Prior to founding Laicor Fixtures, Laitila was president of a leading checkout counter manufacturer from 1979 to 1994. Under Laitla’a stewardship, the firm grew from a four-person start-up company to become one of North America’s largest checkout counter manufacturers.

Laitila’s experience in the checkout industry would prove valuable in later establishing his own business. In 1996, Laitila founded Laicor as a contract manufacturer fabricating stainless steel components for larger companies. In 1999, Laicor entered the checkout market.

Initially, Laicor’s fabrication equipment consisted of a single-station mechanical punch press, a shear, a press brake, and some other basic machinery. As the company grew, they added equipment to keep up with the growing production. But the most dramatic purchase took place in 2005 with the acquisition of the Finn-Power Shear Genius flexible manufacturing cell. The Shear Genius is a combination turret punch press and right angle shear.  In its product lines, Laicor fabricates galvanized, stainless steel, and aluminum in multiple thicknesses from 20 to 11 gauge.

The impact of the Shear Genius was quickly apparent at Laicor.  “We went from old machines and old production styles to a more modern and faster method,” explains Laitila.  “The Shear Genius more than doubled our productivity. There were immediate savings since we used to have two people doing the process on the older machines that the Shear Genius does with one man.”  

According to Mika Laitila, manager, engineering and design, other benefits of the Shear Genius include high versatility and accuracy.  “We run very low lots,” explains Mika. “With the Finn-Power Shear Genius and NC Express software, we are able to run dynamic nests. You will not see the same nests numbers going through the Shear Genius twice.  It’s always different quantities, different lengths, and orders intermingled.  Because the clamps hold the sheet for both punching and shearing, the parts have higher accuracy. We were able to nearly double our productivity on our older hydraulic press brake because the parts are now continually being produced on dimension.”

Later, after realizing that to achieve the full benefit from the Shear Genius, Laicor also had to upgrade an older existing press brake. After careful evaluation, Laicor selected the Finn-Power E Series servo-electric 80-ton press brake.

The Finn-Power E Series servo-electric press brake is a fast, accurate bending solution.  By applying mechanics and electronics, a unique, patented, mechatronic drive was developed.  This drive is based on the pulley principle resulting in a very even distribution of forces in the top beam, high accuracy, increased productivity, and decreased energy consumption, and few maintenance requirements.

The patented servo-drive system offers many advantages. For example, when performing batch work of any size, the rapid advance, programmable working speed, programmable stroke parameters, and rapid return speed of the ram enables maximum cycling rates without compromising control. The fast positioning speeds ensures that the backgauge will be ready when the part is presented for each operation.  The Power Belt System virtually eliminates ram deflection and the need for compensating bed crown.

“The high accuracy combination of both the E press brake and the Shear Genius cell further increased our productivity,” says Laitila. “The press brake operator can trust the drawings and doesn’t have to measure everything because he knows the parts will be accurate. There are also downstream benefits for us. About half of our shop is assembly. We have holes on every part, so if the bend is off 1/16 in. we could have major problems. However, the accuracy of the E brake is phenomenal. Our accuracy on the E brake is within .003-.004 on every part.”

Another feature of the E brake-the Wila Quick-Change Tooling System-also offered important benefits. Laicor’s first employee and long-time press brake operator/programmer Robert Dickson had developed carpal tunnel syndrome in a wrist and elbow from changing tooling on the older hydraulic press brake. “The tool changes on the old machine were causing me problems,” explains Dickson.  “The tooling had to be cranked on and off with a wrench.

“We’re a short run shop and it’s not unusual for us to make up to 150 setups per day.  That’s a lot of cranking. The E press brake has Wila Quick-Change Tooling which is much easier. You just snap it in...and push a button to pull it out. My wrist and elbow pain have subsided since the installation of the E brake.” Laicor’s E series brake is equipped with the Wila mechanical upper tooling clamping system which features several advantages including quick fastening with patented safety click system and interchangeable high precision tools.

In addition, the E series press brake supports all the available tooling styles to provide the quickest means of tool setup available.  The ram is universally machined to accept a variety of optional clamping systems for different style tooling.

The E brake has performed especially well on the many short runs that Laicor undertakes. “The E brake is unbeatable on small runs,” says Dickson. “I can make a part on the E brake in the time it would take me to set up the older hydraulic machine.”

The Finn-Power E brake is available in tonnages from 27 to 220 (250 kN to 2000 kN) and bed sizes from 4 ft. to 13.5 ft.

Other benefits that Laitila singles out include reduced maintenance, with no hydraulic oil leaks to contend with, quiet operation, and energy saving. The E brake uses much less energy than hydraulic models.  It only consumes energy when the beam actually moves.  This can result in energy savings of up to 50% compared to conventional hydraulic press brakes.

Laicor takes pride in its products’ unique modern styling, quality, and design flexibility. “We customize our products to customer needs,” says Laitila. “This approach to the market demands our quick response time and the ability to change quickly. The Finn-Power Shear Genius and E brake have greatly helped us in this challenge.”

This article was supplied by Finn-Power International Inc., Arlington Heights, IL.
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