Twin Crests: One Make Ready for Two Presses
Mastro: Two 30x43s
Problem
Mastro Graphic Arts in Rochester , NY serves the screen-printing industry, primarily graphic machine labels for companies like IBM, Sun Microsystems, Microwave Data, and Celestica. Mastro, a family-owned business, originated in the etching industry and later switched to screen printing and converting based on the needs of Kodak and Xerox.
Mastro now has over 500 active customers, including a few Fortune 500 companies. Mastro's customers span a broad range of industries, including telecomm, medical, technology, office equipment, sheet metal, contract manufacturing, etc.
After years of extensive kiss cutting and die cutting, Mastro's die cutters need continuous service. They decided it was time to invest in some new heavy-duty clamshells.
Mastro's operators were familiar with Standards and Thomsons, but knew that these presses did not offer enough tonnage. The press with the most tonnage was their Preco Clamshell, designed by Rob and Bob Weidhaas. Yet, with a growing demand for cutting heavy plastics, Mastro needed more than one press that could kiss cut difficult materials.
Solution
Mastro's Machine Manager, Sam Rivoli, liked his Preco, but wanted a press with even greater capabilities. He called Weidhaas to learn about the Crest Clamshell and tested his most challenging job on a Crest. Sam compared the Crest to his Preco Clamshell and was pleasantly surprised by the Crest's simplified electrical system and higher tonnage. Sam and his electrical engineer were both impressed by the Crest, and Mastro traded in three clamshells for two Crest 30x43s with heat.
Results
Mastro challenged Weidhaas to build two strong presses that would endure some very thick and difficult materials with ease. Before Weidhaas installed the presses at Mastro's facility, Rivoli and his electrician visited the Weidhaas facility to test the twin Crests. Mastro brought their most difficult job, a combination kiss cut and through cut polycarbonate job, and Rivoli set the job up in less than ten minutes after learning the new press.
Mastro has found that jobs that challenged their Preco Clamshell, an earlier model of the Crest, are easier to cut on their new presses. For example, Mastro easily cuts 40 ½ inch by 18 ½ inch giant computer mouse pads, constructed of polycarbonate with a gripper backing of rubber. The Preco used to cut the mouse pads, but the new Crest has decreased the job set-up time, and the Crest remains parallel even under the heavy load for increased cutting capacity.
Mastro anticipates faster job set up times, increased capacity and cost savings, even with the reduction of one press. President Bob Smith also commented that the working environment has become a lot quieter because the Crest moves with smooth, precise action that reduces friction and noise.
Mastro continues to be impressed with fast setup times, a full platen heating plate and operator-friendly features like the virtually maintenance-free automatic oiling system. However, the biggest surprise was when Rivoli took one complicated job off of one Crest and with no additional make ready began running it on the other Crest. Presses are rarely identical, even off the same assembly line, but Weidhaas holds such close tolerances that the presses were literally identical down to the smallest detail. |
