COE SpaceMaster Line Delivers Space-Saving Blank Production Solution to Tier One Auto Stamper…Without the Need for a  Large Looping Pit or Costly Building Expansion

A leading Tier One stamper was squeezed into a corner with limited space for expansion and a greater need for improved and efficient stamping capabilities.  To solve the problem, the stamper’s employees specified a unique concept….the internal production of blanks from coil stock vs. buying blanks from outside vendors. The solution also gained the company control over raw material inventory and cost, opened up needed floor space, helped to reduce finished goods inventories, and gave them better control over their production scheduling.

The company builds full vehicle frames and sheet-metal stampings for several major US and non-US automotive manufacturers. They operate 24 stamping presses and lean manufacturing plays a very important part of their overall manufacturing strategy.

Their Pressroom Manager says they had to develop a dedicated blanking line to produce blanks that are eventually bent into C-channel frame segments in three separate downstream operations. But the problem was floor space availability for the line. A conventional blanking line attached to a press would require a looping pit that was 20’ to 25’ long between the straightener and feeder, space they didn’t have. Dedicating a press and coil feed line to the blanking operation was also not a fiscally smart choice. Expanding the building’s square footage was also out of the question.

SPACEMASTER TO THE RESCUE

For a solution to their limited space production problems, they turned to a unique space-saving Compact Coil Line called the SpaceMaster Series 3 from COE Press Equipment. This system combines a coil car, coil reel, and feeder-straightener system all in one unit. Coe also provided a hydraulic production shear to cut blanks and a single-station drop stacker complete with a cranesaver chain conveyor system to coordinate stack handling. The end result…a stand-alone system that produces blanks for several downstream operations.

In this new line, blanks range in sizes up to 14.25” wide x 209” long x .220” thick. The feed length is controlled by the servo-driven feeder-straightener to maintain a shear tolerance of +/- 0.003”. The material is uncoiled, flattened and indexed by the feeder-straightener, then sheared and stacked. Each finished stack contains a maximum of 56 blanks.  The banded stacks are efficiently removed from the system by forklift.

Efficiency of the blanking operation is assured by optimizing the incoming coil sizes.  The SpaceMaster is capable of handling 12,000 lb. coils that are 72” OD and 21” ID. During an eight hour shift, the company can easily run through 12 coils.  At the maximum feed length of 209”, the shear runs at a productive rate of four strokes per minute.  With a 171” blank length the system is capable of five strokes per minute.  Coil loading and threading operations are enhanced with the hydraulic traveling coil car and a hands-free threading system.  This system consists of pushbutton operated hydraulic hold-down arm with a motorized endwheel, lower hold-up table, material debender roll, and a material steering roll to thread the leading edge of the coil into the feeder-straightener.

The Pressroom Manager states, “The amount of floor space we saved with the Coe SpaceMaster system is significant. We looked at multiple vendors to supply the equipment but felt that Coe had the best solution…and they were competitively priced. Coe not only had experience with the coil feed line, but also with the stacking part of the system.  They developed entire system solution to be able to feed the coil out, shear it to length, and then stack it. This capability, along with meeting all their schedule and delivery dates, that’s why we chose COE.”

REDUCTION IN INVENTORY, BETTER CONTROL OF RAW MATERIALS

Before the Coe line was added, the company said they had to maintain an inventory room with several weeks’ worth of blank inventory that took up a 30’ x 60’ area. They also had to keep close track of the inventory to make sure they had the correct blanks and the right amount for each job lot size. Inventory could prove problematic because of the JIT nature of their operations. Now with the new Coe line that eliminates this inventory and produces just enough blanks for one day, they can use this storage space for other projects.

They say that the Coe line also gave them other important benefits such as better control of raw materials. “Another big advantage with this new line was keeping the raw material near the line in coil form that also allows us to reduce our overall inventory. We don’t have to worry about having pallets of blanks in excessive numbers. It also allows us to bring in only enough coiled raw materials into the plant for a two week build schedule, instead of having to forecast out for a month and having raw material blanks in transit and then in storage. Now we can just look at the schedule and produce the blanks that we need when we need them from coil.”

Prior to the installation of the Compact Coil Line, company press operators had no prior experience with coil processing and blanking systems. So they looked to Coe to help them with the integration of the components and for training. They found that their employees learned how to operate the equipment quickly. “Within a half hour we had the operators up and running the equipment. The computer control interface was also very easy to operate,” they added.

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