting services will use the machine, which is currently being commissioned, to achieve further growth as part of its progressive five-year plan. Moreover, with TLCC already producing flat sheet-metal ventilator parts as part of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the new TruLaser Tube is helping the company bid competitively for tube-based parts needed for the same purpose.
“We’re heavily focussed on processing innovative tube design, so our investment in the Trumpf TruLaser Tube 7000 will further enhance our capability and capacity in this area,” says director Charlie Day. “Although we’re a subcontractor, our customer slogan is ‘your partner in production’, where we can add considerable value at the design stage. The Trumpf machine will support our efforts in this area, particularly with six-axis 3D cutting and the flow drill and tapping attachment.”
Smart Design Production is the value-added aspect of TLCC’s business, an initiative that has seen the company deliver production cost savings for customers of up to 50% in some instances. Although laser tube cutting can replace conventional machining processes such as drilling, sawing and milling, it is also now possible to perform threading operations in-cycle, replacing weak and time-consuming fixings such as nuts or rivets.
In the first machining step, the flow drill produces an extrusion that is followed by the cutting of a heavy-duty thread. Sensors monitor the process and alert the operator if a tool breaks, for example.
Advantages such as the flow drill will provide a competitive edge in many regards, not least when trying to win work required by the healthcare sector as it looks to boost capacity due to coronavirus.
For further information www.uk.trumpf.com

Birmingham-based Finish Architectural has used its investment in the latest automated punching and laser-cutting technology from Amada to double the size of its business over the past five years.

Finish Architectural, which generates turnover of circa £5.5m, manufactures products that include window cills and pods, copings, rain-screen systems, facade steel supports, steel bracketry, flashings, perforated sheet, punched art, louvre systems, and bespoke pressings – essentially any construction-related fabricated item.
“In 2015 we bought our first automated machine, and have doubled in size since then,” states operations director Terry Turner. “Automation removes manual input and provides a lot more control over our operational efficiency.”
The shift to automation began with the arrival of an Amada EM-ZR B servo-electric turret punch press that benefits from an ASLIII MP300/40 automated tower loading system and automatic part picker. Two years later, in 2017, an Amada LCG-AJ 4kW fibre laser-cutting machine was installed featuring an AS LUL automated load-unload system.
“These investments were purposely designed to upgrade our facility and bring automation online,” says Turner. “We knew that automation would unlock the potential growth we had in the business.”
As well as a host of aluminium parts, the laser cutter is also used to process mild steel sheet, sometimes up to 15 mm thick. The impact of the automated Amada machines on business at Finish Architectural cannot be overstated. In 2015, the company operated a single-shift pattern, but by 2018 had switched to 24-hour operations, with the machines running fully throughout the weekends.
“Amada have held our hand and been there every step of the way, to make sure that we develop and grow the business around the automated machines,” concludes Turner. “The Amada support has been fantastic from the start.”
For further information www.amada.eu

Automated material flow offers manufacturers significant time and cost savings.

With this in mind, Kasto has introduced a new system for efficiently transferring material automatically between its sheet-metal storage towers and flat-bed processing plant, such as laser-cutting machines and turret punch presses. The system enables minimally attended production, achieves high throughput speeds and relieves staff of the laborious and potentially risky task of handling large metal sheets.
The system comprises two sheet manipulators suspended from a gantry projecting from the storage tower and two pick-and-place tables below. These tables are positioned side by side at the same distance apart as the manipulators; the table nearer the tower being a similar distance from it and fixed to the floor. The second (shuttle) table has a slatted surface and is rail-mounted, allowing it to travel to a production area and back.
Each manipulator operates differently in that the one closer to the tower uses an array of suction cups to hold the sheet during lifting and lowering, whereas the other employs a rake-type gripper which opens so that the rake tips move further apart than the width of the sheet, allowing it to be lifted from underneath off the slatted shuttle table after the rakes have closed. Regarding motion, the manipulators always move horizontally in unison and vertically in opposite directions.
Kasto’s system is not designed to return the sheet containing laser-cut or punched components back into the storage tower, although such fully-automatic operation can be supplied by the company with double pick-and-place stations, and with manipulators moving independently – one above the other.
For further information www.kasto.com