FABRICATOR CUTS PROCESS TIMES 86 PERCENT, INCREASES BUSINESS 15 PERCENT
Chicago Metal Fabricators (Chicago, IL) boasts that they can accomplish ?any job you can throw our way . . . whether it?s welding, forming, cutting or punching.? The company has fabrications installed around the globe. Founded in 1908 on the city?s southwest side, CMF is a fully integrated fabricator with over 260,000 sq ft of production area.
Starting off as a metal cabinet and ductwork fabricator, CMF has evolved and now specializes in heavy components and assemblies from 16 ga up to 3 in plate. The company?s welding and assembly services are housed in the right space for building large weldments or assemblies. A full range of welding processes, including automated submerged arc and robotic welding are available through a staff of AWS certified welders.
Bottlenecks previously forced CMF to outsource 40 percent of its burning.
Ninety-year-old CMF had a problem as old as manufacturing ? bottlenecks on the production floor in a big shop. Despite having 85 employees and all the skills needed to burn, punch, machine, form, weld, and assemble jobs, the company was outsourcing 40 percent of its work because of its burnt-out oxyfuel burning station. ?We found ourselves unable to burn anything properly,? said CMF engineer Stephen Faley. ?It was time to take a look at new equipment.?
Systems integrator Advanced Automation (Page, NE) helped CMF upgrade its table with two Hypertherm (Hanover, NH) HT2000 plasma torches configured with Command THC (torch height control) systems. The HT2000 is a 200 amp plasma system capable of piercing and production cutting carbon steel plate from 18 ga (1.2 mm) to 1 in (25.4 mm) thick, and a maximum thickness of 2 in (50.8 mm) when starting from the edge of the plate. The Command THC is a microprocessor-based height control system that controls piercing heights and torch-towork distances during cutting.
The company chose plasma as its primary cutting system, ruling out laser and oxyfuel. Overall cut speeds increased 600 percent. Secondary operations have been reduced to a minimum.
The table itself was upgraded with new drives, new hoses and a top-of-the-line controller. President Randy Hauser saw improvements in the first month of operation. ?Burning is no longer a bottleneck for us,? says Hauser. ?It?s an asset. By doing a complete retrofit of our burning table, and especially by adding a plasma cutting system, we have been able to greatly reduce our cycle times. We?ve cut processing costs while significantly increasing our part quality and general productivity. In turn, we have become more competitive in the marketplace.?
Engineer Faley is proud of the fact that, ?Jobs that used to take three hours to burn are now completed in about 25 minutes.? That?s an 86 percent improvement in cycle times. Overall cut speeds have increased about 600 percent.
Outsourcing has been nearly eliminated. Process times have been reduced by 86 percent. The ability to cut stainless steel has increased the company?s business by 15 percent.
Additionally, pierce times have been reduced significantly. What once took up to a minute to pierce using oxyfuel can now be pierced in seconds with plasma.? Secondary operations are much more efficient at CMF, too: there is virtually no dross on cut edges, and increased cutting speeds reduce the heat affected zone, which in turn prevents warping. Without the camber and warping caused by oxyfuel burning, CMF can weld parts more quickly and accurately.
Before installing this new plasma, CMF had to turn away stainless steel cutting assignments. Now, stainless accounts for a 15 percent increase in business.
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Hypertherm, Inc., Etna Road, P.O. Box 5010 Hanover, NH 03755, 603-643-3441, Fax: 603-643-5352, www.hypertherm.com.
About the Author: "J. J." Johnson John
