Adds 1 250 ton press brake to bending department and is awarded ISO 9001:2015 certification.
Plate preparation company Bekker Steel has been busy upgrading its plate cutting machines in order to boost quality and productivity. Additionally the company has added a 1 250 ton press brake to the bending department and installed a solar panel system that will cut the company’s electricity bill by one third.
“Competition among sheet metal and plate processors for market share is fierce. Many companies have seen their markets dwindle, with some of their customers disappearing from the landscape entirely. Given the intense competition, attaining the highest productivity possible from the shop floor is increasingly important,” said Johan Bekker, founder and owner of Bekker Steel.
“With these challenges, installing new equipment is not always an option. So optimising productivity often comes down to finding ways to maximise the use of existing resources.”
Bekker Steel have gone the retrofit route and upgraded their four high definition plasma machines with the Hypertherm HyPerformance® HPR260XD plasma system
“Some conditions are clear clues that it is time to upgrade – either by refurbishing or replacing components or by refurbishing/retrofitting, or by replacing the entire cutting line. Excessive downtime and increased maintenance that affects overall production costs are indicators that the equipment needs upgrading.”
“Or it may be that existing equipment is functional, but that productivity needs a boost. In this case, various types of upgrades to plate processing equipment can help processors achieve measurable gains in their production efficiencies.”
“When I established the company in 2004 I acquired equipment that had many hours of service in the log books. Only in 2005 did I start to invest in new equipment when I acquired a custom built high definition profile cutting machine.”
“Subsequently I invested in a new Faccin 2.5m x 10mm four roll plate roll supplied by Talmac, a 300 ton Ermaksan press brake with a 3.8m bending width and an Ermaksan Lasermak CO2 laser that comes with a 4 kilowatt power source and a 4 x 2 metre bed size, both of the machines supplied by Machine Tool Promotions and a new Ficep Gemini CNC plate processing system, which was supplied by Retecon Machine Tools.”
Bekker Steel have also purchased a new 1 250 ton press brake that can bend material up to 40mm over five metres or up to 60mm over a smaller width
“There was further investment in custom built high definition profile cutting machines, two of which have a bed size of 36 x 3,2 metres and they have been backed up in the factory that we moved into in 2013. This gives us a bed length of 72 metres.”
“However, our high definition profile cutting machines are not keeping up with the production requirements. We are already processing over 1 100 tons of metal a month, which is pushing us to turn the metal around. With increased enquiries and shorter lead times from industry we had to take a hard look at our plate processing equipment.”
“We decided to go the retrofit route as we realised we can achieve measurable gains in production efficiency through various types of upgrades to our equipment, including servo drives, variable speed controls, and operator interfaces.”
“At the same time that we were doing our sums our consumable supplier was setting up a retrofitting business with links to ACT Machinery, a well-known new equipment and retrofitting business in Holland.”
The four high definition plasma machines are fitted with True Hole technology and EDGE® Connect, Hypertherm’s newest CNC platform
“When considering a retrofit to an older plasma cutting machine, a processor needs to consider equipment location, state of the machine components, the types of shielding gases and consumables that might be needed with a technology upgrade, and any possible training that may be needed.”
“As our machines are between 10 and 12 years old any upgrade on productivity would be an improvement. But when ACT South Africa management promised us better quality at lower running costs if we went the retrofit route and that it would be at a fraction of the cost of purchasing four new machines, we were convinced.”
“Work on the retrofitting began in January 2017 and all four machines are now up and running with their new livery. They have all been fitted with the Hypertherm HyPerformance® HPR260XD plasma system. The versatile 260-amp rated system combines fast cutting speeds, rapid process cycling, quick changeovers and high reliability and process flexibility to cut, bevel and mark mild steel, stainless steel and aluminium metals up to 40mm thick.”
Bekker Steel has an Ermaksan Lasermak CO2 laser that comes with a 4 kilowatt power source and a 4 x 2 metre bed size
“They are also fitted with True Hole technology and EDGE® Connect, Hypertherm’s newest CNC platform. The speed traverses are at least 25m/min – more than double what we are used to – and each machine now includes a safety rope which we believe should be standard on all machines.”
“An additional feature is that ACT South Africa technicians can now monitor the machines remotely and prevent any downtime unless there is something mechanical that fails. Both our SigmaNest and ProNest programmes are now also being optimised with the technology upgrade that in effect gives us four new machines.”
Other developments
“We are also proud to announce that we have been awarded ISO 9001:2015 certification. The quality management system was implemented over the last year and we were registered by DQS in April this year.”
“We have also purchased a new 1 250 ton press brake that can bend material up to 40mm over five metres or up to 60mm over a smaller width. In this department we already have a 600 ton by five metre press brake and a 300 ton by three metre, which now gives us more flexibility in this division.”
“The other exciting development has been that we have installed a solar system which includes 640 solar panels and three invertors. The system is providing us with 125kva a day at this stage and affords us a sizeable saving on our electricity bill.”
Two of the high definition plasma machines have a bed size of 36 x 3,2 metres and they have been backed up in the factory that Bekker Steel moved into in 2013. This gives the company a bed length of 72 metres to work with
“On the green efficiency side we have also installed a bore hole that can provide us with
9 000 litres per hour and we only require 2 500 litres.”
“To companies that are not in a position to make a capital investment in new equipment, the decision to retrofit may be a favorable alternative. Refurbishing an old machine to bring it up to new standards required for today’s demand for quality, clearances and control can result in significant savings over the cost of a new press.”
“However, extensive rebuilds often take a long time to complete. Thus, the decision to remanufacture or upgrade equipment should be made only when the expected workload and part volume justify the cost to rebuild.”
For further details contact Bekker Steel on TEL: 016 428 2630 or visit www.bekkersteel.co.za
