UNMANNED SHIFTS WILL BOOST PRODUCTION FOR TEXOL

These both go through the same production facilities and to ramp up capacity Texol has invested in a fully automated TRUMPF L2510 2D laser cutting machine to complement its three existing TRUMPF flat-bed lasers, four TC600L combination machines and six TrumaBend press brakes.

“This is our first step into automation and will be part of a flexible automated cell that we are developing. It will reduce manning and give us a lights-out operation that will allow us to get into volume production,” says Ray.

The automated system gives Texol the opportunity to automatically run batch sizes from one offs to thousands off in unmanned shifts as Ray explains.

“It will certainly give us the opportunity to do a variety of different production runs when the lights are out. Not just different materials and thicknesses of material, but also different types of product. We are fundamentally working in mild steel, but we work on a huge variety of stainless steels, mild steels, aluminium and coated materials for products such as petrol delivery systems, automatic cash dispensers and paper handling systems such as money counters and envelope wrapping machines for mail shots.

As well as being a subcontractor, Texol also has its own products. These include equipment for catching and killing insects such as mosquitoes – which has tremendous global potential – and gas generating equipment. In fact, Texol will be running the new laser on homemade nitrogen.

“The company is moving into higher volumes – that’s both on subcontracting and our own products, so we are looking at automated systems that will let us compete. TRUMPF’s L2510 gives us a lot more working time without someone having to watch over it,” says Ray.