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CUSTOMER PROFILEAutomated Sheet Metal FabricationCooks Up Profits at Wood Stone“We outsourced $4-million of parts with sub-contractorsin 2007. By the end of 2008, we should be doing 90%in-house. In five months, we are halfway to having thesystem pay for itself.”Launching a successful new company is noeasy task. It takes a combination of goodideas, pairing of creative and technicalminds, and a little luck in finding these twoelements. In 1989, Keith Carpenter was amanufacturer’s rep for 12 different companiesin the commercial kitchen industry. Whilemaking a sales call, a customer asked Carpenterif he had any information on a wood-fired,stone hearth oven that could stand up to therigors of the American commercial kitchen.The idea of building a wood-fired ovenintrigued Carpenter and led him to contactHarry Hegarty, who at the time was buildinglarge-scale, high-temperature ceramicincinerators for the forest products industry.While not the most auspicious of starts, thesechance encounters turned out to be thebeginning of one of the most successfulmanufacturers of stone-fired cookingequipment for the food service industry in theworld.In April 1990, Carpenter and Hegartyfounded Wood Stone Corporation, Bellingham,WA, and were soon revolutionizing stonehearthcooking. The company’s technologicallyadvancedceramics and engineering expertise,coupled with the high quality constructiontechniques and attention to detail, are typical ofall its products. Today, you will find WoodStone ovens in such restaurants as WolfgangPuck, Carrabba's, and California Pizza Kitchen.Wood Stone's product linehas grown over the years andtoday includes several types ofstone-hearth ovens, as well asa variety of rotisseries,charbroilers, and tandoorovens. By the end of 2008,Wood Stone managementexpects to have in excess of8,000 installations in morethan 60 countries throughoutthe world.From sub-contractorsto automatedfabrication shopWhile the success of thecompany is certainly anamazing story, also impressiveis the company’s recent historyin the sheet metal fabrication14arena. According to Carpenter, Wood Stoneonly recently began fabricating their products.“While we did some punching and welding ofangle iron, all of our sheet metal fabricationwas produced by contract manufacturers inCanada and Washington,” Carpenter explains.“We would engineer the ovens, have ourvendors fabricate the parts, and then assemblethe final products at our facility. In our earlyyears, we concentrated our investments inceramic engineering and manufacturingequipment.”As Wood Stone grew in sales over theyears, the dollar amount for outsourcedfabrication products grew to nearly $4-million.“That’s when we began looking at ways toreduce our manufacturing costs and ensurebetter deliveries and quality,” says Carpenter.In 2007, the company doubled its facility from60,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet andbegan its search for automated sheet metalfabrication equipment.“We purchased a four-foot shear and pressbrake to get our feet wet, but concentrated oursearch on automated systems,” says Carpenter.“The plan was to visit five different shops withequipment from various manufacturers.”Wood Stone’s first stop was Nu-Way Industries,a contract manufacturer in Des Plaines, IL.Nu-Way has an automated system from Finn-Power. “We cancelled the other four trips afterseeing the Nu-Way facility,” says Carpenter.“I knew that we had to do what Nu-Way wasdoing, because anything short of that would begoing backwards. I cannot imagine competingKeith Carpenter (left) and Harry Hegarty founded Wood Stone Corporation in April 1990.Today you will find Wood Stone ovens in such restaurants as Wolfgang Puck, Carrabba's,and California Pizza Kitchen. By the end of 2008, Wood Stone management expects tohave in excess of 8,000 installations in more than 60 countries throughout the world.
with developing countries, such as China orMexico, without the Finn-Power automationequipment.”In December 2007, Wood Stone placed anorder for the Finn-Power automated system,which included:■ Laser Brilliance with loading /stacker robot■ Night Train Material Management System■ EBe automated bender■ Robotic servo-electric E press brake■ Two stand alone servo-electricE press brakesThe system was installed throughout 2007,and Wood Stone began 2008 with all the Finn-Power equipment in place. Another importantacquisition the company made during this timewas the hiring of Daric Nellis as manufacturingengineer. Nellis had extensive experience withFinn-Power and other fabrication equipment.Laser BrillianceThe Finn-Power Laser Brilliance combinesa unique 30-station, 33-ton turret punch presswith the latest generation of CO2 lasers. TheSlab CO2 laser with 2500 Watts of power, isintegrated into the Laser Brilliance to allowfaster and economical fabrication while utilizinga wider range of sheet material than anyalternative cell on the market.Optimum use of the Finn-Power LaserBrilliance means that a fabricator can use theturret punch press where it is easier or fasterand the laser where it is the most effective.The LP allows the user to look at the parts todetermine the optimum process for everyproduction.Optimum use of the Finn-Power Laser Brilliancemeans that a fabricator canuse the turret punch presswhere it is easier or fasterand the laser where it is themost effective. The LBallows the user to look at theparts to determine theoptimum process for everyproduction.“It’s not that we are just making our own parts.We are now making better parts… because we are doingthings that our vendors could not do with our betterequipment. We have re-engineered many parts withtighter tolerances to be better and more cost effectivethan what we were getting from the job shops.”The combination of a 250” long Xtraverse, four clamps, and the extremely highpositioning and contour speed allowed by linearmotors means that more functions – punching,forming, tapping, marking and laser cutting –can be performed flexibly as a single multipurposework stage and with a single clamping.In the Laser Brilliance, process dwell timeshave either been eliminated or reduced tothe barest minimum. There is no need forre-clamping, and sheet positioning is extremelyfast. A major contributing factor is the fact thatmany material flow and handling operationsare performed simultaneously. Depending oncomponent geometry, manufacturing timereduction of 30-60% has been recorded incomparison with traditional manufacturingsolutions.Since there is no need for re-clamping,accuracy is retained at a very high level duringpunching and laser cutting. In addition tospeed, linear drives ensure excellent positioningaccuracy and consequently, repeatability in eachwork stage is maintained.Loading and Stacking RobotThe Finn-Power loading/unloading andstacking robot (LSR) is a material and parthandling robot that can be integrated into theLP6 laser punch. The LSR loads sheets to thelaser punch and stacks finished work piecesonto stacking pallets.The Finn-Power Laser Brilliance combines a unique 30-station, 33-ton turret punch press with the latest generation ofCO2 lasers. The Slab CO2 laser with 2500 Watts of power, is integrated into the Laser Brilliance to allow faster andeconomical fabrication while utilizing a wider range of sheet material than any alternative cell on the market.EBe Servo Electric Express BenderThe EBe servo electric Express Bender is abending solution that is designed specifically foreach fabricator’s production requirements tocontinued on page 1615
Page 1 and 2: A Prima Finn-Power PublicationAmeri
Page 4 and 5: FABTECH 2008THAT’S FABRI-TAINMENT
Page 6 and 7: FABTECH 2008“Reporting on major n
Page 8 and 9: EUROBLECHBound for Wider Horizons.
Page 11 and 12: IN THE NEWSFinn-Power in the Spotli
Page 13: SALES MEETINGFINN-POWER & PRIMAHold
Page 17 and 18: Robotic Press BrakeThe high-precisi
Page 19 and 20: NEW EQUIPMENT SPOTLIGHTFINN-POWER i
Page 21 and 22: different batch operations in progr
Page 23 and 24: FOCUS ON TOOLINGGoing Beyondby John

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