FabShop Magazine - March 2012 - 12

››› EVs MEtals
often the difference between being profitable on a job and losing money.” Does this mean they no longer need skilled craftsmen to setup the machines? “Not at all,” answers Evans. “True, we can now use lessexperienced operators to load tools and run the machines, but the real benefit of programming offline is that our top guys now have more time to do things like sequence optimization, checking for tool interference and so on. It helps to make sure you’re only going to grab the part once.” Evans goes on to say that process improvements such as these translate into cost savings for their customers. “We like a happy customer.” creating More opportunities Sheet-metal guys might not like to admit it, but there’s more to a fab shop than turrets and press brakes. In addition to the “normal” equipment seen in most sheet metal shops, EVS has a well-equipped machine shop with a mix of five Haas VF4 and Cincinnati Arrow VMCs (vertical machining centers), a Mazak SQT15M CNC lathe and a small assortment of manual equipment. “We didn’t really want to get into machining, but eight years ago we bought a company that had two VMCs, and we found we could get a lot more sheet metal work because of our machining capabilities. Buyers like to do one-stop shopping – they know if we can give them on-time delivery and good quality on sheet metal, we can do it on machined parts as well. We even have our eye on a pair of horizontals for 2012 with a shared pallet pool.” Horizontals in a fab shop? “There are jobs we’ve had to no-quote because we couldn’t be efficient on the machining work.” Another process they’ve brought in house is powder coating. One whole end of the shop is devoted to a Nordson RCM8000 Auto Booth with an I-Control reclamation system, gasheated ovens and three-stage spray washers, and all of it fed by 470 ft. of conveyor. But isn’t it more cost-effective to use all that floor space for fab equipment and send the powder coating to a specialist? “We used to outsource all this,” explains Evans. “But then you’re at the mercy of the vendor, never mind all the packaging, delivery costs and long lead-times. At the end of the day, we have better quality, and on most of our products, it’s at least 20 percent cheaper in-house. Like so many of the other process improvements we’ve made, it’s allowed us to be competitive on jobs that we never could have won before.” And they’re not done. “We continue to make investments, and offer our customers the latest in technology. We can do things now that were impossible 10 years ago,” comments Amico. Like what? Robotic welding, for one. They recently added a Lincoln Electric 35 dual-fixed table robotic welding cell. “On one of our jobs, we have 150 in. of weld, and with the Lincoln, can do it in six minutes. By hand, it took an hour.” How is this possible? “On large bulky parts, or those with very long weld beads, a robot can definitely outperform a human,” he explains. “Humans don’t have the same stamina or positioning speed of a robot.” Does this mean the welders at EVS should start looking for new jobs? Amico refutes this. “You can’t just put four robots out there and send everyone home. We need the people here to help run the robots, and because of the high fixturing costs associated with a robot, there are many jobs we will always weld by hand.” Amico goes on to say that the idea is not to eliminate people, but to win additional work. “Some jobs you just can’t be competitive on without robots.” He explains that, by winning these jobs, it has the effect of allowing them to hire more people for the non-welding operations on those jobs – laser cutting, forming, grinding, assembly, hardware, painting – all the way down the line. All of this technology, together with some good old-fashioned know-how, means that EVS is very good at what they do. Evans points to a large cabinet with rounded corners. “That one has 58 separate components welded together. It’s complex stuff. We were the only company who could figure out how to do these ball corners.” As a result of this expertise, EVS customers enjoy 98.9 percent on-time delivery, and an impressive 0.36 percent defect level. “I doubt if there’s a handful of companies that do what we do.” looking to the Future What’s in the budget for next year at EVS? Aside from the horizontal machining cen-

Miters from 90° to 30°in both manual & automatic

Faster cycle times with ball screw & vector motor

16”H x 20”W capacity

New design features cool recessed work lights & laser cut line!
5.5 HP AC frequency inverter drive
Standard PLC stores 1000 jobs with 100 in queue. Features multi-indexing, job queue loops, multiple languages...

Green Machine!!! Save $$$ with on demand hydraulics

Here’s a TIG-welded stainless-steel enclosure for the semiconductor industry.

Need to visit: www.Hydmech.com

FabShop Magazine - March 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of FabShop Magazine - March 2012