F82: Press Brake Automation

What to Consider Before Purchasing Your First Automated Bending System
Automation continues to affect our daily lives. While the general benefits of automation are well publicized, how should a metal fabricator investigate if automating a press brake will improve bending operations. It’s important to carefully evaluate needs and expectations before deciding to acquire your first automated press brake. This session will serve as a guide to questions you should consider during your early stage of evaluation.
Todd A. Kirchoff – Cincinnati Incorporated

Lessons Learned: The True Cost of Not Automating Your Press Brake Operations
Traditionally, Return On Investment (ROI) benefits for manufacturing automation have often focused on simple calculations of cost savings per part produced. These calculations were generally sufficient in an environment where labor was plentiful and cost of capital was relatively low. Today’s landscape is starkly different. Costs for capital, inventory, Work In Process (WIP), machine underutilization, and other process inefficiencies are amplified in a labor constrained market. In addition, opportunity costs for goods not shipped, often not considered at all, can dominate the ROI equation. This is especially true when a manufactured piece is part of a higher-level assembly. This presentation will discuss learning from real-world automation deployments and the effect on underrecognized costs that often are not considered when calculating an ROI.
Joshua Mayse – Mid Atlantic Machinery Automation