Press Techniques commissions a new line of hydraulic presses at Thorn Lighting Ltd, a leading manufacturer of soft lighting.
Thorn Lighting Ltd, a leading manufacturer of high tier “Mellow Light” illumination, were looking for a supplier of machinery to satisfy their requirements for a new generation of high quality light fittings. The requirements were high and included the introduction of a production system intended not only to satisfy the perceived output, but also to move away from the “Large lot production” and its associated problems of long lead times, storage and production damage & deterioration.
The new system needed to be extremely flexible, allowing non-standard product trials and customers bespoke introductions with minimal disruption. Part of the remit was also to produce equipment which was aesthetically suitable for the surroundings and moving away for the traditional upright overbuilt & unsightly equipment traditionally offered.Press Techniques Ltd. listened to the customer and produced a package of equipment suitable for purpose, which included all of the requirements plus additional benefits to satisfy the customer’s needs.
The new system needed to be extremely flexible, allowing non-standard product trials and customers bespoke introductions with minimal disruption. Part of the remit was also to produce equipment which was aesthetically suitable for the surroundings and moving away for the traditional upright overbuilt & unsightly equipment traditionally offered.Press Techniques Ltd. listened to the customer and produced a package of equipment suitable for purpose, which included all of the requirements plus additional benefits to satisfy the customer’s needs.
The equipment offered was an integrated system of five machines ranging in capacity from 25 ton 225 ton, all supplied from a single hydraulic power pack and electrical control cabinet. This “Single Piece Flow” system was designed to allow production of a finished housing within the time taken to assemble the product, allowing the customer to move housings straight onto the assembly line eliminating accumulation and unnecessary logistics.
The “Single Piece Flow” system had many other benefits including:
- Reduced power consumption Up to 40% power savings on traditional production methods due to the single power pack and ring main of hydraulics providing energy only to the machine or machines required within the complete production cycle.
- Health and safety The machines within the cell are connected via a “DeviceNet” digital, multi-drop network allowing only the need for control voltages (24VDC) between each machine, further enhancing health and safety standards and eliminating risk
- Scalability The machine cell in built with electrical and hydraulic ring mains, therefore any additional requirement to add or remove a machine from the cell can easily be achieved via a single “Harting” style connector and a a high pressure, low pressure and return hydraulic connector.
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