Press Brakes and Sheet Metal Folding

Personnel gain through Sharing!

The company's range of Amada HFB press brakes were in need of replacement. Upgrading to the latest Amada HFP models would help reduce setup times, principally through the use of more advanced software and a bend angle measuring system to assess fold accuracy and to transmit any necessary adjustments to the Amada AMNC-PC control.

We also decided that the press brakes must be able to be programmed offline and be simple to set up and operate. This would maximise available time on the press brake for the actual bending of parts.

Too much time is spent setting up press brakes, loading programs, finding which tools are used and working out where the tools need to be positioned

The next step was the introduction of the offline programming system.

The Sheetworks and BendCam system takes the company's 3D product designs and generates the bending program and tool layouts automatically.

The software also 'nests' tool layouts to minimise the number of machine setups required to produce a range of parts - again minimising machine downtime while also integrating into a smooth transition from DrAbe blank for our CNC laser and CNC Punch/Laser systems.

With a single swipe of a barcode, programs can be uploaded to any of Recol's 4 new HFP press brakes.

This also calls up tooling data, while the tool navigation function shows the operator where to place the tools along the 3m bed; this is useful as many of the company's parts are fairly complex, often featuring special shapes and curves.

The end result is reduced setup times for new and repeat jobs.

All the data is readily available to retrieve on any of the HFP machines.

Another benefit is that the AMNC-PC control allows even the least experienced of operators to set up and bend components, freeing up valuable time for more experienced employees to utilise their skills more effectively, according to Amada. It also provides compatibility with Recol's existing Amada EML and LC3015 F1 blanking/Profiling machines.

All of our machines now share a common database (SDD) allowing for rapid location and sharing of information and programmes, therefore making us more flexible, more efficient and overall more helpful and able to service our customer needs.