Following its early adoption of laser-based tube cutting, Wednesbury-based Duright Engineering has built a reputation as one of the UK’s leading tube-cutting and tube-processing sub-contractors. With the family-owned business looking to continue growing, managing director Ross Taylor had two options: more of the same, or expand the tube-bending side of the business.

He took the second option, and that proved to be the right one, as turnover increased by more than 55% in the last financial year. Much of this growth is attributed to the addition of two BLM Elect all-electric tube benders from Ampthill-based BLM Group UK Ltd (www.blmgroup. com).

Mr Taylor said: “We are well known across our key industry sectors of automotive, rail, agricultural equipment and shopfitting for our laser-based tube-cutting capabilities. We could have opted to expand further on this work, but as it already accounted for 70% of our business we opted for a different strategy. Tube bending — particularly larger-diameter tube bending — provided an opportunity to become a single-source option for a lot of customers, providing laser cutting and bending under the one roof.”

Duright operates four BLM tube laser machines 24hr a day, six days a week, the latest of these being an Adige LT Fiber tube laser system. Duright’s laser capability allows it to process round tube up to 154mm in diameter and square/rectangular tube up to 120mm wide and in lengths up to 8.6m. Mr Taylor said: “Duright was one of the first companies in the UK to use a fibre laser, despite it being regarded as unusual for the tube sector to lead the flat-sheet sector in the uptake of new technology. We had our first fibre laser from BLM four years ago. We are also surprised that companies still buy CO2 tube lasers, as we cannot see any downside with fibre — especially on the mix of materials that we are cutting.”

Scope for expansion

With the success of its tube laser business, it would have been easy for Duright to expand this side of the company and bring in more of the same, but Mr Taylor reckoned there was greater potential for growth in tube bending; and while he could have simply expanded on the capability the company already had, he saw more opportunities in bending larger-diameter tube — hence the purchase of two Elect all-electric multi-stack tube benders from BLM.

The first to be installed was an Elect 102, which can bend tube up to 102mm in diameter with wall thicknesses up to 2.5mm. This was soon followed by an Elect 130, which can bend tube up to 130mm in diameter with wall thicknesses up to 3mm. Mr Taylor says there are many advantages to an all-electric system, including the elimination of hydraulics, lower power requirement, easier machine setting and better component quality.

Expanding on his reasons for selecting these large-capacity machines, Mr Taylor said: “Competition is tough in the small-diameter tube-bending sector, and chasing that volume work wasn’t of interest to us. However, few companies have invested in larger-capacity tube bending, and we could see the benefits of going after lower-volume work that would provide better margins.

“With regard to the benefits of all-electric tube bending, I would say that we have reduced set-up times by 50-70% compared to our old hydraulic machines, but the biggest advantage is getting the first-off part right. This is down to the setting process being virtually totally automated and devoid of any variables that operators can bring to the process.

“With our hydraulic machines, we would have to make 10-20 parts before consistent production was achieved; with all-electric machines, we can guarantee that the second part off the machine will be exactly to drawing — if not the first. The saving in material and time is significant; and with batch sizes varying from 20 to 1,000 parts, efficiency in setting the machines is a valuable asset.”

Safer working

Another benefit to Duright of selecting electric was eliminating the need for hydraulic systems, with a constantly running pump and the risk of oil leaks; the result is a better and safer working environment. Electric operation also gives greater control over the bending process, delivering exactly the right torque for different material types and giving a consistent quality of bend.

“Another factor in our success with the BLM tube benders is the machine control and software system, which provides a seamless crossover between programs for the tube laser machines and the Elect benders,” says Mr Taylor. “The control also provides detailed feedback of the bending process. We can use this information to develop bending strategies and create a library of information that enhances productivity and performance on any future jobs requiring similar bending parameters.

“The control software is also helping us win new business by allowing us to provide accurate quotations in the shortest possible time. We invested in a multi-user licence for the BLM software and gave all our salesmen training in its application.

“Now, when a customer sends us a 3-D CAD model, our salesmen can upload it to the BLM software, which then analyses every option for bending that tube. Whether the requirement is for multi-stack, one centre-line radius, multiple centre-line radii or variable-radius bending, the software establishes if the bend is feasible and outputs a reliable cycle time — allowing us to produce an extremely accurate quotation very quickly. Using the system in this way eliminates the time we used to need to get the right people together to discuss an enquiry — and it removes any guesswork from quoting.”