Industry 4.0 approach to shop floor gives LaserCAM a clear view of the future

The challenge that most shops have when planning for the future is their legacy systems. As much as a shop may want the latest and greatest laser, bending, or automation tools, sometimes what’s paid for is inevitably the sensible option.

But what if you had a chance to start new today? How would you invest for the leanest, most flexible shop floor? LaserCAM Fabrication was in the position to test this idea out when founder Cameron Somerville planned the launch of the company two years ago. He was fortunate to have the support of a venture capitalist investor – his father – but still had to create a compelling argument for his planned investments. Thus far his approach appears to be paying dividends in the form of satisfied clients and a growing market reach.

New Ideas

LaserCAM Fabrication opened its doors 16 months ago as a job shop focused on serving the laser cutting and bending needs of manufacturers in Victoria and the rest of Vancouver Island.

Somerville was something of a latecomer to the fab industry. He originally graduated university at the end of the tech bubble, ending up working retail while he figured out what to do next. He began studying materials engineering, and although the subject matter fascinated him, the university environment didn’t suit. Somerville was an avid diver, and it was a conversation with his instructor, who was also a fabricator, that led him to the industry.

“He explained to me how the demographics in the industry were creating a large change that was creating new opportunities, and I thought, ‘That might be for me,’” said Somerville. After some entry-level trades training at Camosun College, Somerville got himself an apprenticeship position in a custom sheet metal company, where he stayed for five years. But other passions kept pushing him.

“One of my real passions is additive manufacturing,” he said. “What you can do with 3D printing really blows my mind. I started bringing some of the ideas I was working on at home into work and the reception was a little lukewarm.”

Somerville understands the reason for that reception, of course.

“3D printing is time-intensive, so when you tell a tradesperson that it’s going to take 18 hours to build something, that sounds like much too long. Most people in trades are used to dealing in hours, and that’s too many hours. But it’s an autonomous process that can run overnight. It requires a shift in thinking.”

One of the ideas that did work for Somerville at that job was a 3D jig that allowed fabricators to drill a very accurate hole in a custom piece of pipe.

“The turnaround necessary meant we couldn’t farm out the job, so this was the solution I was able to generate,” he explained.

The hesitancy Somerville saw on the job was something he felt was not unique in local industry.

“It comes back to demographics,” Somerville said. “There are many very skilled tradespeople in our area, but a lot of the local companies are at a stage in their development that those running them are considering retirement or selling the business, so investment in new technology is not going to be top of mind. I saw this as the ideal time to strike out on my own and create a business that offered services that couldn’t be delivered by more established shops nearby.”

Machine Backbone

Somerville invested in a TRUMPF TruLaser2030 fibre laser with a load/unload system that allows him to stack a 6-in.-thick parcel of sheet steel and palletize the cut sheet.

“We run that machine lights-out already,” he said.

To support the speed at which the laser works, the company invested in a TRUMPF TruBend 5170 CNC press brake, which has a 10-ft. bed and is rated for 170 tons. The machine is equipped for angle measurement, has a 6-axis backgauge, and includes a lift assist device that allows a single operator to work with large pieces on the machine.

“For one of the jobs we’re doing now, the customer requires +/- 20 thou on all their parts. We’ve sent them 25,000 parts so far and, knock on wood, haven’t had any come back from quality control. If we didn’t have a newer CNC press brake, we would have struggled to meet those demands so consistently.”

The lift assist is also proving its worth.

“We’re working on a contract right now that is semi-standard parts for industrial electrical cabinets, and our operator is bending up panels with the bend assist by himself that are 6 or 7 ft. long by 3.5 ft. wide and he’s able to do that by himself, and he’s not struggling with it. He asks for a hand with really large parts to load and unload, but otherwise he can do it all himself while maintaining accuracy and repeatability.”

LaserCAM uses TRUMPF’s Boost software for both machines.

“If you’ve got good, clean parts, you click a button and it does most of the calculations automatically,” Somerville said. Seventy-five per cent of parts we do are really straightforward, so not a lot of time is taken programming. But it also creates the option of changing your bend strategy.”

