issue: December 2006 APPLIANCE Magazine Commercial Laundry Appliances A Clean Fit	Share  Printable format  Email this Article  Search
Commercial laundry equipment maker Pellerin Milnor installed sheet laser cutters with auto-load and unload, as well as press brakes from the same equipment supplier, and realized advantages that went well beyond close part tolerances.

Consistent Cutting

“We are most impressed by the quality of cut delivered by the new machinery,” says Gamble.  He adds that the consistency of the laser-cut parts resulted in increased efficiency at the press brakes. “The precision of our parts has allowed us to decrease weld sizes by reducing the gaps in part assemblies—a result of the accuracy of the laser. The equipment (also) is providing us with a streamlined flow through the fabrication area, allowing us to put parts directly into other manufacturing processes without losing time. This also means our personnel spend less time chasing down ‘lost’ parts that have been sitting somewhere, waiting for further processing.”
Ehrensing credits the supplier’s press brakes with enabling Milnor to decrease set-up times from nearly an hour to 15 minutes or less, while providing mark-free production. “The more modern machinery has allowed for faster turnarounds, keeping our new machines producing parts. We’re saving about $500 to $700 each week in tooling consumables when compared to our previous equipment.”
Milnor’s sheet metal department is the starting point for all of the company’s manufacturing processes. “We produce a wide variety of sheet metal parts (both carbon and stainless) on a very broad range of machines,” Gamble says. “Essentially, we take flat stock—ranging from 24-gauge up to 3/8-inch—and process it to create multi-dimensional parts (such as electrical enclosures, structural brackets, cosmetic doors and panels) which cut across our product line. The new Trumpf technology has allowed us to eliminate post-machining operations on many parts which require close-tolerance dimensions.”
“Labor requirements for the sheet metal department have gone down by eight to 10 people per shift, more than a 25 percent reduction,” Ehrensing adds. “The loading and auto-loading features are easier on our operators, as well. We’re also receiving better material yields because we now employ dynamic nesting techniques which can place more parts upon each sheet to be cut.”
Ehrensing says Milnor is looking into small-bead welding techniques that may allow the company to more efficiently process assemblies—the result of the close tolerances it now achieves.  It is continuing to rearrange the physical layout of its fabrication area to better accommodate the workflow generated by the new machinery.
In addition to technology from Trumpf, Jim Pellerin sees benefits of the relationship springing from a shared corporate philosophy. “We are both solution-oriented companies committed to our customers,” says Pellerin, the holder of patents on machinery used in laundries and textile plants around the world. “When we introduced CBW tunnel washing technology to the market more than 25 years ago, we brought a level of automation and wash quality to the laundry industry that had not yet been seen. Milnor tunnel washers are becoming standard equipment for many high-capacity laundries, and we’ve grown this product over the years with our attention to customer service. We can now say that we’ve been through an experience similar to what our customers have gone through after our purchase of Trumpf machinery.”