Above: Salvagnini’s automated P4 panel bender allows Goshen Engineering to process the entire enclosure while reducing the bending operation to seconds.
April, 2026- Like-minded individuals share similar values and goals. In manufacturing, that mindset fosters collaboration among teams, reduces operational bottlenecks and accelerates the adoption of new technologies. Between suppliers and fabricators, it can forge a partnership that takes the guesswork out of equipment choices and paves the way for healthy growth.
Jason Stevens and Rick Tillman would agree. In 2024, Stevens, president of Goshen Engineering Inc., initiated plans to bring a new bending job in house. The company chose a Salvagnini L3 fiber laser and P4 panel bender to support the move.
“Both of us are engineers,” says Tillman, regional sales manager for Salvagnini America. “Engineering is also the core discipline for both companies. We were able to answer questions that others couldn’t.”
Goshen Engineering designs, builds and installs custom-engineered power distribution equipment and industrial automation systems for a diverse customer base ranging from the data center market to renewables, industrial manufacturing, food production, automotive, communications and electronics. It also provides on-site engineering services including controls and technical emergency maintenance support for a wide variety of automation and control systems. Goshen Engineering is an authorized system integrator for several major robotic systems manufacturers. Stevens started the company in 2006, the same year he earned his engineering license.
Paired with the panel bender, Salvagnini’s L3 fiber laser cuts a range of blank sizes from carbon steel, stainless and aluminum.
MADE TO ORDER
“I grew up in Mount Olive [North Carolina] and wanted to raise my family here, so I decided to start my own business,” he says. “Initially we focused on industrial automation. We still do a lot of that work but we’ve also started building engineered-to-order power distribution equipment, primarily UL 891 switchboards and custom power distribution skids. Our growth in this market has begun to outpace the automation side of our business.”
Goshen Engineering recently gained traction in the high-growth data center market segment. The custom manufacturer performed design/build tasks for switchboards with purchased enclosures. When it launched production for a new line of modular switchboards, the firm wanted to bring fabrication of the enclosures in house.
The Salvagnini L3 fiber laser, installed in 2024, cuts 12-foot by 5-foot sheet from carbon steel and some stainless and aluminum. Part sizes range from components small enough to fit in your hand up to 96 inches by 60 inches. ACUT, a high-performance option for Salvagnini’s laser cutting systems, allows Goshen Engineering to reduce cost-per-part by using treated compressed air versus nitrogen or oxygen. In 2025, the manufacturer increased laser throughput with a storage tower.
“The automated storage tower also gave Goshen Engineering the flexibility for lightsout operation,” says Tillman. “They were able to run first shift with an operator, then continue to process parts into second shift unattended until the run cycle was complete. Salvagnini has the fastest shelf-to-shelf and loading and unloading transfer capability on the market.”
Goshen Engineering installed the Salvagnini P4 panel bender the same year. “I had heard good things about their panel bender,” Stevens says. “We already had a press brake. The panel bender was a way to increase our capacity.”
Partnering with Salvagnini on the capital equipment purchases yielded other benefits. “During the evaluation process on the panel bender, Goshen Engineering sent us their assembly drawings for the new enclosure, and we were able to help them optimize the manufacturability of the part. We pointed out ways to modify the part so they could process the entire enclosure on the panel bender.”
Salvagnini’s PCD, an automated conveyor and destacker, loads the panel bender, helping Goshen Engineering reduce setup time and create autonomy.
VERSATILE AUTOMATION
“Our goal was to bring enclosure fabrication in house with the fiber laser/panel bender combination, and we have significantly increased our total throughput,” Stevens says. “And because the panel bender is automated, it gives us the versatility to run lights out when we reach those levels of production.”
The L3 fiber laser’s automated storage tower gives Goshen Engineering the flexibility for a lights-out cutting operation.
The Salvagnini P4 panel bender uses universal, adaptive bending tools to automatically adjust to different panel geometries in-cycle, allowing flexible, batch-one production and consistent, high-precision results. Goshen Engineering’s panel bender can process 11- gauge, 16-gauge and 14-gauge sheet.
Jason Stevens
“We run the fiber laser the majority of an eight-hour shift five days a week,” Stevens says. “We just started a second shift a few months ago. We currently run the panel bender about 50 percent of the time. It’s taken a huge load off our press brake and that has made a big difference.”
Quick installation and setup were attractive features along with the panel bender’s userfriendly operation. From the first sample part to ramping up production, parts took approximately two weeks. Goshen Engineering’s bending operation went from minutes to seconds.
A completed enclosure panel.
“With tool changes, part setup and other tasks, you could be looking at 15 minutes or more on the press brake,” Stevens says. “The software is also very user friendly.”
The L3 fiber laser and P4 panel bender are helping Goshen Engineering expand its reach in the data center markets.
“The operator just has to drop in their drawings, and the software automatically creates a program for both the laser and panel bender,” Tillman says. Goshen Engineering has been growing 50 to 100 percent annually and is actively looking at ways to boost those numbersfrom its facility and equipment to personnel. “Both sides of our business are seeing good growth,” Stevens says. “We are more of a manufacturer today but we are still an engineering company at heart.”
Goshen Engineering, 919/429-9798, goshenengineering.com
Salvagnini America, 513/874-8284, salvagninigroup.com
