Each year, Fabtech offers a unique opportunity to see a literal arena full of machine tools representing all types, sizes and brands. And this year is no different. While at the show, there will be a lot to see, including the equipment on exhibit from Cincinnati Inc. (CI). With more than 125 years under its belt, CI is proving that you don’t have to be the largest rock to make a big splash.
I sat down recently with Matt Garbarino, business unit leader for new machinery sales, Bryant Downey, business unit leader for software, and Nikki Stenzel, marketing manager, to learn more about what Fabtech attendees can expect to see at the CI booth, No. 13085. One thing I quickly learned was that the company has a passion that extends far beyond equipment and software.
Farrell: Why is it important that CI exhibit at Fabtech?
Stenzel: One big reason we love Fabtech is that it’s a melting pot; it provides a unique opportunity to get in front of job shops of all shapes and sizes. This allows us to introduce our technology and create personal connections with attendees. It’s also important for our current customers to put a face to the name and a heart behind the logo.
Garbarino: That’s true. Fabtech is an opportunity to build relationships. We’re able to update everybody on what’s new with us, but we also learn about what’s going on with them. At Fabtech, we speak with a lot of people we know, but we also meet those who haven’t been by our booth in the past.
Just as important, it’s a learning experience for us. It’s an opportunity to listen to the voice of the customer first-hand. As much as we are in the booth to promote our company and technology, it’s just as much about learning about what people are experiencing and what’s going on in their shops. Where else can you do that in the span of four days?
Farrell: CI often has a theme for its exhibit. What’s the message this year?
Stenzel: This year, we’ve chosen “American Owned – American Built” as our theme, highlighting the essence of owning CI equipment. Each machine leaving our facility is adorned with a sticker bearing this powerful message. These words encapsulate the entire ownership experience – from the quality of the machine to the craftsmanship and innovation of the team that builds it.
Garbarino: I was thinking about this earlier this summer during the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landing. CI has supported, in a very big way, some major historical events like World War II. Back in the 1940s, our production was three to four times what it is today to support the war effort.
It’s not cliché and it’s not just words. There’s a lot of pride here, and I know that the people we sell to throughout the United States feel the same way. It’s simple; we’re craftsmen who are proud of what we make and where we make it – just like our customers.
Farrell: Along those lines, is CI ’doing something special at the show?
Stenzel: Yes, we’re so excited to be hosting an event to celebrate the Folds of Honor charity. We’re going to have our popular XForm Eco press brake and CLX 3015 fiber laser co-branded with Folds of Honor.
We’re making a $5,000 donation from the sale of each machine and presenting a $10,000 check to the charity at the show. We’re planning a special presentation to open the show and make this announcement, followed by a press conference. Attendees are welcome to join us at the booth on Tues., Oct. 15th at 9 a.m.
Garbarino: It all goes back to the why. Why would you buy from CI? One of the reasons I work here is the fact that this company is about more than making machines and making a profit. We’re about recognizing what’s right: charity, philanthropy and giving back to the community.
Folds of Honor raises money for scholarships for families of the military and first responders who have lost someone in the line of duty or been disabled in the line of duty. That all lines up with our values and beliefs, and it is our honor to support them.
Farrell: Sounds like a worthy cause. What will CI be showing in regard to software at the booth?
Downey: We’ll be showcasing our Encompass software suite. Encompass allows fabricators to program machines and monitor the shop floor. Now, operators can easily create programs for unique parts. In addition, this gives supervisors and owners an idea of how the shop is performing against production goals in real time.
The bottom line is that Encompass allows operators to become more empowered and efficient and fabricators to become more productive and profitable.
Farrell: Can users benchmark what they want to achieve while the software helps them measure where they stand?
Downey: Yes , that is correct. It provides an efficiency measurement for your machines. Our Pro software also allows you to create programs for press brakes and lasers without your operators having to spend hours or even days working through them.
Stenzel: Building on that, Encompass bridges the gap between digital designs and physical components. The software suite enhances productivity and efficiency from start to finish.
From the initial unfolding through nesting, cutting, bending and up to CIberDash’s monitoring of the machine’s overall health, the software seamlessly covers the critical aspects of transforming digital designs into tangible parts.
