Pressing Needs
Upgraded press brake controls revitalize Ontario sheet metal fabricator’s existing equipment
May 1, 2010
Touchscreen computer control simplifies file management while at the same time providing detailed setup information for each saved program.
For more than 50 years, ETMECO Ltd., Mississauga, Ont., has been providing unique sheet metal fabrication services to its customers.
A lot has changed in the decades since the Gaston family opened a small sheet metal shop. In the early years, one brake, one shear, two punch presses, and two welding machines were enough to keep the company’s four employees busy serving mainly the local roofing market.
In the late 1970s, as the Toronto-area construction industry began to boom, ETMECO began to expand, starting the company’s trend of investing in equipment to increase capacity and speed of service.
ETMECO has worked on some very high-profile projects over the course of its history, including some of the largest jobs in Ontario, such as the steps for the CN Tower. More recently the company created components for Toronto’s Sheppard Street subway station and also the Royal Ontario Museum.
“Our roots are definitely in the construction industry,” explained President Ted Gaston. “What my father started in one small building has now reached nearly 30,000 square feet.”
A quick walk through the shop reveals the difference between this company and many others. With hundreds of tons of steel on hand, ETMECO can finish jobs before its competitors can even get the needed material delivered. A recent 10,000- sq.-ft. addition to the shop means that even more steel can now be stored.
“Buying steel is more important now than at any time in the past five years,” said Gaston. “By having 500 tons of steel on hand, we can help control the costs for our customers as steel prices rise. That’s where my expertise comes into play; I have been buying steel all my life.”
With steel on hand, Gaston doesn’t have to raise prices significantly as material costs fluctuate. This not only helps retain customers, but attracts new ones as well.
“I fight hard for my steel prices,” said Gaston. “For example, I bought a lot early this year before prices went up, and now I have it on hand and ready for consumption.”
However, it’s not just the availability of material that has helped the company grow throughout the past five decades. A concentrated effort to invest in the latest CNC fabricating equipment means that Gaston can be competitive on projects both large and small.
The company offers CNC punching, laser cutting, shearing, and bending in both thick- and thin-gauge sheet metal. A recently added 6-kW laser cutter now allows the company to process sheets up to 1 in. thick.
Expanding Bending Capability
One fabricating process that ETMECO specializes in is CNC bending. With four Cincinnati press brakes (90, 175, 230, and 350 tons), Gaston always believed that his company was well-prepared for any bending job.
However, as time passed, and with an eye to the future, he also thought that he could get more from his press brakes. What he decided on was an upgrade to the existing CNCs.
“By upgrading the controls of these press brakes, I can get a lot of the benefits of new equipment without having to break the bank by buying four new machines,” said Gaston. “I also upgraded all four controls for considerably less than the cost of one brake.”
The touchscreen computer control simplifies file management while at the same time providing detailed setup information for each saved program. Operators are guided through each step of the bend sequence with 3-D part views, which can help an inexperienced operator, especially in the beginning. The new controls can also help operators by recommending tooling for the loaded job.
“This upgrade isn’t something that I had to do for the present. My guys don’t really need this type of technology because they have so much experience, but they won’t be around forever,” said Gaston. “At some point they will retire and a new generation of press brake operators will be running the equipment.”
The new controls will also enable ETMECO’s press brakes to perform dynamic thickness compensation, a feature that is standard on all new Cincinnati Autoform and Maxform machines. This feature improves angular consistency by measuring and automatically compensating for material thickness variations during a production run.
This feature allows the use of standard air bend tooling without requiring additional probes or sensors. The encoders and housing-mounted strain gauges measure tonnage and ram position during the stroke. This allows the control to calculate material thickness and strength and automatically adjust the ram reversal position.
Press Brake Tooling
Even with equipment and operators that are now prepared for any job, ETMECO’s press brakes wouldn’t accomplish much without tooling, and according to Gaston, this part of the setup is very important.
“In this area I feel that we are very specialized. There are obviously other companies that we compete with, but because we have such an impressive number of dies, we can do a lot of work that is impossible for other fabrication companies,” said Gaston. “For example, people come to us because we have the dies to do deep channel work.”
Change is also under way in the company’s tool cribs, as North American tooling is replaced by European-style, hardened tooling. With this style of hardened tooling, the dies do not have to be sharpened as often.
During the twice-yearly scheduled shutdowns, the company sends dies out to be recut. Also at this time, some of the dies are replaced.
“This is a process that will take time because we have so many dies,” said Gaston, “but, when combined with the new controls on the brakes, allows us to produce better-quality bends.”
For more information, visit www.etmeco.com.
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