Faster in profile

British agricultural equipment manufacturer Shelbourne Reynolds highlights how technology is improved as technology suppliers develop their models. In this case, it demonstrates how there is a massive difference in what can be achieved by today's Trumpf TruLaser 3030 L20, by comparison with its forerunners in the TruLaser 3000 Series (01582 725335). The Shelbourne Stripper Header is a unique and innovative product, and since 1999 it has featured stainless steel 'Seed Saver' stripping fingers. This was a significant technology breakthrough, as it allowed tougher threshing wheat and durum varieties to be stripped – a method that ensures only mature seed is harvested. Until the arrival of its Trumpf TruLaser 3030 L20 flat bed laser machine, Shelbourne Reynolds manufactured Seed Savers on its TC L2503, purchased in the mid '90s. Now they are made on the company's newly installed TruLaser 3030 L20 flat bed laser machine, resulting in significant improvement in the product's aesthetics and quality. This move has also reduced production time and material wastage. Image: Significant improvements have been won with the TruLaser 3030 L20 The company estimates it uses in the region of 35 tonnes of stainless steel per year to manufacture this product and the high cost of the material makes cut quality vital to the economics of the process. The seed saver component is 35 cm by 10 cm in size and comprises a set of teeth, similar to that of a comb. To get the maximum return on a sheet, the components are nested, so that the gaps between the teeth of one component form the teeth of the other. Although a leading edge machine in the '90s, the TC L2503 has neither the process security, nor the reliability that are characteristic of its successor. As a result, Shelbourne Reynolds was scrapping around 5% of its output, due to problems with edge quality. "The TruLaser 3030 L20 has enabled us to reduce wastage by more than 50%," explains Richard Baldwin, Shelbourne Reynold's production control manager. "So, on material alone, we are saving nearly £4,500 per annum on this machine. The cut quality and the look of the product are also greatly improved." Development in drive technology has resulted in the new machine having a simultaneous axis speed that is nearly double that of its predecessor. Additionally, this machine is the first to include the FastLine process as a standard feature. This ensures a smooth transition between piercing and cutting to reduce processing time for thin sheet by an average of 20%. Mr Baldwin concludes: "The cycle time for a nested batch of Seed Saver fingers is now 40% less than on our Trumatic L2503. So that means less power consumption and greater machine availability for other jobs. Also, as the older laser is not used as much, we are preserving the productive life of this machine, too." Over in the US, an all-electric Unison tube bending machine (01723 582868) is to be put to use by Philadelphia-based Fabspeed Motorsports. The unit is an all-electric, servomotor-controlled bender from Unison's Breeze range for tube diameters up to 76 mm, fitted with a multi-stack tooling head. It will enhance the manufacturing flexibility of advanced exhaust systems for performance cars by allowing Fabspeed to bring a lot of its tube bending processes in-house. This will provide numerous benefits, including reducing the cost of building an exhaust, shortening lead times and extending the flexibility of the company's custom design services. GLOBAL SALES The company sells its exhausts globally, but, up until now, the production process for Fabspeed's exhausts has been based on assembling the required exhaust configuration by cutting and welding together modular stainless steel 304L component shapes – such as U-bends and J-bends – fabricated by a metalworking subcontractor. While providing flexibility and cost-effectiveness, it means that Fabspeed must order in bulk, create waste by cutting vehicle-specific exhaust shapes from larger general-purpose components, and perform more assembly steps than are ideally necessary. The new Unison bending machine will allow Fabspeed to simplify the production process for the more complex exhaust shapes it manufactures. Parts of exhaust systems that used to be TIG-welded from two or three component shapes will now be fabricated in a single stage, without any cut-off waste; material purchasing costs will be reduced, because Fabspeed will now be able to make parts to demand from tube lengths, rather than ordering and stocking much larger batches of shapes; and the machine additionally provides Fabspeed with much greater flexibility to customise – allowing it to employ exotic lightweight materials, such as titanium, or to vary the shape and sound of designs, to meet the needs of individual clients. Image: Electric tube bending offers flexibility for Fabspeed "Unison's machine is intrinsically simple to set up and use," says Fabspeed's product development manager, Tony Wells. "It means that any of our technicians can be trained easily to use it and deliver precision, right-first-time results. The machine is going to enhance our production process and give us even more flexibility to meet the demands of our clients – who typically want the very best and an individual solution." Box item Product developments round-up [] LVD Company (01295 676800) now offers 35 to 50 ton configurations of its PPEC series of mid-range press brakes. The new configurations complete the PPEC product line, which will now include models from 35 to 220 tons in bend lengths from 1,500 to 4,270 mm. Image: A mid-range of press brakes from LVD [] Mate Precision Tooling's ValuGrind high precision grinder offers easy punch and die maintenance (0800 413408). It enables fabricators to precisely regrind punches and dies to maintain optimum condition. Image: ValuGrind offers precision [] ESAB's portable IMP flame-cutting machine can now be fitted with a plasma torch (01264 332233). Image: Portable plasma cutting [] Skeleton-free processing is a new feature on Trumpf's TruPunch 5000 and the new generation TruPunch 3000 machines (01582 725335). This relies on common slit cuts that are achieved without increased programming, as every possible geometric configuration is resident in the software. This enables the sheet layout to be optimised and prepares for the necessary 'release strokes'. The parts are initially processed in sequence and then freely punched prior to discharge and removal. Parts or scrap are rotated using a separating tool, with a bi-level stripper for ejection via the parts chute. The remaining strips are then crushed. The processing time per part remains the same as before. [] Live Remote Programming Camera is a new option for WARDJet X-Classic or XL controllers. It can be used for accurate and fast edge alignment of the metal sheet on the cutting table, as well as reverse engineering/digitising applications. [] Speed of operation and a small footprint are features of Bystronic's 50 tonne 1,600 mm press brake (02476 585114) . The bed length of 1,650 mm is also the distance between frames, so part lengths are not restricted by the depth of the machine's throat. First published in Machinery, February 2011