The most common secondary processes that are integrated either individually or together, with a tube cutting system are: wire brush deburring, endfinishing (chamfering), automatic measuring, tube washing and automatic tube packaging.
The decision to integrate your tube cutting process with other secondary processes needs to be evaluated carefully. The most obvious benefit to be realized is labor savings generated by integrating several processes that otherwise would be done individually. Integration also has added benefits of eliminating work in progress and the associated inventory tracking, saving floor space by keeping the cutting and secondary processes close, and decreasing production scheduling duties.
Integrating your tube cutting operation with secondary processes can also jeopardize overall production if certain conditions are not met. If the secondary process requires two hours for a changeover and the cutoff can be changed in ten minutes you don’t want to integrate unless you are running large production runs.The availability of skilled labor can also influence your decision. Although the auto- matic transfer methods to integrate secondary processes are relatively simple, it is an additional process that needs to be performed by workers that are properly trained and motivated. Finally it is important to design your overall system with areas for accumulation and reintroduction of parts should one component of the system fail. This will allow you to continue the upstream process and reintroduce parts downstream at another time.
Practically any type of tube cutting machine can be integrated with secondary machines. The cutoff machine should be considered the first stage in the integrated system and be as automated as possible to help you realize labor savings. There are numerous methods available to cut tubing and the following are the most commonly used prior to transferring to secondary operations: Dual-Blade Shear Cutting, Supported Shear Cutting, Sawing and Rotary Cutting. Haven Manufacturing can design and build automatic transfer systems from your existing cutting operation. To eliminate labor and ease handling, your tube cutoff machine should be equipped with an automatic bundle loader /unscrambler. These devices let you place a mill length bundle of tubing into them and they will be auto- matically raised and individually escaped through the cut- off operation.