Product category:
CAM and software for sheetmetal, punching, profiling, EDM, etc
News Release from: Radan Computational | Subject: Sheet metal working software
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 04 March 2005
Software reduces sheet metal programming
time
Advanced sheet metal software has not only reduced overall design-to-programming time by around 90%, but has also provided reliable, high yield nests 'right-first-time'.
Companies throughout the manufacturing sector face the need to work both harder and smarter in order to combat competitive pressures from around the world Leading vending equipment producer, Crane Merchandising Systems is no exception; and to meet these challenges, the company has adopted advanced manufacturing technology from Radan Computational to complement its drive towards lean manufacturing methods - with impressive results
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 9 May 2008 at 8.00am (UK)
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Part of the US-based Crane Co, Crane Merchandising Systems specialises in producing beverage vending equipment at its European headquarters in Chippenham, Wiltshire.
The company employs a 140-strong workforce and is responsible for manufacturing around 10,000 machines a year, ranging from table top models to familiar, free-standing units.
"All design and development is carried out on site," explains Manufacturing and Production Engineering Manager, Mark Harrison.
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"Our products contain a high proportion of sheet metal work".
"So, with the need to react quickly to new product opportunities, it is no surprise that we have devoted a substantial amount of effort to streamlining this particular aspect of our design-to-manufacturing methods." Originally, Crane sub-contracted most of its sheet metal work to local suppliers.
But by the mid 1990s, the decision had been taken to bring production in-house, as well as to update its traditional drawing-based operations.
The company's investment in two Pullmax punch presses and three Edward Pearson press brakes was also matched by the installation of Radraft, Radpunch and Radbend manufacturing software from Radan Computational.
"Initially we simply took advantage of the system's NC programming capabilities in order to realise the full potential of our new manufacturing equipment," says Harrison.
"In the early days, designs were produced in 2D and transferred into the manufacturing modules via Radraft." Although each of Crane's 15-station Pullmax machines has a maximum capacity of 120 tools, the company has striven to minimise its manufacturing and inventory costs by standardising on the tooling it employs to produce its sheet metal parts.
"Components are tooled individually to form a 'symbol' within the Radan system," says production Engineer, Kevin Crowley.
"These are effectively the building blocks that are assembled together on the sheet - as kits of parts or component nests - to create the final NC program." * Materials - Crane utilises a variety of materials in its beverage dispensing products, including zintec, aluminium and grade 304 and 316 stainless steels, in thicknesses from 1 to 3mm.
Company specific manufacturing constraints, tooling and associated material parameters are applied automatically by the Radan system, which produces fully specified programmes at the touch of a button for the raw material sheet size allocated to the job.
These are then stored in a directory on the system server for subsequent transfer to the production machines across a PC network.
"The Radan system offers a number of dynamic nesting options, including the ability to insert smaller components within apertures in larger parts - to substantially increase material utilisation," notes Crowley.
"In addition, the system's versatility enables changes to be made quickly and effectively".
"We can therefore implement product updates very rapidly".
"Also, on a more day-to-day operational level, we can react to any variations between batches of raw material, which may, for example, require us to amend the size of retaining tags on the sheet to prevent individual components from breaking loose while still on machine".
"These modifications are also easy to accommodate with the Radan system".
"As a result, NC programmes can be updated virtually immediately and the machines be put back into production with the minimum of delay." * Continuous improvement - Crane's drive towards continuous improvement is reflected in its adoption of Kanban and other lean manufacturing methods.
It is also borne out by the company's subsequent addition of AutoDesk's Inventor 3D CAD software to its design-to-manufacturing system".
""As soon as Inventor was previewed at a Radan user group meeting, I realised that it had the potential to speed up our operations even more," says Harrison".
""Its key benefit is that it enables us to design all our sheet metal components in 3D, then automatically apply our own bend allowances to produce accurate 2D developments with a single mouse click".
"These are then seamlessly imported into the Radan system, where they are converted, as before, into finished NC programmes based on our standard tool libraries and operating constraints." Harrison estimates that the current system has not only reduced overall design-to-programming time by around 90%, but has also provided additional benefits in terms of reliable, high yield nests and right-first-time programming.
In addition, the installation provides the flexibility to enable designs to be modified and updated quickly, as well as pre-production runs to be undertaken without difficulty.
Furthermore, the Radan applications supports Crane's commercial procedures by providing manufacturing information directly to the company's scheduling and costing systems".
""Our Radan system has become an integral part of our operations," says Harrison".
""It is at the heart of our ability to rapidly develop new products in order to capitalise on market opportunities". Request a free brochure from Radan Computational ...
"I also believe it has played a significant role in helping Crane Merchandising to become Associated Vending Services' Supplier of the Year for two years running.".
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