工业金属处理器通常马terials in one of two ways–on a coil or cut into flat sheets or blanks.
The method of product delivery matters greatly because it determines what machines are in place at the beginning of the processing line. With coil, there could be uncoilers or payout reels, straighteners, cut-to-length machines and more. With flat sheets or blanks, though, most of those machines aren’t necessary, and therefore the organization can often take the sheet from the pallet to the press.
When put like that, why don’t industrial processors just switch over to sheet, as it requires less machines and therefore must be a cheaper process?
It’s not as simple as that. For one, just because coil requires more processing before it reaches the press doesn’t make it a “worse” option. In fact, coil brings with it a number of benefits that can easily offset the costs of the machines.
In addition, there are a variety of other pieces of the process that actually help determine which type of metal delivery is right for each organization.
Read on to learn more about the differences between sheet and coil processing.
Machines
有时,一个组织的机械needs dictate the way they receive their materials. For example,American Products, the sister company of EnSight, specializes in telecommunications enclosure solutions. For some of its product lines, the company uses turret and laser machines that are specifically set up to handle sheet. If American Products wanted to switch those production lines to being coil-fed, the company would have to invest a large amount of time, resources and funds to refit the line. At EnSight Solutions, we’ve seen the same thing with coil–organizations have machines that are already set up for coil, and therefore it would be cost-prohibitive to retro fit the machines for sheet.
Volume
For some organizations, material volume needs could determine which delivery method is best. Those who run a lot of material quickly are often better off with coil because it allows them to run continuously for longer. And then vice versa for those organizations who don’t need to run continuously.
Materials
If an organization deals with metals that are extremely thick, their best option (maybe even their only) could be sheet metal because really thick materials can be hard to coil. And the same goes for thin materials–it might be easier for the organization to handle really thin metals if they’re coiled, rather than in a sheet.
Flexibility
Some organizations have to be flexible when making parts of their customers. For example, a company may build a part for a customer that is 4’x6’ in size. At some point, the customer’s needs might change and they have to request a different sized part. If the processor is running sheet metal, this change could result in more scrap, which then results in less revenue. Or, it could require the processor to order a new size of material, which could then result in price changes, supply issues or other headaches.
If said organization is running coil, though, they have more flexibility to switch parts. Instead of all the changes, they just need to adjust their feeds to accommodate the new size, and then restart production. If properly done, there might not even be any scrap or downtime.
Automation
For some organizations, making a goal toward automation could also decide which direction the company goes.
In regard to sheet, some organizations find that they can use robots to pick the metal sheets up from the pallets and feed them to their presses. Another robot can then “grab” the part and move it on. If the robots aren’t feasible, though, the organization would have to rely on human labor to handle and move the sheets.
On the other hand, organizations can use coil to automate certain parts of their process without robotics. By nature, coil processing is a form of automation, as after the material is threaded into the feed, the company can run it without human interference until the coil runs out. Replace and repeat.
At EnSight Solutions, we specialize in helping organizations properly process their materials to ensure high-quality parts, whether said materials come from coil or sheet.Contact our industrial processing specialiststo learn how we can help you automate and improve your processes!
