The Salvagnini P2 panel bender was the key catalyst to Antunes’ Design for Manufacturing (DFM) improvement projects.
August, 2024- Handing out cups can be a wasteful job for self-serve businesses and quick service restaurants (QSR), according to Antunes. Faced with a growing demand for hot and cold beverages in urban and semi-urban markets, QSRs are looking to automate and digitize the ordering process. Antunes’ sustainable Dial-A-Cup system helps its customers minimize waste and reduce the spread of germs.
 
The innovative product is one in a long line of custom solutions that have helped the 65-plus-year-old company build its reputation as a leading manufacturer of countertop cooking equipment, water treatment systems and automation. Headquartered in Carol Stream, Illinois, the family-owned business also understands the value of maintaining excellence, personalized service and ongoing education in the workplace.
 
Technology has played a central role in the manufacturer’s efforts to expand its reach around the globe. In 2011, Antunes invested in Salvagnini America Inc.’s P2 panel bender to upgrade legacy equipment. In addition to integrating automation to reduce part handling, the company wanted to boost repeatability and speed, yet maintain the high-end cosmetic quality of its product line.
 
In 2017, Antunes bolstered its engineering division and established Design for Manufacturing (DFM) goals. The discipline helps companies identify ways to simplify, optimize and refine product designs for easier manufacturability at lower costs.
 
REDESIGN
 
“We beefed up our engineering staff and called Salvagnini to see what the P2 could do to help us meet our DFM goals,” says Adam Pautsch, senior product designer for Antunes. “We identified our Dial-A-Cup product as our first project and initiated what turned out to be six months of discussion and prototyping work between us and Salvagnini.”
 
Dial-A-Cup’s one-size-fits-all design accommodates foam, paper and plastic cups in sizes ranging from 8 oz. to 64 oz. It dispenses cups one at a time and comes with the option of a cabinet with compartments for storing lids and straws.
 
“The cabinet originally called for 30 individual screws that had to be installed manually,” says Pautsch. “Our fabrication team had to tap holes for the screws in very thin sheet metal, which assembly was prone to stripping out. This resulted in rework and the need for larger, more costly fasteners.”
 
The P2 is able to enhance parts production with its ability to process a wide variety of metal components according to different strategies from lean manufacturing to batch, kit or single part flow. Integrated sensors, formulas and algorithms reduce waste and increase quality. The P2’s universal bending tool requires no setup time, and its flexible profile accommodates material thicknesses ranging from 27 to 11 gauge.
 
“Salvagnini’s input on the redesign of the Dial-A-Cup’s cabinet and the P2’s versatility, allowed us to go from 30 holes to zero, eliminating all of the manual steps we had to do previously,” says Pautsch. “The cabinet went from four to six stainless steel panels yet conformed to our original size requirements. A series of hems, bends and offsets allowed us to simply snap the cabinet together.”
 
Antunes eliminated more than 30 screws with its first redesign
 
SAVING COSTS
 
“Its new design just required the tap of a soft mallet along the seams where the hems snap together to achieve that last click—that last connection,” he continued. “Given the P2’s ability to easily create these unique form features, we increased the overall strength of the design with thinner material. The configuration allowed us to save $72 per cabinet. Antunes produces approximately 750 to 1,000 cabinets per year. We have a total of eight product families for the Dial-A-Cup cabinet, and we were able to incorporate the redesign across the board. That’s approximately 2,000 to 3,000 units per year. Our overall internal costs were reduced by 16 to 17 percent. That’s labor plus material. This allowed us to pass cost savings on to our customers.”
 
The project’s success inspired Antunes to actively seek other products suitable for DFM. The team identified the VZN Ultrafiltration System security cabinet for Splash as an ideal candidate. Splash, Antunes’ corporate charity, delivers safer water, sanitation and hygiene through a program called WASH to over a million kids worldwide.
 
DFM for Splash, Antunes’ corporate charity, saved $72 per cabinet.
 
REDUCING WEIGHT
 
“The product had to be built in India,” says Pautsch. “To better serve Splash, we opened a 5,000-sq.-ft. production facility. Initially the product exceeded weight specifications. With DFM analysis, we were able to decrease material thickness by two to three gauges. We also transitioned from stainless to aluminum. These steps allowed us to reduce the overall weight of the package by about 41 lbs. and meet their specifications with about 5 lbs. to spare.
 
Since these two projects, Antunes has employed DFM protocol and the P2 bender to add form features that eliminate unnecessary components, labor-intensive steps [like welding], rework and scrap. “The journey has been as important as the projects themselves,” says Pautsch. “We have learned and grown into the P2. With these initial projects, a switch flipped, and we began to realize what the panel bender could do."
 
Antunes installed a second P2 panel bender in 2018. “We had come to rely on the P2 because of the different form features it could perform and how fast, repeatable and accurate it was,” Pautsch continues. “We wanted the redundancy a second machine would provide in the event the first one was down temporarily due to preventative maintenance or some other issue such as operator error.”
 
Understanding the potential of the P2 also allowed us to realize greater capacity by achieving up to 85 percent uptime. Our growth rate dictated a second panel bender.”
 
The same year Antunes installed the second P2, it added 40,000 sq. ft. to its headquarters facility in Illinois.
 
PARTNERSHIP
 
Antunes also launched an apprenticeship program geared to address the skills gap. It runs a series of courses on reading/ drawing of basic blueprints, precision measurement, OSHA standards, maintenance, fabrication and CNC machining with the aid of local colleges. Antunes runs an internship program targeting high school prospects, as well.
 
“The only way you can push initiatives like DFM is through change,” says Pautsch. “A big part of that is continuing to create a culture of learning and understanding. It’s one of the things we do best at Antunes. Driving that kind of culture internally includes understanding what the technology behind our equipment can do.”
 
“DFM underscored the need to reinvest in our people to help them learn and think about things in a new way. We found a like-minded partner in Salvagnini and the right technology with the P2 panel bender. Now I’m able to say with confidence, ‘I never want to hear something can’t be done. It can. You just have to find that workaround.’”
 
Antunes’s DFM expertise will be featured in Salvagnini’s Booth #S20061 at Fabtech 2024 in Orlando. Be sure to visit Salvagnini and Antunes at the booth and attend the Design for Manufacturing Seminar.
 
Antunes, 630/784-1000, http://antunes.com/
 
Salvagnini America Inc., 513/874-8284, http://salvagnini-america.com/