Punching down production times
March 1st 2008 An LVD Parma 1225 CNC
punch press has helped
Colchester-based Goldstar
Fabrication & Ventilation to
dramatically reduce
manufacturing times,
respond quickly to lastminute
design changes and
take on work that it could
not previously have done.
Typically fabrications start
with a stainless steel sheet
that is cut to size and then
notched to allow it to be
formed into counters,
extractor hoods, and so on.
Previously, Goldstar cut the
sheet to size on a guillotine
and cut the notches by
hand.
Commenting on the LVD
Parma, Martyn Wilks, MD,
says "In terms of time
saving, for example, a sink
top used to take around 4h
of manual work – notching
the corners, cutting out the
shape for the sink bowl,
cutting holes for the taps
and so on. We did that on
the punch press in 2min
40sec. Going from drawing
to part via Autocad and
CADman P also means that
there is a lot less potential
for error than giving a paper
drawing to a man on the
shop floor, so there will be
less scrap too."
Goldstar only punches up
to 2mm stainless, so didn't
need a heavy machine; the
Parma has a 20t punching
force. The turret has 21 tool
stations, including three
auto-indexing stations, so
the company generally
keeps to a standard tool setup,
maybe changing one
tool at the most. More articles from LVD Ltd: | 
