Above: SafanDarley’s automated E-Brake Mini Cell can boost production by up to 30 percent while reducing maintenance.
January, 2024- Plug-and-play bending cell gives diverse job shop a compact option for processing repeatable parts
Greek fabulist Aesop said, “Good things come in small packages.” Following Norlen Inc.’s investment in a SafanDarley automated E-Brake Mini Cell, it’s a proverb that Dave Sturzenegger would likely agree with. The CNC programmer and fabrication technology manager has devoted 24 years of service to the company and has closely monitored the industry’s fluctuations.
“I saw the Mini Cell at Fabtech four years ago,” he says. “I was drawn by how small it was. It’s plugand-play, and you can move it to different locations if you need to without any problems. Our production floor is packed. We have to shoehorn everything in, so the more parts we can run on a smaller unit the better.”
Headquartered in the Netherlands, SafanDarley employs research and development, engineering and other disciplines to develop, build and assemble press brakes and shears for thin and thick sheet metal.
Norlen sourced the Mini Cell from SafanDarley ’s distributor Gladwin Machinery Solutions Inc. and installed it in January 2023. Based in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Gladwin is a 2½-hour drive from Norlen, which is located in Schofi eld, Wisconsin. Regional access to training, service and support also made SafanDarley’s automated bending technology attractive.
UNMANNED OPERATION
Over the last six decades, Norlen has evolved from a two-person tool-and-die maker into a diverse job shop “with a lot of irons in a lot of different fires. We’re into everything,” Sturzenegger says. “Agriculture comprises approximately 40 percent of our business. HVAC makes up about 15 percent. The rest of our work is spread across a wide range of applications.” Automation has been a key contributor to Norlen’s growth. The company implemented a plan in 2004 to automate as many processes as possible. “We installed a large material handling system to feed our fiber lasers,” Sturzenegger says. “We set up our laser cutting cells to automatically feed material and unload parts with just one person to pull parts.” These decisions prepared Norlen for the labor shortages now prevalent in the industry. “We were originally going to run a family of parts for restaurant-grade fire suppression systems on an industrial robot,” Sturzenegger continues. “Instead, we moved the parts to the SafanDarley Mini Cell,” he adds.
The E-Brake Mini Cell’s ASC and Fanuc control pendent gives Norlen fl exibility to bend small, complex products or different parts sequentially.
Norlen processes 52 individual part numbers from a range of material thicknesses on the Mini Cell, which runs 10-hour shifts five days a week.
Impressed with its performance, the job shop is now processing 52 individual part numbers on the Mini Cell from materials that include 22-gauge stainless, ¼-in.-thick carbon steel and everything in between. Part sizes range from 4 in. by 6 in. to 15 in. by 23 in. The bending cell runs a 10-hour shift five days a week, unmanned. “Any part we think will fit, we throw it on there,” Sturzenegger. “Repeatability on the Mini Cell is superior. Each part comes out the same. The welders love it.”
OPEN PLATFORM
The E-Brake Mini Cell has been engineered for fully automated production of small and complex products. The system can also bend different products sequentially. It is equipped with a M-20iB25 FANUC robot, a hold-to-run operating console for fine-tuning the cell, a CNC-controlled Y-axis and backgauge and EC10 Touch Screen CNC split-screen controls on a swivel arm. A company can save up to 50 percent on energy costs. The Mini Cell’s electric drive and integration of controls and drive motors can boost productivity by up to 30 percent. Maintenance is reduced since the need for hydraulic oil, seals, filters and valves is eliminated. The cell’s backgauge can operate over the full length of the work piece.
Ease of programming makes the Mini Cell’s robot user friendly for one-off jobs. SafanDarley’s Automated Solutions Cell-Control (ASC) provides a flexible software platform that allows even employees with little experience to operate automated machines. The software’s modular structure can be implemented to customer-specific requirements and adapt to the layout of the cell. Its open platform configuration allows Norlen to integrate and communicate with other products and equipment on its shop floor.
The software’s versatility contributes to efficient programming. “If I put a part in upside down and then back out or change my gripper position, I can quickly add a couple steps and approach the part again,” Sturzenegger says. “You can also build a program from start to finish right on the press brake without offline programming, if you want to. It’s another option.”
Norlen Inc., 715/359-0506, http://norlen.com/
SafanDarley North America LLC, 262/259-0369, http://safandarley.com/
