United Support Solutions Reinvents Its Business

New tooling technology can profoundly influence fabricating productivity when installed in either new or existing fabricating equipment. Take, for example, United Support Solutions (USS), a leading East Coast screen printer and finishing company that recently expanded into full service fabrication and branded products manufacturing.

In early 2007, USS acquired its third Strippit CNC punch press and tooled it with the Mate Xcel thin turret tooling, more than tripling tool life over previously used tooling while improving part quality and setup times.

The switch came after a simple tool test of a Mate tool run over a 45 day period and comparing setup time requirements, part quality and frequency of sharpenings with a different brand of tooling USS was using. The results were astonishing, according to Joe Ostering, president of USS, and lead to a phasing in of Mate Xcel tooling on all three of the company's Strippit presses.

"Tooling is extremely important to us," said Ostering, "because it has a major impact on all aspects of our operation, everything from quality and fabricating speed to efficient labor utilization and ultimately profitability. We punch ten tons of sheet metal a week. Most of the material is 5052 and 6061 aluminum in thicknesses up to 3/16 inch. We punch up to 2,000 parts an hour. The latest Mate Xcel tooling has really impacted our punching operations for the better. By constantly upgrading our tooling and using it in innovative ways, we perform a 'smarter' service for our customers that translates into a better, more cost-effective product."

Switch To The New Mate Xcel Tooling Reduces Tool Setup Time 75 Percent While Tripling Tool Life
Rapidly growing demand for CNC punched parts led USS to look for ways to improve its punch press operations with a focus on tool utilization. said Ostering, "We heard about the new Mate Xcel tooling for Strippit presses. Mate has a reputation for long life tooling and we wanted the best. Glen Winters, Mate Precision Tooling sales engineer, gave us an Xcel tool to try. The first thing we noticed was that we weren't sharpening the Xcel tool as often as the others we were using. We were getting much better run times and the daily savings were really mounting up. The decision was made to convert the entire Strippit Global 1225 model (30 stations) to the Mate Xcel tooling system early in '07. We installed basic square, oval and rectangle tools, which immediately gave us setup time reductions of over 75 percent and more than tripled tool life. We haven't looked back since."

"Mate Xcel is a 'setup dream,'" said Ostering. "The push-button design not only allows length adjustment of the punch length, it allows us to change the angle of the punch within the guide to 0-degrees, 45-degrees and 90-degrees without the need to remove and reinstall the punch. That feature alone saves 10 minutes per tool so with 5 of these assemblies in the turret, the setup time savings add up fast. Time is money, plus the initial cost of these Mate Xcel tools was significantly less expensive than our earlier tools."

Mate Xcel is a high performance, full-featured tooling system designed to reduce setup time, improve piece part quality and maximize productivity. Plus it's an easy tool system to phase in because Mate Xcel components are compatible with conventional thin turret tooling inventory. USS was able to work its way out of its old tooling while gaining immediate benefits from Mate's Xcel. The system they went with includes: a canister assembly for the 1-1/4 inch station, a punch guide assembly for the Strippit Style 3-1/2 inch station, together with punches, strippers and Slug Free dies.

With many exclusive features, the one that made an immediate impact was the Mate Xcel canister assembly designed with a push button length adjustment mechanism. This allowed USS to make punch length adjustment in 0.008 inch (0.20 mm) increments for quick and precise tool setup without disassembly. This exclusive design feature ensures rapid tool change and maximum productivity giving USS immediate setup time savings. Stripper guides are hardened and ground with superior angularity and concentricity for reduced friction and longer tool life. Punches are made with DuraSteel for superior hardness and toughness, more features creating immediate payback for USS with triple the tool life and far fewer trips to the tool grinder. Mate's exclusive Slug Free die geometry is another exclusive feature aiding USS' productivity by eliminating slug pulling to improve piece part quality and increase tool life.

USS press operators like how easily the Xcel tooling sets up. The Xcel canister positively locks onto the guide to hold the punch and stripper with greater rigidity than other tooling. The entire system snaps and locks together as a unit without the shims and tiny set screws required by other tool assemblies. According to Ostering, setting tools up for a job with its old brand of tooling is a slow, complicated process. It requires removing the tool assembly from the turret, setting the punch length, measuring, shimming and re-checking the punch length and then locking up the assembly with set screws. Not so with Mate Xcel, he says.
 

Branded Products And New Services Are Added Inducements for USS Tooling Exclusively With Mate Xcel
United Support Solutions is a fast rising star in the metal fabrication industry committed to reinventing its business in order to capitalize on new opportunities. With 75 employees, USS reported 80 percent growth in the last year alone. The company is a great example of an aggressive, intelligently run job shop and product manufacturer, seizing opportunity and out-performing competition. Integration of the latest Mate tooling technology on this journey is increasingly important to USS diversification and growth.

The USS philosophy of utilizing the latest and best technology began when it did in 1980. The company quickly became northern New Jersey's premier finishing shop with complete powder coating, alodine conversion and screen printing. While this business thrived, president Joe Ostering said that providing a complete fabrication service made even more sense as it expanded into fabricated assemblies for military, telecommunications and medical OEM customers. This expansion included all areas of fabricating, with new systems and processes added for CNC punching, laser cutting, forming, welding, drilling, tapping and component assembly as well as metal finishing, graphics and marking.

Along with this expansion, USS developed and marketed in 2005 of an innovative branded product line called "Radiant Wraps" decorative metal enclosures for baseboard heating units. (www.radiantwraps.com ). Now accounting for 15 percent of USS overall volume, the product line has been a big hit in commercial building and residential markets and is the leader in this product category. Similarly, USS' military fabricating work has grown rapidly with a very heavy reliance on Mate Xcel tooling to punch the wide range of complex assemblies. The tooling allows for fast setups, top quality punched features and quick turnaround.

By standardizing on Mate Xcel, USS says it will stay ahead of its expanding tooling needs with the many options and accessories within the Xcel system for new punching requirements. Mate has the answer with 3-station and 8-station Multi Tools, cluster assemblies with replacable inserts, multi-function maintenance fixtures for assembling and adjusting tool components and alignment tools for aligning each turret station.

With an 80 percent growth rate in the last year and operating its punch presses two 40 hour shifts, USS says it also needs on-the-spot tooling ideas and service for new projects. "Glenn Winters of Mate has the required tooling experience," said Ostering. "Our programmers and operators like to talk tooling face-to-face with someone with hands-on experience and Glenn Winters is the expert in that area. He helps us to be creative with our tooling and that's a really important benefit to us."

Mate is a world-leading supplier of superior high quality punch press tooling providing best in-field technical support and friendly, helpful factory customer service, sales and technical support.

Authored by Mate Precision Tooling

For more information contact:

United Support Solutions

134 Sand Park Road

Cedar Grove, NJ 07009

973-857-2298

Fax: 973-857-4943

www.unitedss.com

E-mail: sales@unitedss.com

Mate Precision Tooling

1295 Lund Boulevard

Anoka, MN 55303

800-328-4492

763-421-0230

Fax: 800-541-0285

Fax: 763-421-0285

www.mate.com

E-mail: marketing@mate.com