+p Universal Storage system automates fab shop: an automated steel storage system proves to be the key component for a fabricator that needed to integrate a variety of machines from several manufacturers to achieve the goal of "lights-out" manufacturing efficiency.

"Unattended, 'lights-out' operations have enabled us to significantly increase the volume of work we do for our customers, as well as take on several new key accounts, says Tim Hayden, senior vice president, Sargent Metal Fabricators (Anderson, SC).

Opened in 1975 as a two-man shop by father and son, J.D. and Donnie Sargent, Sargent Metal Fabricators (SMF) has grown from the two-man enterprise to a successful, innovative job shop with 90 employees. So successful that in June, 2003 SMF moved into a new 79,000 sq.-ft. fabricating facility, capable of handling a wide variety of metals for customers throughout the Southeast.

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Hayden points to a new universal steel storage system as a central element to achieving that growth and adding capabilities. The challenge facing SMF in selecting a storage system was finding the system that would allow the integration of several types of fabrication machines from several suppliers into a complete manufacturing system. The storage system the shop selected was the Universal Storage (UL) system from Trumpf (Farmington, CT).

Initial Automation

SMF's association with Trumpf began in 1998 when it purchased a punching machine with an automated sheet feeder. This purchase and first entry into automated processing and material handling began a trend for the shop.

The Trumpf TC 500 R that SMF purchased offered high-speed punching technology combined with automated loading, unloading, setup, and sorting for increased productivity. The 25-ton punching machine provided a maximum stroke rate of 1,200/min. on stock up to 0.31" thick. With a tool station set-up of 18 and three clamps (180 with Multitool) or 21 tools and four clamps (210 with Multitool), the punch offered a maximum simultaneous X/Y speed of 4,600 ipm.

For automated material handling, SMF optioned the punching machine with a Trumpf Trumalift SheetMaster with programmable suction cups. Fully integrated with the machine's production plan to execute multiple jobs with multiple materials, the SheetMaster allowed unattended operation.

Five years later, the fabricator added a Trumpf laser cutting machine with an automated, unmanned load/unload system, and a three-tower automated storage system to its shop floor with a specific goal in mind: to augment its two-shift operation with "lights-out" production capabilities.

This further step into automating its process with the laser was a Trumpf TC L 3050 high-speed 5,000W laser cutting machine, featuring a unique combination of direct and linear motor drive technology providing a highly dynamic motion system with a maximum simultaneous X/Y speed of 11,811 ipm over an X/Y/Z work range of 121" X 61" X 5". The 5,000W C[O.sub.2] laser offers high performance in a range of materials from thin-gauge to 1.0" thick plate. The laser was equipped with a LiftMaster system, automating the loading and unloading operations to provide unmanned capabilities.

This laser system complemented another laser machine SMF already had on the floor.

Operations Integration

"Only Trumpf could successfully integrate the new TC L 3050, the TC 500 R, and another company's ten-year-old laser cutter as part of a single integrated storage and retrieval system," says SMF's Hayden. "As a result, we are able to load raw material into the UL storage tower and feed three machine tools automatically. We also can directly load finished laser-cut parts from the TC L 3050 back into the tower to feed our bending cell, which consists of seven press brakes. And with the purchase of another TC L 3050 and four-tower UL Storage system this past August, a fourth machine is being integrated into the production process. At that point we will have between 126 and 130 storage shelves as part of our automated storage and retrieval system."

Hayden discovered the storage system helps maximize the flexibility of material storage and retrieval, and allows maximum customization and expandability in order to fully integrate a wide range of fabrication machines into the production process. The result is a truly automated service center--the entire manufacturing cell is monitored and controlled by a host computer--that can be extended in either direction to accommodate material requirements and equipment additions.

According to Hayden, the automation has enabled SMF to achieve its goal of running a truly "lights-out" operation. "We have phone dialers connected to our TC L 3050 and TC 500 R that will contact the operators-on-call if they stop producing parts," he says. "The operators will then come back to the plant, correct the problem, and return home. With the TC L 3050 and LiftMaster we also can automatically go from one material thickness to another, as well as load and unload raw materials and finished goods automatically, which is great for weekends. Trumpf, Inc.

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