LaserCAM aims to make clean parts that customers can immediately send to paint or easily weld. To save work hours and resources on the back end, the shop acquired a Lissmac SBM-L 1500G1S2 deburring machine with a wet dust collector that allows for processing of steel, stainless steel, and aluminum with no risk of fire.

According to Lissmac, this machine was designed to manage the harder burr that is created from the heat generated by a fibre laser. It features two sets of sanding blocks and a grinding belt to cut the harder burr.

The machine also has a photo eye connected to a Siemens PLC to monitor the wear on the blocks so that it can compensate for that wear. This used to be a manual process.

“I’m always on the lookout for things that will reduce hands-on time with parts,” said Somerville. “We were spending a lot of time sanding and deburring. We were cutting a lot of aluminum parts, and the aluminum is so sticky that there is always a little bit of a burr, and I really want to provide off-the-shelf parts that are ready for paint or assembly. That’s been one of my driving mission values. The Lissmac has been a great option. We’ve got some cladding clips we were processing. The machine will go through 1,000 clips in an hour; you don’t get that productivity any other way. And customers love the result. We pretty much run everything through it now. Rounding the edges even on larger parts helps to ensure that paint adheres properly.”

Ideally, Somerville wants his shop to become a solid example of an Industry 4.0 environment where data from each machine is available to ensure bottlenecks are avoided at all stages of the fabrication process and product can go from order to shipment in a virtually paperless environment. In the interests of that goal, the company is in the process of introducing an ERP system – a critical early step on the 4.0 path.

3D Printing Support

Somerville can put some of his materials engineering education to use with the application of the company’s three 3D printers, a Markforged, a Prusa MK3, and a LulzBot Mini. These machines allow the shop to print fibre composites, as well as print with filaments such as Kevlar® and fiberglass.

While the machines primarily were acquired for non-metal parts clients might need, Somerville has put them to good use for the shop as well.

“I’ve made some roller dies in a few sizes,” he said. “In fact, we’ve got a patent pending on a press brake tool built with our 3D printer. But we’ve done other things as well. We made an asymmetrical joggle tool that has processed over 1,000 parts; it’s got no signs of wear and every part is still within the customer’s spec.”

Like with any new technology, those unfamiliar with 3D printing may be skeptical, but Somerville is converting his team.

“Our press brake operator was a bit doubtful when I first brought him a 3D-printed die for the brake, but since then he’s come to me with ideas,” he explained. “He suggested we create a side gauge for long, narrow parts we were bending to keep them square on the machine. Introducing that has probably saved us around 20 seconds per part on bends, which is substantial when you are bending more than 100 at a time.”

Keeping Focus

LaserCAM is also notable for what it doesn’t do. For instance, although the company offers PEM® insertion to install self-clinching fasteners and hardware such as studs and nuts, there is no plan currently to expand into welding.

“There are many local welding specialists, so it would be redundant for us to expand the business in that direction right now,” said Somerville. “We are interested in investing in a cobot that could manage very simple welds, to save us from outsourcing quick-turnaround welds, but as a specialty it isn’t the space we want. We want to maintain a shop that is under 20,000 sq. ft. and can provide flexible manufacturing solutions for customers.”

So far this approach appears to be working. Clients include businesses in marine industries, wood stove construction, and electrical cabinets, and that list looks to expand quickly.

But Somerville tries not to get ahead of himself, and he’s got an advisory board to ensure that he stays on point. This includes his father, who keeps an eye on the financials; a retired university professor in mechanical engineering; and a retired heavy industrial fabricator.

“This gives me outside perspective and forces me to think outside my comfort zone,” he said. “Having that knowledge base really is a great reminder that even though we might be trying to change the way things are done, many fundamental rules still apply.”

Editor Robert Colman can be reached at rcolman@canadianfabweld.com.

LaserCAM Fabrication Inc., www.lasercamfab.com