Downey: There’s also inventory monitoring within our Scheduler software. You can also tie into ERP systems through our Pro software offerings to understand your material usage and create purchase orders based on that. What ties everything together throughout Encompass is the ability to integrate with other systems.
Farrell: Will attendees get a chance to see Encompass in action?
Downey: Absolutely. We’ll be holding live 15-min.-long demonstrations to show the lifecycle of an assembly or group of parts by unfolding it and then programming it within our Pro software offerings, Nesting Pro and BendSim Pro. We’ll laser cut the parts and bend the entire assembly on our press brake.
Along the way, we’ll introduce some issues that a production facility might typically see and then show how the operators and our software can pivot to fix these issues. We’ll use CIberDash to show how these processes are monitored and what kind of data we can pull from these machines as they work through these programs.
This demo is big for us in dealing with issues that people see daily. Whether it be incorrect blank sizes or bend lines that are too close to a hole, we’ll show how our Pro software quickly resolves these issues or prevents them altogether.
Farrell: Tell us about CI’s automation options, which is a recurring theme within the industry.
Garbarino: Automation has many forms. Bryant just talked about Encompass and automating the process of going from orders to getting a part on a machine. We’re also seeing some notable advancements with our equipment.
We’re introducing an auxiliary output station – the AOS on our CLX 3015 fiber laser. It’s essentially a third cutting pallet. Imagine looking at a traditional laser with dual pallets. Now imagine a third pallet, which we’re adding This additional pallet is an option on our lasers to supplement automation and keep things running. Due to limited space, we won’t have it at Fabtech, but we’ll have video footage of the process for attendees to see.
Farrell: What about press brakes in the CI booth as well as press brake automation?
Garbarino: Last Fabtech, we debuted the XForm press brake, and we’re bringing that back with some new technology. XForm’s tagline is “Designed for Operators – Built for Owners,” which is inspired by the machine’s durability and longevity as well as its interface, which makes it easy to operate.
Our HMI [human machine interface] roadmap is moving toward more of a graphical interface. These aesthetic improvements include new cylinder covers and indicator lights to clearly display the status of the machine. Bryant talked about CIberDash, which is the web-based dashboard that displays everything going on with the equipment. These new indicator lights have colors that indicate the machine’s status – green means it’s running and yellow means it’s in standby mode. Our goal is to keep that green light always on. That means that owners are happy that the machine is running and making them money.
We continually evolve ways to feed a press brake, as well. While it’s not necessarily a new concept, we’ve evolved to using a cobot versus a robot for our EZ Bend press brake cell. This simplifies programming and provides a better operator experience. You can physically roll EZ Bend to another press brake and use it there. The ease-of-use comes down to the programming, how operators interact with it and the ability to move it from one press brake to another. We’ll have this at Fabtech.
We’ll also have our EZ Weld system in the booth, which also leverages a cobot. The operator can be welding on one side and working on the other side of a protective shield and doors. They could be pulling parts off and loading parts on while the machine is operating. We introduced this a couple of years ago in Atlanta, and we’re bringing it back this year.
We’ll have an assembly and will send it to the different software packages to program the machines. We’ll be laser cutting it, forming it on the press brake and welding it, which will be our giveaway – an American flag cut from stainless.
Farrell: Fabtech attendees have plenty to see. Why should they make a point to visit CI?
Stenzel: Our enduring presence as CI is no small feat; we’ve dedicated countless years to forging a legacy of innovation and customer trust. Striving to lead the way in manufacturing technology is part of our DNA. We warmly welcome attendees to witness firsthand the distinction and heritage of a 125-year-old American company and discover what truly sets us apart.
Downey: To build on that, we offer comprehensive solutions, not just press brakes or lasers. We offer automation, and American made is a major theme. We not only make our equipment in the United States, but it’s supported by 125 years of experience and a massive service crew to keep it in production for 30, 40, 50 years or more.
Garbarino: I’ll just add this: We invite people to come to our booth and meet us. We’re manufacturers, just like the people visiting our booth, and we’re proud of what we build just like them.
