Above: Inland operators achieve accurate, high-quality forms with joints tight enough for laser welding.
April, 2024- Inland Metal Technologies knows a thing or two about working sheet metal. Anchored in the heart of the San Francisco Bay area, the 175,000- sq.-ft. campus houses fabrication, robotic weld and powder coating, assembly and shipping. Three shift s manned by as many as 300 personnel and 24/7 automation for high-volume production have kept the contract manufacturer thriving for more than 50 years.
Although high-volume jobs are common, Inland’s “sweet spot is painstaking precision, exacting cosmetics, stringent quality requirements and speed,” says Inland COO Martin Sullivan. Because the fabricator primarily serves high-tech companies in industries such as semiconductor, automotive, aerospace, defense, telecommunications and energy, it must provide “really good prototyping capabilities,” he continues.
“Forming has always been a bit of a bott leneck for us due to setup.” Sullivan likens it to queueing theory, which studies the dynamics of lines or queues and how they can be made to operate more efficiently. As a vehicle for cost analysis, markets like the automotive industry use it to identify the right balance between customer service costs and wait times.
COMPLEX PARTS
With forming operations, the ongoing skilled labor shortage has made it challenging for contract manufacturers like Inland to find the right number of setup personnel for diverse parts production. “Because of the inconsistency of prototype orders,” some workers might be underused “if you’re always staffed up to be ready for a big influx” of orders, Sullivan says. “We automated our laser and punch operations, then we decided to automate tool loading with a new bending system. We looked at four different vendors and whittled our choice down to two. We felt like Trumpf offered bending equipment that was more capable.”
Inland uses its Trumpf TruBend 5130 press brake equipped with an automatic tool changer for
low-volume, complex parts with multiple setups.
Inland installed a Trumpf TruBend 5130 press brake equipped with ToolMaster (automatic tool changer) in 2021. “We’ve made it a practice to stay proficient with newer technology to match the progress of our customer base,” adds Sullivan. “This machine makes us less dependent on forming talent, which is getting harder to come by.”
Complicated parts in low quantities with numerous setups are especially suited for the TruBend 5130. Operators run steel, aluminum and stainless on the press brake for parts as wide as 70 in. The press brake is equipped with an assist that eliminates the need for multiple employees to lift a part. Inland is able to achieve precise angles with the
very first part.
Trumpf’s automatic angle measuring system eliminates factors such as springback, which can occur as a result of fluctuating strengths in different materials. Sensors on the automatically controlled bending (ACB) system records the angle and springback “to control the press beam so that the operator can bend a part quickly and precisely,” according to Sullivan.
The TruBend 5130 runs two shifts, five days a week. “We use it as much as we can,” he says. “All the work that needs to be formed goes to the Trumpf TruBend unless the job calls for high-volume, large radii or bump work. The press brake does what we want it to do. It’s definitely an improvement.”
AVOIDING CONGESTION
For job shops adept at balancing efficiencies, bott lenecks generally tend to move to different segments of a manufacturing operation. “Most frequently, congestion happens in the welding and forming areas,” says Sullivan. “The more you can de-bott leneck your shop, the more everyone will be actively working. With an addition like the Trumpf TruBend there is a bigger impact on productivity in a holistic way. That’s where we’ve really seen the gains.”
Sensors on Trumpf’s automatically controlled bending (ACB) system record angle and springback
to control the press beam for quick and precise forming
GAINING CAPABILITIES
The bending technology also gave Inland the tools it needed to rebid a difficult job. This project originally called for a kit of 20 different formed and welded stainless steel parts for an industrial application. A tight delivery schedule dictated small batch runs per component. Stainless parts, 0.040-in. thick, required high-end TIG welding at a slow, meticulous pace. Once the project was completed, Inland chose not to pursue subsequent work with this company. With the installation of the TruBend 5130, however, its fast setups and improved forming accuracy prompted Inland to rebid the job in 2023.
“They were excited that we wanted to take another shot at it,” says Sullivan. “It’s a deceptively difficult job, one that other manufacturers were also struggling with. Very thin stainless is difficult to weld. You need the most talented welders to perform this type of work.
“We put this job on the Trumpf TruBend 5130 and achieved accurate, high-quality forms with joints tight enough that we were able to laser weld instead of TIG weld. That made the process much faster and saved on labor. The customer was happy, and it’s work we intend to continue to do on an annual basis.”
Job shops like Inland require considerable coordination to manage production of complex parts in what Sullivan calls a methodical process. “We don’t embrace a fly-by-the-seat-of-your- pants approach,” he says. “New product introduction (NPI) for the types of customers we support requires a clear plan that can take a product from concept to final form
while reducing waste, boosting throughput and creating opportunities for cost savings. The Trumpf TruBend 5130 fits into that business model very well.”
Inland Metal Technologies, 510/785-8555, http://inlandmetal.com/
Trumpf Inc., 860/255-6000, http://trumpf.com/
