Simpson Dura-Vent attributes a 50% reduction in consumption of stamping and drawing fluids to its recent integration of the uni-Roller® System with the SPR Programmable Controller, at its Vacaville, CA facility. The manufacturer of gas vent and chimney products became a new customer of Unist, Inc early in 2005. The following September, the company''s fluid supplier reported the reduction, noting that the reduced volume had been consistent over several months.
Steve McIntyre, Dura-Vent senior manufacturing engineer, has also observed savings of up to 70% on fluids in specific operations.
Marketed by Unist, Inc, Uni-Roller is a positive displacement coil stock lubrication system for coating coil and blank stock in metal stamping, fine blanking, roll forming, and metal fabricating. Lubricant is applied through internally fed rollers, constructed to support demanding manufacturing environments, and can be delivered with a cam-driven Unist positive displacement pump attached to the roller unit, or automatically, by using the Unist SPR 2000 Programmable Lubrication Station. The uni-Roller can deliver fluid to both the top and bottom of the stock, and fluid is always applied uniformly and precisely with the desired thickness.
After first testing the uni-Roller technology through Unist''s equipment evaluation program, Simpson Dura-Vent took delivery of 15 systems early in 2005 to outfit their operations in Vacaville, CA and Vicksburg, MS. In addition to reduced fluid consumption, the company has reported additional savings in part productivity, quality, machine maintenance, and purchase of absorbent materials -- for which they also credit the uni-Roller system.