For more than a century, sawing has been the workhorse of metal fabrication. The saw is often the first piece of cutting equipment that comes into contact with the beginnings of any finished piece. Whether it’s a manual saw, a semi-automated bandsaw or a fully automated upcut cold saw that can run lights out, these “quiet” strategic assets get far less attention than high-dollar equipment like laser cutters.
While newer cutting methods receive the bulk of the headlines, sawing specialists continue to do their part, researching and developing technology in and around the machines, constantly evolving to solve problems manufacturers face. Some pain points are familiar, like inconsistent cut quality, material handling issues that create bottlenecks, and costs related to consumables and scrap. And then there are, of course, the issues that many manufacturers face related to labor shortages and the skills gap.
New technologies help ease these problems, such as material storage towers that streamline material access, automated loading and unloading solutions that take the place of increasingly difficult-to-find human hands, and Industry 4.0 advancements that usher in antiquated cutting technology to the modern age.
Finding the flow
As saws get faster – think the aforementioned fully automatic blazing fast upcut saws – workflow inefficiency becomes more of an issue. Even without a super-fast saw, disorganized material inventory practices, excessive operator intervention and outdated methods of transporting the material from storage to the cutting area pose production problems.
Last year, Sawing Productivity talked to Stefan Dolipski, vice president of Kasto, about these very problems. His company has consistently introduced new manufacturing technologies for more than 100 years, so naturally, he had some answers.
Dolipski works on-site with customers and potential customers to assist in finding the path out of bottlenecks and toward production goals. He mentioned that many shops have saw operators spending more time searching for material than cutting it. He has witnessed the “search and find” scenario where stock is scattered across a facility, buried under other bundles or stored in hard-to-reach areas.
“If you don’t have an organized inventory,” he said, “it isn’t findable. So, at that point you spend hours trying to find the material.”
Kasto’s automated storage systems, including the Kastoecostore and the UniTower, are designed to solve this issue by conveniently storing the material close to the saw where operators can easily retrieve it. These storage solutions take the traditional forklift method of transporting the material out of the equation. The streamlined workflow not only hastens material availability, but it also improves safety and ensures operators are spending more time operating the saw than searching for and transporting material.
Cosen Saws has also spent time on the issue, offering automated loading and unloading systems. Hayden Peterson, marketing manager, mentioned that the robot’s magnetic end-of-arm tooling, which picks parts off the saw table and places them in specific bins, helped customers who experienced high turnover.
“It’s very hard to find those 10-year saw veterans who know the saw like the back of their hand,” he said. “Having automation that can combat that is something we’re confident will help.”
Modern sawing
Manufacturers face a list of challenges on any given day, but few would put the labor shortage anywhere below the No. 1 or No. 2 spot. Experienced saw operators are retiring, in high volumes, permanently exiting their shop’s door while few new ones are knocking to get in.
With a smaller pool of prospective sawing specialists, manufacturers have gravitated toward automated feeding, smart controls and integrated material handling systems that reduce the need for highly experienced operators yet keep the production goals in sight. The labor shortage has reshaped how manufacturers think about sawing, and modern sawing has become the practical answer to the shortage and widening skills gap.
A great example of this rethinking is BLM GROUP’s TS72 circular saw. Andrea Salizzoni, BLM’s product specialist for saws, told Sawing Productivity that “all manufacturing processes are focused on the highest performance possible.” The TS72 achieves that, in part, by reducing operator involvement, making it ideal for high-volume tube processing.
Ease of use is also vital, especially for new, inexperienced operators. Gunar Gossard, vice president of sales at BLM, said the TS72 is “user-friendly and conversational in its programming. It makes operating steps simpler.”
Into Industry 4.0
Sawing technology is quickly advancing in the Industry 4.0 space. Manufacturers are seeking more consistent quality and less downtime – especially the unplanned variety. They are also desperately seeking ways to meet their production demands. Smart controls have entered as a viable solution.
The equipment that once required a seasoned saw operator is now utilizing sensors that can track blade life and send out alerts when it needs to be changed or the cutting fluid requires replacing. Sensors can track speed and feed rates, automatically making adjustments as a blade hits a denser area of material. Sensors are also used to shut down saws if a person enters a danger area. The list goes on and on.
HE&M Saw, a company that defines itself as “engineers who happen to build saws,” has gone high-tech in terms of connectivity and data. Its Smart Saw by Connect system, which is due to launch this year, gives manufacturers real-time visibility into sawing operations, but has expanded to include technology to streamline workflows and address a highly important topic – true equipment utilization. Max Harris, corporate vice president, said the aim is to look at the “broad spectrum of what’s going on in the industry” and find “true operational efficiency.”
To that end, Smart Saw by Connect was developed to help bandsaws speak the same language as a CNC machine and push sawing equipment into the Industry 4.0 sector of today. What does that mean on a practical level? As Harris put it, his company wants to shed the image of the bandsaw as a second-tier piece of equipment and become a “data-driven, connected and strategic asset that helps shops of all sizes close the efficiency gap and compete more vigorously.”
With smarter controls, automated handling, data-driven decision-making and tools that give manufacturers a clearer path through the labor shortage labyrinth, sawing technology continues to advance. Shops that implement more technologically advanced equipment to modernize will stay competitive. It is almost certain that the next era of sawing will not be about bigger machines, but about smarter systems.
