"Continuing investment in versatile all-electric bending machinery from Unison Ltd is helping one Midwest tube and pipe fabrication specialist, Sharpe Products of Wisconsin, to meet the evolving business challenges in its sector of the metalworking industry," said a Unison spokesperson.
Sharpe made the investment to give the company an edge in meeting the ever-changing demands of the tube and pipe jobbing business. Most customers no longer want to invest in stock, and batch sizes have reduced dramatically. This means that machine set-up times become a major factor in job pricing. Any scrap generated during set-up - which can often run into several pieces when using older hydraulically-actuated bending machines - also negatively impacts job costs. Unison machines are designed for quick tool changeovers and right first time bending, reducing total cost to manufacture.
"The first Unison machine Sharpe Products bought was the Breeze 3 inches tube bender, and since that moment, Sharpe Products has been a loyal Unison customer," said the spokesperson.
To date, Sharpe Products has acquired the following Unison tube benders:
- 1.5" single stack
- 2" left/right Breeze Revolution
- Three 3" Multi Stacks
- 4" Multi Stack
- 5" Multi Stack.
Sharpe's latest purchase is the Breeze 3" Multi Stack, a CNC-controlled, 3-axis precision pipe bending machine with a capacity up to 3" or 80 mm diameter tubes.
This high capacity tube bender is suitable for the high accuracy and repeatability necessary for the aerospace, automotive and furniture industries.
Sharpe specified the latest Unison Breeze 3" machine for flexibility, to help the workshop serve any customer requirement. It is a multi-stack bender with an ability to hold several tools on the machine for multi-radius parts or to reduce tool changeover times and is also fitted with high torque servomotors to accommodate the most challenging materials. It features a swing-away wiper die servo axis to enable short final straight part designs to be manufactured without post bend trimming operations.
Options include (all servo-electric): multi stack, multi radius, boosted powered follower, full length carriage push, roll forming, mandrel retraction and anticipation automatic mandrel and wiper die lubrication, CMM interface, cad links, 3-D machine simulation, tooling barcode reader and robot loading and unloading.
"Unison's pipe benders are extremely reliable machines with innovative control technology and robust hardwearing, rigid mechanical designs that have helped us to continually meet the demands of our customers. Unison also provides great service and support. Unison offers the complete package," said Paul Krickeberg, President, Sharpe Products.
"Repeat orders are always good news because they carry a clear customer endorsement. We have a great relationship with Paul Krickeberg, and he has supported Unison with projects requiring product demonstrations and R&D work many times over the years. Paul has advocated the Unison technology for its benefits and advantages to his business for many years and has invested his money in new machines, replacing older hydraulic machines to bring those improvements into his business," said Jim Saynor, Sales Manager, Unison Ltd.
For more information contact:
Unison, Ltd.
1465 Sand Hill Road, Ste. 2016
Chandler, NC 28715
828-633-3190
sales@unisonltd.com
www.unisonltd.com
Sharpe Products
2550 S. 170th Street
New Berlin, WI 53151
800-879-4418
www.sharpeproducts.com