Cut to Length Machine Case Study: Appliance Feeder Plant Reaches 0.5 mm Accuracy at 75 m per Minute

Client Background

The client operates a blanking and feeder plant in central Mexico supplying painted and galvanised steel blanks to white goods assembly lines producing refrigerators, ovens and washing machines. Annual throughput exceeds 60,000 tonnes, with thickness mainly between 0.5 mm and 1.2 mm and coil widths up to 1,300 mm.

The Challenge

Production was running on two older cut to length lines using stop-and-cut shearing. As assembly customers tightened takt times and moved to shorter, more frequent deliveries, three constraints became critical:

• Length tolerance of ±2 mm caused fit-up problems on progressive press lines and generated rejects at the customer.
• Stop-and-cut cycles limited practical line speed to about 28 m/min on short blanks.
• Manual stacking created a bottleneck behind the shear and required two operators per shift.

Solution Delivered

Implementation and Training

Installation was completed in eleven working days including foundation work for the shear section. Because the plant produces more than forty blank recipes, our team loaded each specification into the line controller during commissioning, so operators select a recipe instead of adjusting parameters by hand. Two operators and one maintenance technician completed a four-day training programme covering leveler calibration, blade replacement and fault diagnosis through the HMI.

Results Achieved

Client Feedback

The production director reported that the plant absorbed a 30% order increase without adding a shift: "Our press lines stopped complaining about blank length. That alone justified the investment." Batch counting from the stacker also ended the recurring dispute over delivered piece quantities.

Key Takeaway

For feeder plants serving assembly operations, length accuracy and speed continuity are inseparable. A flying shear combined with servo feed converts what was a tolerance compromise into a stable process, while automatic stacking removes the labour cost that usually hides in the last three metres of the line. Blade life data logged by the controller also lets the plant plan tool changes during scheduled downtime instead of on the fly.