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“Our challenge was to add a new coil handling system to our 440 ton press line for a new product,” said President Ken Seim. “At the time, the press was used for hand-fed operations using blanks. The space consideration was really the true challenge, and we needed to get the capacity to handle some pretty sizeable material. A conventional line was out of the question with the plant floor layout and limited space problems we had. Also, all of our presses and coil storage are under our crane, and that crane real estate gets to be very valuable. Because of this, we needed to really conserve that space as much as we could for future opportunities, not only for this stamping line.”
For this line, conventional coil feeding equipment was going to take up to 50’ of floor space. With a line this long, Sacoma would have sacrificed valuable space for die storage and their die maintenance/machining department. “We simply did not want to add more space by the bricks and mortar route. One of the things we’ve done as part of our overall plan we developed earlier this year is to try and utilize our space more efficiently,” added Seim.
Sacoma found a solution in Coe Press Equipment Corporation’s new SpaceMaster Compact Coil Line. Coe’s SpaceMaster model CCL-S3-15040 combines the three functions of unwinding, straightening, and feeding into one compact machine. The entire machine is rigidly mounted on a common machine base and requires less than half the space of a traditional coil feed line. Sacoma uses the Coe SpaceMaster for material that is up to 40” wide, with material thickness up to 0.292”, and coil weights up to 15,000 lbs.
“This equipment appeared to be very robust, but we wanted to check it out ourselves before we committed to purchasing a line like this,” noted Seim. “Coe has a unit set-up at their facility for demonstration and training that we observed prior to making our purchase. We were pleased with what we saw. Coe’s reputation in the industry is a very good one, and we felt they would support us well, because they are committed to service. We felt comfortable in purchasing the line. And now with Coe’s SpaceMaster, we have been able to maintain some of our existing layout/functionality in the press area such as our die-storage and die-maintenance department.”
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Coe’s SpaceMaster Series 3 is offered in seven models to process maximum coil widths from 16” to 64”. As standard, this Series can handle thicknesses to .300”, coil OD’s to 64” and maximum coil weights of 11,000, 15,000, or 20,000 pounds. Pinch rolls and feed rolls measure 5.7” in diameter, while straightener rolls measure 3.5” in diameter. The powered straightener rolls are configured in a four-over-three arrangement to provide effective straightening of a wide range of materials. Optional features available for this Series include a hydraulic traveling coil car, increased line speed to 80 FPM, motorized coil guides, increased coil OD capacity to 72”, and coil weights to 30,000 pounds.
Seim noted that “the feature that we liked most, and the first thing that got our attention, was the compact nature of the new SpaceMaster line. The second feature we liked was the capacity of the line being able to handle our heavier gauge and higher strength materials.” In addition, the SpaceMaster is able to effectively run progressive die operations with the true pilot release function for the pinch rolls, feed rolls, and straightener rolls.
He added, “We bought our first Coe servo feed line about 12 years ago. We had a delivery lead time issue that Coe was able to solve by getting a line in here within the timeframe we had. About two years ago we bought a conventional Coe feeder and straightener line for our 250-ton press that we were putting in. We’re very pleased with that equipment, which is what made us strongly consider Coe with their SpaceMaster Series.”
Safety for their employees working around the press and coil feed line was another aspect Sacoma considered during the evaluation. The SpaceMaster was specified with a hydraulic traveling coil car, power coil guides, hold down arm with an endwheel, and hands-free threading features so employees no longer have to directly handle the material. “An additional capability that we liked on the SpaceMaster was its ability to self-thread the coil and to feed the material through the line without having the operators handle the material,” said Seim.
“It’s pretty much a hands-off way of being able to feed coil in and guide the strip through the line. The safety of the handling was another benefit that appealed to us. Particularly when you get into the thicker material gauges. It’s just simply not possible to handle the thicker material without a piece of equipment like this. It can be done, but not safely.”
Seim said that the SpaceMaster unit itself is not that complex to understand and operate. However, it’s a little different, because of its configuration from a conventional line. “It took a little time to get used to it, but we didn’t have any major concerns with it at all. The equipment is pretty self-explanatory and easy to learn,” he said.
Sacoma uses a Wintriss Smart Pac to integrate the controls of the press and coil feed system. This equipment integrates their die protection and feed controls so they have one unit to work with as opposed to having the press, the die protection, and the feed all being on several different control systems. The parameters for each job are stored as a part number and downloaded as needed so they don’t have to be reprogrammed each time. The Coe ServoMaster MMI communicates with the Wintriss unit so the operator only has one point of control for the press and feed system.
This line runs on average of about six days a week with each job taking roughly two days for processing. Sacoma runs only about seven part numbers through the press with most jobs using progressive dies. An average coil changeover on the feed line takes about 10 minutes.
Seim said they are processing several types of materials through the system. One is a hot-rolled steel common in the automotive industry and the others are high-strength steels. In addition, they run both 300 and 400 series stainless steels.
Another important benefit of the SpaceMaster line was the ability to eliminate a looping pit. “With a pit, you have the initial cost of $15,000 to $20,000,” said Seim. “Then you have to fill it in if you ever want to use that space again for something different. And in our industry that happens on a regular basis. A pit also makes a stamping line very inflexible. If you need to move equipment, it’s a major undertaking.”
He added, “I would consider the compact line strongly in the future for any new feed lines we purchase. With the age of our current lines, we’ll seriously consider replacing the conventional lines with compact coil lines.”
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