Local manufacturers invest in new equipment to stay competitive
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
As with many industries, machine shops need to keep up or get left behind.
At Universal Metal Works in Fulton, company president John Sharkey, IV has added a new Cincinnati, Inc. 350-ton press brake with a 16-foot bed and seven-axis CNC controls for forming metal.
“It’s definitely made us a lot more efficient,” Sharkey said. “We can do more complex bending. It’s also more accurate.”
The new equipment helps Universal create more pieces per hour. Although efficiency can mean a reduction in the labor force, Sharkey said that the new press brake has had an opposite effect.
“If anything, it helps us get more jobs as we have more formed parts we can put together,” he said.
Cincinnati, Inc. trained Universal employees on how to use the machine when they set it up about a year ago. Universal employs 32. Sharkey estimates that the return on investment should occur in around five years.
One potential drawback to high-tech equipment is its eventual obsolescence; however, Sharkey feels reassured by Cincinnati’s long-term involvement in the industry and the general longevity of its equipment.
“The company has equipment out in the field since the 1930s that’s still out there working,” Sharkey said. “Hopefully for the foreseeable future it will be good equipment for us.”
He believes that 3D printing will have some effect on his industry, but typically, Universal makes larger parts than 3D printing can accommodate. New equipment “is what keeps it exciting and interesting,” Sharkey said. “We’ll continue to invest to stay competitive.”
At EJ Co, Inc., in southern Oswego County Tim McKernan, facility manager, said that welding with the company’s new dual robotic welder has increased efficiency from taking one hour to weld a product manually to only 12 minutes with the robots. Two robots work in tandem to weld the grating that EJ manufactures.
“It’s very precise and very good,” McKernan said.
He anticipates a quick return on investment for the dual robot, which EJ installed this year. The dual robots are dedicated solely to welding grates.
“We also have single robots for welding,” he added. “That’s probably our biggest automation investment. None of this automation has ever eliminated jobs. We continually grow so we’re adding jobs. It is necessary to remain competitive.”
EJ employs 100 in its Schroeppel plan and operates facilities globally.
It’s tedious work welding the same product over and over. Such tasks contribute to repetitive motion injuries and potential workers compensation claims. It can also challenge employers to find workers willing to perform mundane work. Automation can help address both of these issues.
“The company continues to invest in the latest equipment,” McKernan said. “Historically, we put in a milling center. We have extrusion saws where it used to be a one-head and now it’s a dual head.”
EJ is one of the largest cast iron manhole cover producers in the nation. The company also makes steel drainage grates and aluminum access hatches for utility equipment stored underground. Based in East Jordan, Michigan, it has dozens of offices and manufacturing plants throughout the country. It also has a presence in several European, Middle Eastern, African and Asian countries.
