Alfing i Almhult AB, based in Almhult, Sweden provides general sheet metal subcontract services to customers such as the nearby IKEA factory, along with their own product range of seats for university and sports arenas.
After replacing an old punching machine with a new Pullmax Pullmatic 720 FCP punch press in 2005 Alfing decided to purchase JETCAM Expert, which was offered as the preferred programming system along with the machine tool by Pullmax.
Two licenses of JETCAM Expert were installed, along with JETCAM’s rectangular nesting and MRP modules. Rectangular nesting and MRP modules are available from Advanced Sheetmetal Technologies.
Three operators were trained on JETCAM by Pullmax. Ulrik Nilsson, Production Manager for Alfing said; “The training for the machine and software took only three days. We had staff that had no experience of punching, but they were able to competently run the machines after this.”
Alfing often receive orders for large runs of a single component. For this they take advantage of JETCAM’s SCAP facility - single component automatic processing.
This allows JETCAM to automatically import and tool components, applying cutting processes such as microjoints, part unloading, where applicable without any programming.
SCAP can also create single component nests instantly. For other nests of dissimilar parts they utilise rectangular automatic nesting, which also includes a high performance option to allow the nester to run over a specific period of time.
This provides the ideal balance of time versus material efficiency.
As with any complex process, Alfing sometimes needs technical advice and assistance, perhaps when trying to work out how to manufacture complicated components.
JETCAM Expert provides a facility to generate a technical support file that contains a snapshot of Alfing’s software and component geometry configuration, which Pullmax can then analyse to provide immediate remote assistance.
The programmers at Alfing are not the only staffs that need access to JETCAM. They decided to take advantage of JETCAM’s floating license facility, allowing the software to be installed on multiple PCs, with two licenses accessible concurrently.
Ulrik commented; “Our Sales Manager is even accessing the system to obtain runtime estimation on parts, which is then used to generate quotations.”
A second Pullmax machine was purchased in 2007, with all parts immediately available to run on the new machine. Ulrik concluded; “In our case the combination of the Pullmax machine and JETCAM Expert seemed to be the best solution because we could get support both for the machine and the software from the same supplier. It is a good system to work with.”
Benefits Achieved:
- Provided directly by the machine tool manufacturer - one vendor for both software and hardware
- Sales Manager uses Runtime Estimation to build quotes
- Automatically batch processing components in seconds
- Full support for additional load/unload technology
- JETCAM supports all of the advanced features of the Pullmax, such as bending and tapping
- Engineer with no previous training was proficient in 3 days
- Floating license provides flexible access to CAM
- Ability to generate support files for technical assistance directly from within the software