Beckwood recently exhibited at the IMTS (International Manufacturing Technology Show) in Chicago, IL.  And, while the show is a mainstay of Beckwood marketing efforts, and while it regularly provides a solid stream of interested leads, 2010’s show turned out to be the best on record from the standpoint of booth traffic.

Coming off the ‘recession’ many would have assumed that manufacturing companies struggling to find their way in a brave new world would have held on to the funds required to make the trip to IMTS.  But, luckily, we found that just wasn’t the case.

Hopefully, this is an early-indicator of a solid 2011…

by Josh Schroeder
Manufacturing Manager
Certified Six Sigma Black Belt

What’s in a name?  I’m always fascinated how a company, a team or a band gets their name. Sometimes it’s as simple as the last name of the founder or the initials of two partners but often there is a story behind what’s in a name.

The Company 3M got its start in 1902 as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company making sand paper. Later as they continued to grow they shortened the name to 3M and introduced other products like Scotch tape and the famous Post-It notes.

Apple Computers was born out of inspiration while Steve Jobs worked on an Oregon apple farm in 1976. He was also a Beatles fan and admired their record label Apple Records. Later the “computers” portion of their name was dropped as they successfully ventured into the world of consumer electronics.

In baseball the Dodger were originally called the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers in reference to 19th century Brooklyn where the streets were filled with trolleys and the pedestrians scurried out of their way. It was later shortened to just the Brooklyn Dodgers.

When the Cincinnati Reds were formed in 1869, they were the Red Stockings, later shortened to the Reds until the early 50’s when McCarthyism was rampant and no one wanted to be called a “Red”. They made another official name change to the Redlegs and when the patriotic panic died down they quietly switched back to being the Reds.

The New York Yankees were originally called the Highlanders and the Hill-Toppers (because their park was located at the highest point in the city). Sportswriters complained about the difficulty of squeezing the long team name into headlines. In 1909, a newsman arbitrarily called them Yankees, patriotic slang for “Americans” around World War I and the name stuck ever since.

Here at Beckwood there is also a story about how we got our name. Most people understand that the “Beck” is short for “Becker”, after our late founder Charlie Becker. But many are puzzled by the “wood” part of our name when our primary customers are in the metal forming business.

In 1976 Beckwood was formed as a fireplace insert and door manufacturer. The “wood” portion of the name was in reference to the “wood” burning fireplaces.

One part of the manufacturing process required the use of hydraulic presses. Charlie, being the entrepreneur and frugal minded business man that he was decided to build his own presses for internal use. This would prove to be a wise decision because in 1996, the opportunity to sell hydraulic presses commercially presented itself. Then as the fireplace business dwindled due to low cost offshore mass production, those lines were phased out and full attention was paid to hydraulic press manufacturing in 2001.

The Beckwood name while known to the wood burning fireplace industry as a strong, quality driven manufacturer has become just as prevalent in the hydraulic press industry today. What’s in a name? Well for Beckwood, while the name and logo maybe a little strange in the metals industry, the name pays homage to our beginnings and our founder whom without, we would not exist.

Return on Position Control

Whether your process is stamping sheet metal or forming composite components, choosing the right press return for your application is crucial. Identifying the capability needs, up front, can eliminate additional costs and start up delays.

Hydraulic presses offer the capability of configuring the press stroke to meet your die or application needs. They also have the ability to adjust the overall travel of the ram and can be configured to return at a given position or a given force. This flexibility yields the greatest advantage for hydraulics for a wide variety of applications.

The most critical factor in selecting a hydraulic press, is to match the press capability to the needs of the application. There are three primary press capabilities available (though all can be combined depending on the required performance of the application).

Return on Pressure

Return on Pressure Control

The most common and economical performance capability for a hydraulic press is the ability to Return on Pressure. Because a hydraulic press can develop full tonnage anywhere in the stroke, this lends a great deal of inherent flexibility. Dies with integral stop blocks but multiple shut heights can be easily run on the same press with minimal set up.

