Today’s
construction market continues to be a gruelingly tough and competitive
industry. No longer is it the typical 8am to 5pm workday of the 90’s. With today’s
global economy and round the clock social media, the workday has become a
virtual 24/7 event. On top of that, you have to be an expert in your field of
work, an expert in meeting and exceeding your customer’s needs and always two to
ten steps ahead of your competitor. You need to partner with the best but yet always
have a “plan B” within reach.
Within this
industry are manufacturers of light gauge steel framing. This market is rapidly
growing on a worldwide basis. That is awesome news if you produce steel framing.
However it is a highly competitive market and process of “roll forming metal”,
which is the largest user of coiled steel in the world today, plays a key role
in flexibility, productivity and quality of the finished item.
Roll forming can
simply be described as taking a piece of sheet metal and forming it into a
customized curved shaped product by processing it through an engineered machine
featuring a series of rollers. However, the historical technology of this industry
is simply not that simple. It typically takes a skilled machinist, with years
of experience to operate and change over roll forming equipment.
The advantages of
roll forming are widely accepted. The typical process is fast paced and some of
today’s equipment can deliver over 500 feet per minute and utilize correspondingly
higher rates of speed. This type of specialized roll forming equipment provides
consistent and uniform parts - when equipment is properly set for a certain
gauge thickness and width, the roll forming process will routinely form the
material within a specified tolerance range.
A limited number of today’s roll forming
machine manufacturers provide additional integrated processes to increase and
improve line productivity. Punching, cut-off, slitting embossing, lancing
welding, part marking stitching, wing bending, stacking and bundling are just
some of the operations that can be assimilated into certain modern roll forming
lines. Computer driven microprocessor
controls conveniently simplify the operation of these highly complex line
configurations.
While these new advances are extremely appreciated
and welcome, some of the most basic hindrances to higher productivity have just
recently been addressed and overcome.
Some of the most obvious and
counter-productive pitfalls to a seamless and smooth metal processing operation
can be broken down into the following categories of machine processes:
Equipment Set-up
This typically is a time consuming and
tedious operation.
·
Roll tooling and spacers must be placed on spindles, one station
at a time by following intricate guidelines of set up charts and mechanical drawings
of the tooling requirements.
·
The clearance between rolls is designated on both the inboard and outboard
sides of each station. Feeler gauges and adjustment screws with pointers and
scales are used to make final adjustments.
·
Once the roll machine is assembled, then “test runs” of material
are sent through and then measured for dimensional accuracy. Routinely, adjustments will need to be made
incurring costly downtime.
Adjusting for variation in material
After the equipment set-up has been
re-checked and validated, the focus is now on the sheet metal to be formed. Modifications
in materials often occur due to several reasons.
·
Alteration of material thickness from coil to coil – even the most
minimal change in material thickness can affect the setting and tooling
clearance on most of the forming stations, requiring time consuming resets.
·
The physical properties of the material yield, tensile, hardness
often vary significantly .This will cause subsequent adjustment to the
over-bend stations, critical forming stations as well as the part straightening
fixture.
Product changeover
Changes in product processing typically
account for the most downtime in roll-forming.
·
A basic equipment changeover can take up to an 8 hour work day to
complete – this time includes when the tooling set must be completely removed,
replaced and the entire machine reset.
Operator inexperience
Lack of an experienced operator remains a key
challenge for most roll forming operations.
·
Since formal training in equipment set-up, process adjustment and
changeover of roll formers is generally lacking in the industry, these tasks
are typically observed and learned through on-the-job training. This can be a costly,
long term trial and error period with resulting poor work practices and poor
product quality.
·
Equipment set-up training is critical to roll forming because it
eliminates improper mechanical staging, mitigates the tendency for scrap, lost
production time and ultimately damage to the tooling and machine.
Look for Part 2 in this blog series; Recent Innovations in Roll Forming: Reduce
Cost & Simplify Operations
To Learn More, download our white paper:
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About the
Author
B&K is a member of the Formtek Group.
Formtek is a group of long-established companies, each with a well-known name
and a history of providing innovative, reliable equipment to the metal forming
and metal processing industries. As a single source provider, Formtek continues
to supply its customers with the highest quality equipment, parts and service
available in the industries it serves.
Visit the Formtek website at www.formtekgroup.com for information on additional
products and services.
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