The challenge for today’s production shop is to be versatile enough to manufacture everything from limited quantities of a variety of intricate specialized parts to high volumes of the same part.

For one contract manufacturer, Iowa Metal Spinners (IMS: Cedar Falls, IA), its metal-spinning capability has provided the agility to consistently meet the changing needs of the market and exceed its customers’ expectations.

Founded in 1980 by President Kevin Herberts, the company is a manufacturer of spun-metal components used by assemblers and fabricators throughout the US. The company fabricates a variety of products from ferrous and nonferrous metals, aluminum alloys, precious metals, common steels, copper, brass, stainless, and specialty and coated steels.

Metals come in many forms from cold-rolled steel to aluminized or galvanized steel, ranging in thickness from 0.010 to 0.250″ (0.25-6.35 mm), depending on the alloy and part configuration. In the course of one year, for example, the company will process more than 1.5 million lb (680,388 kg) of aluminum for use in HVAC, fan housings, and products for the lighting industry.

In 2000, Iowa Metal Spinners moved into a new facility located in an industrial park in Cedar Falls, IA. It was designed to provide a workflow that allowed IMS to meet production requirements more quickly and with more efficiency than most companies of similar size and range of products.

During facility planning, Harberts recognized that remaining competitive required IMS to commit to a program of long-term improvement through adopting advanced automation systems.

“Our industry is totally changing,” says Harberts. “Ten years ago, everything was spun by hand. Now forming is computerized. And the processes are being continually upgraded so that manufacturing is more transparent and more automated. Customers can place their orders and the follow them right through to delivery by going online to check job status and the stage of production,” Harberts points out.

“Our customers dictate our designs. Projects turn around in as little as a few weeks depending upon the complexity of the parts we’re making. The more complex parts may take up to six months,” he says.

In his search for the expertise to enhance and automate his metal-spinning operations, Harberts turned to MJC Engineering and Technology Inc. (Huntington Beach, CA). MJC manufactures high-tech metal-spinning equipment, and specializes in CNC retrofit, machine rebuilding, and support for leading manufacturers worldwide.

“Our relationship with MJC goes back over 20 years,” Harberts explains. “About 15 years ago, we bought four retrofit specialty machines from MJC. They came in and set everything up. It was painless,” he says.

IMS retrofit the older machines, including a spinning lathe and a specialty machine for venturi panels, which are special frames used in HVAC applications. “MJC helped us do what we wanted to do with the specialty machine. They figured it out. It was a risk we took together,” Harberts says.

Avoiding downtime is critical to the company’s operational efficiency. “We had a problem once with one of the retrofit machines,” he explains. “MJC knew the machine was down and that we couldn’t fix it, so they jumped on a plane the next day and were here on site to solve the problem. For them, it was maybe a 10-min fix. They never charged us for a ‘house call.’

“In our fabrication process, we take a sheet of steel and laser-cut blanks, which go into the spin machine. They are formed on a lathe and then undergo secondary operations, such as drilling, welding, trimming, beading, rolling, and finishing,” Harberts explains.

“To stay competitive and profitable, we purchased a new SP-3230 two-axis CNC metal-spinning machine about a year and a half ago. The machine allows us to be more efficient and hold quality better. We’ve experienced an overall improvement in quality of 25%. The machine takes a circular blank piece of metal, spins it, cuts the part, and it’s done. It’s diat simple,” he says.

The only learning curve with the new CNC machine was the training, which took about a month. As far as operating the machine, IMS moved one person from the shop to program the CNC.

MJC standard, custom-built, and retrofitted spinning machines are shipped with the Siemens 840D CNC control and proprietary SpinCAD software.

Harberts says, “We change the oil every so often. That’s about it.”

Harberts credits MJC’s engineering with improving machining processes and reducing programming, setup, and cycle times. “The specialty machines allow us to produce more precision stainless steel work, and that has opened up a variety of new markets for us, such as aerospace, medical technology products, among others. Plus, it has an added bonus that I like. MJC’s equipment and parts are made in the US.” Circle 230