In addition to flexibility and reduced set up time, dies and applications that are designed for this mode of operation gain absolute repeatability at very little cost. Even traditional punch tooling can be run under return on pressure mode by incorporating fixed stops into the tooling or press system. In this mode, the ram will lower and extend to a preset target force and then return to the up limit position.

Today, most dies are being designed with stop blocks either built into them or designed so that the die itself can be closed to “bottom out” and support the force of the ram. In this case, operators can set the target return force set point slightly above the necessary force

Return on Position
Return on Position is another commonly requested performance capability, but is also the most routinely misunderstood. Unlike a mechanical press, in which the ram always strokes to the same bottom position every cycle, a hydraulic press can be controlled to stop and return at any point in the stroke.

The repeatability and accuracy of this type of control varies widely and is dependent upon many variables such as; speed of the ram, the type of valving used, the type of work being performed, etc… The level of performance has an impact on the cost of the hydraulic and control systems.

Basic and simple systems yield somewhat loose performance capabilities due to the reliance on hard shift valves to control the direction of the ram. These systems achieve repeatability of perhaps ±0.020″ - ±0.025″. More sophisticated systems integrate open or closed loop control to significantly improve and tighten the level of performance for repeatability of ±0.001″.

Return on Pressure with Dwell

Return on Pressure and Position

Return on Position is another commonly requested performance capability, but is also the most routinely misunderstood. Unlike a mechanical press, in which the ram always strokes to the same bottom position every cycle, a hydraulic press can be controlled to stop and return at any point in the stroke.

The repeatability and accuracy of this type of control varies widely and is dependent upon many variables such as; speed of the ram, the type of valving used, the type of work being performed, etc… The level of performance has an impact on the cost of the hydraulic and control systems.

Basic and simple systems yield somewhat loose performance capabilities due to the reliance on hard shift valves to control the direction of the ram. These systems achieve repeatability of perhaps ±0.020″ - ±0.025″. More sophisticated systems integrate open or closed loop control to significantly improve and tighten the level of performance for repeatability of ±0.001″.

Recently one my co-workers, who has never quoted a hydraulic press, asked me for a quote based solely upon the part number from an old machine. At this point, I began to ask him questions about the application, such as cycles per minute, stroke, etc., which he shrugged off and said the customer did not know the details, but just wanted a price based upon the P/N off of an old machine. I told him I could not possibly price a machine without this information, the old machines P.O. number or the serial number. At this point he went to our boss and asked the same question and was told ‘I can quote you a 30ton press for $20,000 or $200,000 based upon the customers requirements’ and was sent to get the details necessary to provide a proper quote.

This is not unique circumstance, I can remember selling filters and commonly someone would realize that the oil they were using in their hydraulic systems did not meet the oil cleanliness requirements of the hydraulic components on the system. Many customer’s would look at the filter they were using see that it was “rated” as a 10 micron media and then ask me and three other vendors to quote a 5 micron filter, buy the least expensive one and assume that it would clean the oil up. The problem here is that every filter, wire screen, piece of paper , up to and including my dirty socks are 100, 50, 20, 10 5, 3,and 2 micron filters all at the same time. They just happen to be much more efficient at removing certain particles than others. Just one of the details being over looked is the efficiency rating of the media, which has a large impact on the cleanliness. Then there is the fact that the new smaller pore size filter may not work at all in the application, because it has too large a pressure drop.

My point in all of this is that many times a customer calls in asking for a general quote with a very vague idea of what they need or want. It takes a knowledgeable individual to walk them through the process to dig for the details necessary to provide them with a quote that reflects what they are truly, needing. So, please be patient when someone is digging for information to get the details necessary to provide you with a proper quote. They would just as soon be playing solitaire, looking at the web, reading the daily news, as the next guy, but they know that if they make a mistake in the quote and it is not caught, they may have just sold you a $600,000 boat anchor which could get them or you fired. The devil is not in the details, but in the lack of them.

by Dan Michki
Electrical Engineer

Haifa, Israel

My first opportunity to experience the country of Israel came from a Hydraulic Press Startup. The city that I visited was Haifa and it lies right on the coast of the Mediterranean.

