Customer Issue | Pain Point:
Proto-1 was approached by a customer within the Aerospace industry with a rotary tube end forming problem. The problem at hand was cutting sections of stainless steel tube and pipe into smaller pieces that could be used for vacuum waste tubes. Their current process, which included sawing and then hand grinding, proved to be tedious and inefficient as the tube sections had to be square in order used within the waste duct assemblies.
Engineering a Solution:
Tasked with this problem, Proto-1 engineered and manufactured an automated solution. Our engineering staff made sure to take the time to understand all of our customers current issues so Proto-1 could engineer a solution to solve their problem. This solution came to be an automated RFM-10 rotary tube end forming machine. The RFM-10 was then coupled with Proto-1’s cut off tooling that uses a rotary shear method, leaving a clean cut edge. Not only did the rotary cut off tooling leave a clean cut, it also provided the customer with the squareness that their product required. Added on to the RFM-10 was 20+ foot long table. This table allowed the customer to fully load 10 or 20 foot sections of tube and pipe to be trimmed. After each trimming cycle, the table would move the tube section into the RFM for another cycle, providing continuous trimming for the whole section of tube.
Final Tube Forming Solution Delivered to Customer:
The end result provided our customer with a faster more repeatable solution that is still running production every day for the Aerospace industry. The automated solution allowed our customer to increase their capacity to take on additional work from their customer. Proto-1 created a lasting partnership with this company and this automated RFM-10 is just one example how we improved their current internal processes.
