M-Levy Oy, based in Muurame, has made significant changes in recent years to strengthen its position as a sheet metal subcontractor. The Salvagnini P4Xe automatic panel bender, brought into production four years ago, has given the company a clear lead over its competitors. Now that lead has been extended again with a Salvagnini L3 fiber laser, which has brought considerably more speed to thin sheet cutting and, at the same time, expanded the range of materials that can be processed by laser cutting to include copper and brass. Organisational changes have also been used to bring additional momentum to the company’s operations.
A couple of years ago, M-Levy transferred fully into the ownership of Jouni Puhakka after the other entrepreneur, Veli-Pekka Koriseva, retired. – I was engaged to this company for about twenty years. Now I suppose you could say I am married to M-Levy, Puhakka laughs.
Efficiency through organisational changes
The structural organisational changes made as a result of the transition have sharpened M-Levy’s competitiveness. The tasks of a permanent secretary were outsourced to improve cost-efficiency, responsibilities for operative work on the workshop side were transferred mainly to production supervisors, and this year additional strength was added to sales through the recruitment of a dedicated salesperson.
Competitive strengths in thin sheet metal work
– Although we can reach up to 20 mm in laser-cut parts, our absolute strength and volume are in thin sheet metal work from 0.1 to 3 mm. For our customer base, which mainly consists of medium-sized Finnish companies in the metal and furniture industries, we manufacture products ranging from component deliveries all the way to welded and surface-treated finished enclosures, Puhakka explains.
M-Levy also has exports, as 8 percent of the current EUR 2.5 million turnover comes from deliveries to Estonia.
A bending application database speeds up programming
M-Levy’s production facilities have expanded over the years to their current size of approximately 1,500 m². In these facilities, the Salvagnini P4Xe automatic panel bender has been operating without problems for four years. In addition to the manipulator that handles the part, the machine has four freely programmable bending tools and their predefined program cycles. According to Oy Fredko Ab, which represents the machine in Finland, it also has the market’s clearly fastest ABA blank-holder tool change system, enabling different parts to be bent without waiting times.
The range of bending profiles on the P4Xe is enormous, as the operating experience from almost three thousand automatic panel benders has formed a bending application database at Salvagnini’s factory in Austria, which Fredko says is unique in the world. For this reason, thanks to their flexibility and easy programmability, automatic panel benders are also suitable for production of single-piece batches, such as in the subcontracting and contract manufacturing sector, where M-Levy is a forerunner. M-Levy has also been able to make use of this database provided by Salvagnini on several occasions.
Laser cutting capacity more than doubled
One of the core processes in Puhakka’s company is laser cutting. Before the Salvagnini fiber laser, this work was carried out with one machine. After the investment, capacity in this area was more than doubled. – In the final stage of the selection process there were three brands. Salvagnini came out on top because Fredko was able to offer a lightly used alternative with the warranty of a new machine.
Another factor in the decision was the same brand’s automatic panel bender already in production, which in the long term is intended to be connected with the laser into a line cell. As a combination from the same machine manufacturer, this is the most flexible to implement, and only Salvagnini can offer detaching and stacking equipment for a flying-optics laser for this purpose, Puhakka estimates.
M-Levy’s Salvagnini L3 fiber laser is equipped with a 3 kW IPG fiber laser source. With a 3 kW laser source, cutting speed is 20–25 percent higher across the entire material range, and with copper and brass even up to 50 percent higher compared with a 2 kW laser source. On mild steel, the machine with its powerful laser source reaches thicknesses of up to 20 mm.
The significant competitive advantages of a fiber laser include energy efficiency, low maintenance costs and suitability for different cutting materials. The energy requirement and maintenance costs of a fiber laser are less than half those of a comparable CO₂ laser. Cutting times are also tens of percent faster. As a result, total costs and unit prices of parts remain considerably lower.
A strong order base
M-Levy’s major investments in higher-end machinery have proven to be the right direction. – All 18 of our employees are at work, and the main machines – the automatic panel bender and the laser – employ four men in two shifts. When needed, our flexible team also works three shifts. So there is still capacity available, Puhakka says.
– In addition to our high-quality machine base, I believe our strong order base is also due to our diverse customer base. These customers remain satisfied through good delivery reliability and quality, but increasingly the price plays the leading role. In that case, the processes have to be in order. Few can cut and bend more cost-effectively than we can. For example, a product suitable for the automatic panel bender is produced extremely quickly on Salvagnini.
– Although the order book has remained fairly short in recent years, I see our future as positive and our turnover as growing. By further developing our special expertise in thin sheet metal, I believe our operations will expand to such an extent that both personnel and production facilities will have to be increased. And the possibility of our own product is not ruled out either, Puhakka envisions.
Info: M-Levy Oy, tel. +358 14 411 4400, Managing Director Jouni Puhakka, tel. +358 400 544 839,
puhakka@m-levy.fi, www.m-levy.fi
Edited by Petri Kuhlman / Eurometalli