My first thought was that this must be one of the best kept secrets in the world, since the beautiful beaches were completely void of people. I later found out that this is largely due to the fact that the entire population of Israel is under 10 million people.

The press is used for the extrusion of Aluminum in small laboratory batches, so that it can be analyzed.

The process begins by heating the stock material. It is then loaded into a heated container in the press. A dummy block is placed behind it where the ram then presses on the material to push it out of the die. Afterward the extrusion is stretched in order to straighten it.

The press uses a LabView based HMI PC for Data collection and Analysis and a Delta hydraulic controller for velocity/force controls. The operator can enter a velocity in MM per second and a “not to exceed force” in Kilograms.

The press is powered by a three phase 400VAC 50 Hz. circuit.  This is good to keep in mind as the current draw of a standard three phase 480VAC 60 Hz. Motor will be more, so the components need to be sized accordingly.

This was one of the best places that I have ever visited, due largely to the fact that 70% of the population there speak perfect English.

by Michael Riehn

At Beckwood Press Company, the people make the difference

People are the resource that drives manufacturing, but they can often be overlooked in the overall process.  In difficult economic times, many talented people are the first in line when cost cutting moves occur.
 
The standard thinking is:  “I can’t keep my employees busy, so I’m wasting the bottom line”.  This is a short-sighted vision, when the next economic upturn can be right around the corner.  

The hydraulic press industry is especially sensitive to this resource.  Finding talented hydraulic engineers can be difficult in the good times, so each great hire is a precious resource. 

Electrical, Hydraulic and Structural Engineering teams are a vital component to a great press, and more importantly, a great project.  A hydraulic press manufacturer’s application experience can make or break your project.  It is essential that you get to know the company that you choose before making your final decision.

The lesson from the press  industry can be used for almost any manufacturing processes.  By investing money in new employees and updated technology training in the difficult times, you are able to ‘leap ahead’ of the competition during the good times. 

Lead times become shorter, technology advances, machinery becomes more efficient and new out of the box thinking gives your company an edge when everyone else is scrambling to keep up.

Can you afford to miss out on the most talented people in your industry?

by Michael Riehn

What is a PC HMI Control system and how does it compare to a Panelview HMI?

Panelview HMI with Productivity Package and job storage

Operator Interface integrated with a Beckwood Press

This system includes a touchscreen operator interface with job storage and recipe handling. All cycle parameters are programmed and saved for recall, significantly reducing operator set up time. Additional features are available, see below. System is programmed for application specific requirements to suit user needs.

Common adjustable features include:

• Tonnage/ Pressure
• Up Limit
• Slow Down
• Return on Position or Pressure
• Dwell Time
• Multiple Job Storage
• Serial Communications
• Safety Alarms
• Password Protection

Other Features may include but are not limited to adjustable:

• Ram Speed Control
• Integration of controls through Auxiliary Equipment
• Language Options
• Data Collection
• Graphical & Report Trending
• Expandable Memory
• Ethernet communications
• Diagnostic Control
• Press Monitoring
• Production Rate
• Plus much more.

PC HMI with Productivity Package and job storage

PC HMI from Beckwood Press Company

A PC based system includes all of the features of the Panelview with the following additional attributes:

• 10,000 recipes job storage
• Data acquisition
• Trending
• Multiple control access points
• Report generation
• Customized panel matching (can emulate other control templates reducing orientation for press operation and seamless transfer)
• Onscreen PID tuning
• Multilevel security password protection
• E-mail alarm & alerts
• Networking to LAN system
• Text message, e-mail or smart phone press control
• Excel recipe loading and storage
• Alarm status and report queries

Additional options may include:

• Fingerprint ID security with multilevel access tiers
• Self diagnostic programming (system and parts) for quality control
• Vision system part inspection
• Vibration analysis
• Oil particle counter
• Oil aqua sensor

For more information on hydraulic press control, contact Beckwood Press Company.