Component maker gains flexibility with hot press line.

Steve Smith, president of Fred Smith Store Fixtures Inc., has been able to increase business by keeping abreast of market trends and meeting extremely high client expectations--batch sizes of one, short lead times and zero defects. Yet in order to remain profitable, while offering the flexibility his customers demanded, Smith knew he needed a special press.

The recently acquired Mark]C/16-32/7/Scanner automatic throughfeed hot press line from Italpresse USA Inc. is meeting the company's needs. The new hot press, which was installed in March 2005, replaced a cold press line at the 110,000-square-foot plant.

The Depauw, IN-based company manufactures laminated and veneered components, including work surfaces, drawer fronts and end panels, for office furniture clients such as Kimball, OFS, Hon and Paoli. It also supplies components for customers in the hospitality industry and store fixture companies.

"We had two main reasons for getting the Italpresse line," Smith said. "First, we wanted to do more veneer production. The majority of what we did was high pressure laminate, and we still do a lot of that, but to do veneering, hot pressing is the best method.

"Another reason for selecting the line is that the hot press [can also be used] to do some of our high pressure laminate work, especially the larger work surfaces, one at a time," he added.

In comparing the two systems, Smith said that with the cold press, material is usually run through a glue spreader, the laminate is applied and the panels are stacked in a press for roughly 30 minutes, several pieces at a time.

"[But] what we liked about the hot press line is that it gives us the ability to run one top at a time--very quickly. It's only in the press for less than a minute and we can inspect it right away to see if there are any problems with surface qualities. This gives us better flexibility and better quality."

Flexibility and quick turnaround are key to Smith, who said that most of his customers require lead times ranging from three to 10 days. "Our customers have furniture lines and are taking orders daily. This process is good for HPL as well as veneer applications, [though] we still use our cold press for different applications where we feel that process is adequate."

Smith added that the highly automated Italpresse hot press is very user friendly. "We also like the fact that the press can handle up to 5-foot by 10-foot tops. We run a lot of different size panels from load to load. Without input from the operators, the press automatically adjusts to the panels entering the press. A digital scanning system reads the size and position of the panels. A computerized controller takes this information and automatically adjusts the amount of the hydraulic pressure fed to each of the eight cylinders. Cylinders that do not have panels under them are automatically turned off. The operators can keep the layup process moving at a fast pace without worrying about the press. The press takes care of itself and gives us the consistent quality we need."

Smith calls this feature a big advantage over the older presses. "It was definitely one of the reasons we bought the hot press," he said.

The Italpresse line has also helped Smith meet his customers' high expectations for aesthetic quality. "We know that the majority of our customers want higher gloss looks and shiny woodgrains. With this process we can look immediately at the surface to see if we have any dents, bumps or rejects."

Smith said he investigated several processes before choosing the hot press by Italpresse.

"We looked at pinch roller processing and tried it with some success. The biggest problem with pinch roller processing, however, is that unless you have like sizes to stack one atop the other, we found we would often get lifted corners and less than a 100 percent bond."

According to Smith, the hot press works with the same ease of the pinch roller system--run a panel through a glue spreader, apply the overlay, run it through a nip roller, stack it and in minutes it can be machined.

"We basically are doing much the same thing with the hot press [as the pinch roll system], except we only have the panel in the hot press for a minute with pressure and heat to 'kick' the glue over quicker," he said.

Smith credits Jerry Hilgefort of Hilgefort Machinery in Jasper, IN, with helping the company in its search for the best press solution. "Out of the three methods we investigated, the Italpresse hot press line hits all the points we needed. We have been very happy with the line."

Italpresse USA Inc.

Phone: [phone]

www.italpresseusa.net

IWF Booth #9540