ThyssenKrupp takes elevator to top floor with new equipment
by Jerry Cook A desire to eliminate a bottleneck in its punching operation caused by a dramatic increase in work volume recently led ThyssenKrupp Northern Elevator, Toronto, ON to install several new pieces of TRUMPF equipment.
The bottleneck in ThyssenKrupp’s punching operation was a result of a
significant increase in business that the company has experienced in
recent years, says Mahyar Pedram, senior vice president, manufacturing
with ThyssenKrupp Northern Elevator. “During 2005-2006 and the early
part of 2007, we had received many large orders including Olympic
Village (Millennium Water) in Vancouver, BC, the RBC and Bay Adelaide
Centere buildings in downtown Toronto, and projects in Calgary. AB,
Saskatchewan, Halifax, NS, and Montreal, QC. We had a very healthy
backlog of orders.”
As well, ThyssenKrupp’s decision in 2006 to expand its focus outside of
its traditional residential elevator market to include the design and
manufacture of industrial and freight elevators also increased the
firm’s volume of work significantly, says Pedram.
The company began operations in 1972 as Northern Elevator and was later
acquired by the ThyssenKrupp Group of Germany in 1986. The company has
210 employees at two facilities in the Toronto area totaling
approximately 131,000 sq. ft. ThyssenKrupp Northern Elevator designs
and manufactures passenger and freight elevators, escalators, and
related components. The firm supplies products to both company-owned
and selected independent elevator contractors throughout North America.
The company manufactures a wide range of standard passenger elevators
with capacities ranging from 2,100 to 6,000 lbs. and speeds up to 800
fpm and custom panoramic and freight elevators with capacities up to
30,000 lbs.
Another major area of business for ThyssenKrupp Northern Elevator
involves the installation, maintenance, and servicing of elevators.
ThyssenKrupp works to all of the applicable building and elevator codes
and specifications for both hydraulic and traction elevators.
ThyssenKrupp Northern Elevator works with a variety of materials
including hot rolled and cold rolled steels, stainless steels,
satin-coated steels, and more. The firm works with material thicknesses
ranging from 14 ga up to one in. As well as flat sheet material, the
company also machines tubes and bars.
Initially, Pedram says that the goal was to eliminate a bottleneck in
the company’s punching operation. “Previously in our production
process, the bottleneck was always at the punch press because we were
using an older punch press. Also, (this isn’t high volume production)
where we’re making 10,000 pieces at a time. Parts that we punch change
from week-to-week and day-to-day. Because of the different variations
of elevators that we have, for example whether an elevator might be for
two floors or three floors, whether it is stainless steel or not, and
different heights, all of these things dictate what kind of
manufacturing process we employ. ”
Continuing changes to the various codes and standards that ThyssenKrupp
Northern Elevator has to meet was another factor in the firm’s decision
to install the new TRUMPF equipment. “Codes and standards for elevators
have moved closer to performance based requirements (that are more
stringent). Performance based requirements are actually telling us that
we have to meet essential global safety objectives. As a result,
manufacturing elevators has become much more precise and we have to
meet much tighter tolerances.”
Because of the wide variety of products that the company is producing,
reducing setup time was a critical goal. “We are constantly trying to
reduce setup time on both the punch press and the press brake. In
particular, we are constantly changing the setup on the punch press for
different jobs. Previously, tool changes on the older punch press were
very time consuming. For example, it might take us 40 minutes to do a
tool change on the punch press for a job that would only run for 10
minutes and then change the tool again for the next setup. It was a
definite bottleneck and we realized that to keep up with the market we
needed to install a new punch press,” says Pedram.
However, finding a solution to the bottleneck in its punching operation
was only part of the puzzle, says Pedram. “At the same time, whenever
we had a problem with our existing laser flexible manufacturing system
(comprising two lasers), we realized how dependent we were on the laser
system. The laser system is working constantly over two shifts and
whenever the laser system went down for repair we felt the burden of
not being able to produce parts. We also needed another laser.”
Continues Pedram, “However, if we added another punch press and added
another laser, the intention wasn’t to create another bottleneck
somewhere else in the forming area. As a result, by default, the new
press brake also came into the picture.”
Subsequently, ThyssenKrupp Northern Elevator recently installed a
TruLaser 2030 laser system, TruPunch 5000 punching machine and a
TruBend 5320 press brake. All of the machines were supplied by TRUMPF
Canada Inc., Mississauga, ON.
The TruPunch 5000 punching machine offers a 25 ton capacity, maximum
simultaneous X/Y speed of 4,600 ipm, 360° tool rotation 5.5
rotation/sec, and 18 tool stations (180 with MultiTool) and three
clamps (medium format machine) and 21 tool stations (210 with
MultiTool) and four clamps (large format). The TruLaser 2030 laser
system combines an integral load and unload device with a high-speed
laser cutting machine, resulting in a compact and productive flexible
manufacturing cell. The laser system offers a capacity of 3.5 kw and a
working range XYZ of 120 in., 50 in., and 4.5 in. respectively. The
TruBend 5320 offers bending capacity of 353 US tons, bending length of
174 in., and standard open height of 24.2 in.
According to Pedram, there were a number of features offered by the
TRUMPF machines that were attractive. For one thing, “I was looking for
a punch press that provided the quickest possible setup. A definite
selling point with the TRUMPF punch press is that you can set up your
tools outside of the machine while the machine is doing another part so
you are ready for the next job as soon as the machine finishes the
current job.“
Likewise, the load and unload system on the TruLaser 2030 was another
major selling feature, he adds. “We knew where the economy was and we
knew we weren’t going to be adding (new employees). The ability of the
laser to load and unload itself was an important feature.”
The three new TRUMPF machines have provided ThyssenKrupp Northern
Elevator with a variety of benefits. For instance, “Previously, we had
a limitation on the material thickness we could cut on our older laser
systems because they were only 1.2 kw. Any material ranging from 5/8
in. to 3/4 in. had to be outsourced. The new laser has allowed us to
bring all of the laser cutting that was previously outsourced back
inhouse.”
Not only has the new TRUMPF machines increased the firm’s production
capacity but it has also improved productivity and accuracy, he says.
“The new technology is much faster and has provided us with a 10% to
15% improvement in productivity. Also, the accuracy that the machines
are providing is very high, particularly for contouring very tight
dimensions. The TRUMPF machines are definitely meeting our expectations
for performance.”
The company is still having a strong year in terms of sales despite the
current global economic downturn. “Obviously, we are very tied into the
construction sector. However, when new construction slows, customers
will instead modernize their existing elevators. As a result, we get
more projects involving modernizing and refurbishing older elevators.
That market (segment) tends to grow and we are busy in that market
currently.” us.trumpf.com
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