Application:
Tube Producer / Value Added Cut-to-Length
Challenge: Fetasa Tube Group in Mexicali, Mexico is a well established and respected tube producer. In order to grow their business, Fetasa expanded their tube producing services to include cut-to-length processing for their customers. Their initial investment in cutting equipment was manually operated friction saws. This method may have gotten them starting in the cut-to-length business, but they quickly realized that quality and productivity was going to be an issue. Not only was it slow, this very dirty and noisy operation produced such a poor quality cut that it required them to manually de-burring each tube, which in turn reduced profits. If Fetasa was going to stay in the cut-to-length business, they had to come up with a better process that would improve quality and increase productivity.
Solution: Fetasa found Haven via our website, www.havencut.com. Their initial desire was to obtain a complete Haven Model #873 automated cutoff line with bundle loading. Working with Haven’s sales engineers, it was apparent that Fetasa’s daily and annual volume could not support the investment required for this line. Fortunately, Haven offers a manual version of the Model 873 cutoff. This machine uses the exact cutting head and tooling as the automated model. The difference is the operator must push one mill tube at a time through the cut head and up to the Tube Stop target trigger. Each time the trigger is depressed, the machine automatically activates the cut cycle. As long as the operator keeps advancing the mill tube, the machine will continuously cycle. When the mill tube is consumed, the operator simply introduces another tube, engages the remnant that remains in the cutoff and continues the feeding motion.
Results: On a part length of approximately 1-meter, the friction saw method was very inefficient, yielding an average of 500 pieces in an eight hour shift. With the Haven Model 873M Cutoff, Fetasa produced 500 pieces in 30 minutes (1000 pieces per hour) on their very first machine setup. In addition, the cut quality was superior and required no de-burring.
Line of Business
Tube Producer / General Tubular Services / Fabricators
Target Markets
Small Quantity Producers, Just-In-Time Production, Cellular Manufacturing, Tube Remnant Recovery
Haven Products in Use
• Model 873M Manual Dual-Blade Shear Cutoff