At The Bradbury Group, we are continuing our customer commitment by ensuring essential businesses are able to operate their equipment with little down-time during the global pandemic we currently find ourselves in. Our Technicians are ready and available to service your equipment needs!

Bradbury AG Roll Tooling is Designed to Form the Best Panels in the Industry

By Ben Schmidt, Bradbury Industry Sales Manager

Did you know Bradbury AG roll tooling offers several advantages our competitors do not? From forming a superior panel to production longevity, Bradbury AG roll tooling leads the industry. If you want to manufacture consistent, top-quality panels, our tooling is designed to prevent common AG panel deformations and have a longer production life.

The Bradbury Coil Joining Unit Keeps Your IMP Production Running

A continuous sandwich panel line needs to run production non-stop even during a coil change. If a continuous line stops during production, it can result in several meters of scrap panel and wasted time. By utilizing a Bradbury automated coil joining unit and four uncoilers, a Bradbury continuous insulated metal panel line automatically joins coils together for uninterrupted manufacturing of panels.

How does the coil joining process work?  As the coil in process is depleted, the new coil is fed directly to the trail end of the leading coil.

Bradbury Metal Tile Roofing Solutions (BMTRS) welcomes Justin Pressnall to the USA Sales Team!

Our roll tooling training course includes classroom instruction and hands on training! 

You've invested in Bradbury roll forming equipment for maximum production at your facility, so why not invest in your employees with roll tooling training from an industry expert? At Bradbury, we believe in investing in our people and our processes. This commitment extends to our customers. 

Ron Dies, Bradbury Technical Training Director & Preventative Maintenance, will instruct and guide your employees during a full day of technical roll tooling training. With nearly 20 years of direct experience with Bradbury equipment, Ron has a vast amount of knowledge to share with you regarding equipment install, maintenance, line operation, and more. 

End flare can be inherent in roll formed parts, especially when produced on a precut roll forming line as opposed to a post cut line which forms the panel first and then shears it to length.  The amount of flare depends on the tooling design, the use of anti-flare fixtures, material type and strength, profile or a combination of these factors.  Excessive end flare in roll formed shapes can cause issues when installing and end lapping panels. Purlins used in rigid frame building structures are heavy gauge deep sections which can have more end flare.  When forming a purlin, it will naturally flare in on the leading edge and out on the trailing edge. In other words, the leg angles on the leading edge are typically over 90 degrees, while the trailing edge leg angles are under 90 degrees.  The returns lips can also have flare making it difficult when face to face welding cee sections.  Just a few degrees of end flare on an eave strut can cause a high spot in the roof panel that is fastened to this section.  

To minimize and control flare in purlins, Bradbury incorporates an anti flare fixture into the straightener at the end of the machine.  Both the drive and operator side have a three-roll configuration to independently control the flare on either side of the part.  The position of the center roll must satisfy both the leading and trailing flare. This can be a balancing act, due to a single adjustment affecting both. With that said, operators will typically find that middle ground on the center roll adjustment that adequately reduces the flare on the leading and trailing ends to within tolerance.

Servo driven auto anti flare fixtures are different to stationary anti flares on the straightener fixture.  

REDUCE SCRAP AND OUT OF FLAT MATERIAL 

The FlatTrak® CL Strip Evaluation System is Bradbury's recent technological evolution that utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze strip condition and provide suggested adjustments to your leveler to process flat material. 

How does it work? Bradbury’s FlatTrak® CL continuously scans the strip surface for shape defects. The included video monitor depicts actual shape conditions in real time and allows the operator to make an informed decision for adjustment to improve flatness. The operator can adjust the leveler and see in real time how the changes affect material shape. When installed with the Bradbury e•Drive® Leveler, the Flat Trak® CL System can automatically adjust the leveler to maintain a flat strip, allowing your operator to focus on other production line tasks.   

Most Cut to Length lines suffer from a bottleneck in production at the exit end of the line due to customers' unique requirements for packaging the CTL sheets or plates. These customer-driven stipulations can be quite extensive and labor-intensive for the line operators. End customers today are requesting smaller stacks and more frequent deliveries to manage their cash flow more effectively. This puts additional pressure on the line operator due to the increased number of packaged stacks the line must produce. 

