Sheet metal production on a line from 3D drawings to finished products
Pettersteel Oy, a Kuopio-based company operating in the architectural sheet metal products sector, has developed its service offering and production capabilities with decisive steps in recent years. In terms of production technology, a key enabler of fast and flexible manufacturing is the punching and right-angle shearing system, which enables highly automated, line-type production of flashings, profiles and cassettes from 3D drawings all the way through to finished products.
Pettersteel is an architectural sheet metal products company founded in 2008 by Petteri Heinonen.
The company’s operating model is comprehensive: its architectural sheet metal service covers projects from design and manufacturing to transport and installation.
The company has developed its operations by taking advantage of the opportunities offered by the times. For example, the business in Kuopio has been digitalised in several ways, and the company uses, among other things, an order and production control system adapted to be highly customer-friendly.
“We tell our customers that we have brought the architectural sheet metal sector into the digital age. The idea is to genuinely improve the efficiency of our customers’ work,” summarises Pettersteel’s Production Manager Heikki Hintikka.
Automation from the line
Efficient service places high demands on production systems.
The company, which has operated in its current premises since 2013, has optimised its machinery on several occasions. Above all, this has meant increasing production automation.
One major leap was taken at the end of 2018, when Pettersteel acquired a punching and right-angle shearing center for the needs of its profile production. The used Salvagnini S4N, sourced from a Finnish customer, was found on Fredko’s recommendation as the importer.
The machine’s advantages included a fixed tool head, separate activation of the punching tools and right-angle shearing blades, as well as automatic material loading and stacking. Fredko’s customer service was responsible for dismantling the machine and reinstalling it in temporary premises in Kuopio, while commissioning and training were carried out in cooperation with Salvagnini Scandinavia.
A new phase in the further development of production towards automation took place a couple of years ago, when the rapidly growing company made a major investment in its production facilities. The premises were doubled in size, which also opened up new opportunities for investments in production machinery.
Salvagnini’s punching and right-angle shearing system had proven to be an efficient solution at the company, and the technology was examined either from the perspective of upgrading the existing system or investing in completely new technology.
“The alternatives were either to modernise the used machine in terms of automation or to invest in a completely new S4Xe punching and right-angle shearing center. Fredko, together with Salvagnini, carried out feature comparisons between the used and the new technology. Factors in favour of the new technology included, for example, the positioning and feed clamp design enabling high accuracy and high throughput, the completely new machine HMI interface and the StreamPunch programming software. Servo-controlled force generation, in turn, reduced energy consumption by more than 50 percent and noise levels by almost one third,” says Pasi Pitkänen, Managing Director of Fredko.
“Another particularly significant factor was the stacking equipment, which made it possible to pick cut profiles up to 4,000 mm long directly into downstream processing carts according to the order. In addition, the intention was to integrate, on the feeding side, a cut-to-length line supplied on site by the Finnish manufacturer JK-Kone directly from coil material, which completed the system,” Pitkänen says.
Further development potential in bending
After the options were evaluated, the decision was made in early 2021 to invest in a new S4Xe punching and right-angle shearing machine. The manufacturer took the used machine in exchange, the new one was installed later that same year, and it has now been in operation for just over a year.
“As a result of the investment, we now have an efficient right-angle shearing and punching system that enables automated production from 3D drawings all the way through to finished products. Our capability to offer more highly processed sheet metal products has increased, and over the past year we have invested strongly both in the optimal transfer of data and in product development, for example with regard to new cassette-type products,” says Hintikka.
More highly processed sheet metal profiles, façade cassettes, façade lamellas, perforated profiles, and thermal and ventilated studs enable Pettersteel to offer larger architectural sheet metal assemblies to its customers.
An interesting further development of the line is now possible.
“As a potential next development step, the S4Xe punching and right-angle shearing center can be combined with a Salvagnini P4Lean panel bender. With its DPM and Bend and Cut features, or Cut Option, most profiles could also be bent accurately to size in a single pass, thanks to the patented MAC 3.0, Material Adaptive Correction, system.”
The panel bender would also enable the production of box-type solutions.
“With StreamBend office programming software, complete bending programs can be generated directly from 3D models, which means the requirements of digital Industry 4.0 are also fulfilled,” says Pasi Pitkänen from Fredko.
Through its line investment, efficient systems and capable organisational management, Pettersteel, which employs around sixty sheet metal professionals, continues on a growth path. In 2022, turnover was at the level of eight million euros, and for this year the company forecasts ten million euros. Pettersteel carries out projects across Finland, with the Kuopio region as its core area.