Requirements from the end customer might include the following:

• Strapping sheets both horizontal and vertical directions.
• Strapping dunnage to the sheets both horizontal and vertical directions.
• Protective wrapping such as paper or plastic.
• Stacks with or without wooden skids.
• Corner protectors
• Shrink wrap

Athader S.L., a company within The Bradbury Group, offers the following automated stacking and packaging solutions to improve throughput efficiency:  

• Storage of packs via roller and chain type conveyors.
• Ability to discharge scrap pieces without manual lifting.
• Automated insertion of corner protectors. 
• Pack Lifter – This is used to elevate a stack of sheets that have exited the stacker. Once elevated the package can be easily wrapped.
• Wrapping Systems - Height wrapping can be manual or automated; Width wrapping can be automated via an orbital wrapper.
• Automatic dunnage retrieval from an organized pack by robot or by a dunnage cartridge system.
• Automatic dunnage insertion under the stack of sheets.
• Automatic strapping of the dunnage to the stack of sheets.
• Automatic formation of a master stack of sheets via an automated sheet lifter and/or gantry crane.
• Once the master stack of sheets is built, the sheets are deposited onto the floor for removal by the main overhead crane and put into the storage area.
• Cloud-based data storage/tracking system including package specific details, machine status, faults or stoppages, and production levels. Over time this system can provide information on areas of needed improvement to further increase production or help the owner identify the packaging costs to improve the management of as sold costs. 

Calendering:  A process that plays a part in all our lives, yet most of us have no idea what it is. From disposable diapers to dryer sheets, to disinfectant wipes, to rubber tires, to PVC films used on laminate floors, to healthcare protective equipment, and many more - calendering  is vital to the production of thousands of products used every day.  

Calendering is the process of pressing a continuous web or substrate, such as cloth, rubber, paper, film, nonwoven, composite, wire mesh, etc., between rollers to create specific physical characteristics. These can include controlled thickness, surface finish, and required properties such as structural reliability, liquid absorption, and abrasion resistance.

Alliance Machine and Engraving, LLC manufactures custom calender machines for numerous industries. The calenders employ two or more steel rolls that close under pressure to smooth, compress, and in some cases partially bond a nonwoven, plastic, paper, or another substrate. The rollers may be mirror-smooth, embossed with a pattern, or porous, and are usually heated with hot oil or electric elements. The calender machines can be utilized in an independent converting setting or an integrated production facility. Each designed with a specific application, Alliance calenders currently in use range from 260” wide to less than 12” wide.   

When processing certain webs such as fine paper or precision magnetic tapes, a calender will have a stack of rolls through which the web is threaded. This is referred to as a supercalender. 

Many nonwoven’s need to be calendered as part of their production or finishing process. The combination of heat and pressure seals and consolidates the random fibers in the web, yielding a sturdy, cost-effective replacement for woven fabrics in applications such as disposables (medical masks, dental bibs, diapers, wipes, dryers sheets), semi-durables (filters, packaging, scouring pads) and durables (automotive, home furnishings, garment bags, geotextiles).

Alliance is currently working with a major supplier of woven fabrics for various markets including healthcare. Many of their materials have a cotton and a synthetic component. The supplier wants to investigate how calendering one such blend could help reduce porosity by partially melting and sealing the surface, therefore making the material better suited for a protective garment barrier application. The supplier sent material samples to Alliance and the samples were run on a test lab calender at various speeds, temperatures, and pressures. The materials have been returned to the supplier to test results. Helping find ways to improve the material used for healthcare gear is an honor for Alliance. 

Providing great service to our customers is something we take pride in.  During this everchanging COVID-19 pandemic, we want you to know that our facilities are open and we are here to provide support.  We are receiving daily updates and continually communicating with our staff while endeavoring to support you to the best of our abilities. 

While we have limited some of our travel, our sales and service teams will continue to make calls to discuss your needs.  We will contact you prior to any visit that is scheduled.  We can also connect with you remotely via our meeting software or another way.  Technology allows us to be on-site virtually with you to support equipment. 

Safety for everyone is our priority.  We will continue to monitor the situation and communicate with you.  We will adhere to the guidelines as presented by the Center for Disease Control, State Health and Environment Department’s and the World Health Organization.

Please contact us with any requests and we will assist you during this time.  Our main phone number is 620.345.6394.  Our email is bradbury@bradburygroup.com. 

With regards,

President

The Bradbury Co., Inc.