Komatsu Press

Metal Stamping Presses and Cutting Technology | Komatsu

News

2 Day Educational Webinar!

The Schedule

Session 1: Tuesday, December 7th
Session 2: Wednesday, December 8th
*Each session will go from 9AM – 11AM CST

The Sins

  1. Viewing die design and building methods as an “art form”.
  2. Not understanding the impact of the material on the process.
  3. Ignoring the impact of the press with respect to success.
  4. Engineering and building a marginal process.
  5. Letting the press size and tonnage determine your process steps.
  6. Controlling metal flow using blank holder pressure.
  7. Not taking the time to educate press operators and die technicians.

The Purpose

The purpose of this special two part educational webinar is to cover the most common mistakes made by stampers. All too often, poor decisions are made resulting in high scrap rates, tooling and press damage, poor quality dies and tools, unnecessary die repair as well as chaos and frustration.

About the Speaker

Art Hedrick is the owner of the training and consulting firm Dieology, located in Greenville, Michigan U.S.A. He is a journeyman tool and die maker with over 40 years of metalworking experience. For over 23 years, Art has been the author of the Die Science column printed in The Stamping Journal ® and has authored numerous articles published on The Fabricator.com®   Art, a past instructor at General Motors University, has been the recipient of many training & education awards. He has held chairmen positions of stamping councils with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers as well as Fabricators and Manufactures Association. Art has conducted over 300 stamping, product design, and tool and die related seminars for trade organizations and private companies. Currently he has over 175 clients in the auto, appliance, hardware, defense, electronics, space exploration and commodities industries. Art is active in metal stamping training and consulting world-wide.

Link to Register

4 Day Educational Webinar

Schedule:
Session 1 (Aug 3): Materials Old/New – The impact that sheet metal has on process.
Session 2 (Aug 4): Should I change my application process? Can servo technology help?
Session 3 (Aug 10): Determine you press parameters/selections.
Session 4 (Aug 11): Die set up procedures and keeping you press in good working order.
*Each session will go from 9AM – 11AM CST

Purpose:
At Komatsu we want to provide you the tools as well as the knowledge needed to stamp today’s increasingly difficult materials. The purpose of this webinar is to do that exactly. The webinar will go over a wide spectrum of topics listed above as well as a live demo! By the end of this webinar, you will be able to gain a further understanding of today’s stamping materials in order to not only maximize your efficiency but also increase the life of the tool and the press. The four sessions in this webinar are meant to be attended in order; however, if there is one session in particular you would like to attend, register below!

About the Speaker:
Art Hedrick is the owner of the training and consulting firm Dieology, located in Greenville, Michigan U.S.A. He is journeyman tool and die maker with over 40 years of metalworking experience. For over 23 years, Art has been the author of the Die Science column printed in The Stamping Journal ® and has authored numerous articles published on The Fabricator.com®   Art, a past instructor at General Motors University, has been the recipient of many training & education awards. He has held chairmen positions of stamping councils with the Society of Manufacturing Engineers as well as Fabricators and Manufactures Association. Art has conducted over 300 stamping, product design, and tool and die related seminars for trade organizations and private companies. Currently he has over 175 clients in the auto, appliance, hardware, defense, electronics, space exploration and commodities industries. Art is active in metal stamping training and consulting world-wide.

Link to Register

Continuing Operations and Our Response to COVID-19

Official statement: March 23, 2020 — As government leaders from multiple states across the U.S. and around the world are ordering their residents to either shelter in place or “stay home, stay safe,” we are providing an update from Komatsu.

We continue to work with our global teams, distributors and supply chain partners, and as an essential business, our factories, service operations and parts distribution businesses remain committed to providing the equipment, technology and services our customers depend on, while prioritizing health and safety measures for our employees worldwide.

As always, our first priority, is the safety and well-being of our employees. Following government and global health organization guidance regarding COVID-19, we have enacted policies that reduce risk for our employees including remote work for all who can, rotating and segregating essential operations and supply shifts, strict travel restrictions, prohibiting visitors to our facilities and supporting quarantine needs.

For our employees who cannot perform their jobs from home, our company is fully complying with all Center for Disease Control (CDC), state, and best practices for hygiene, social distancing, and protective measures. 

We are working closely with our vendors, suppliers and global leadership to continue to move forward in accordance with our Business Continuity Plans. Meeting customer needs and providing essential support for the construction, industrial machinery, mining and forestry industries remain top priorities and we will continue to fulfill our obligations to the best of our ability as we monitor the evolving situation, and communicate and adapt accordingly.

Customers who need additional assistance at this time should contact their Komatsu representative or local distributor for direct support.

About Komatsu:

Komatsu is an industry-leading manufacturer and supplier of equipment, technologies and services for the construction, forklift, mining, industrial and forestry markets. For nearly a century, Komatsu equipment and services have been used by companies worldwide to develop modern infrastructure, extract fundamental minerals, maintain forests and create technology and consumer products. The company’s global service and distributor networks support customer operations, tapping into the power of data and technology to enhance safety and productivity while optimizing performance.

Media contact:

Caley Clinton
Senior Manager – PR and CSR
caley.clinton@mining.komatsu

1 Day Stamping Application Seminar

1 Day Stamping Application Seminar

October 10, 2019 – 8 AM to 4 PM

Speaker:
Art Hedrick (Author of the Die Science Section in the Stamping Journal)

Location:
Perfection Global, 2550 Arthur Avenue, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

Art will cover the challenges in stamping and forming, both traditional steels and today’s new high strength materials. Topics as lubrication, clearances, applications such as drawing, embossing and others will be covered. Several mechanical servo presses with tooling will be under power and the advantages of servo technology vs. traditional mechanical press in some applications will be demonstrated.

As this is a teaching/learning seminar, please send part drawings of your more challenging parts or send the actual part, blank or progressive strip in advance so your questions can be answered at the seminar.

Send parts and strips to:
Komatsu America C/O Perfection Global
2550 Arthur, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

Email Drawings

We have reserved a limited number of rooms at a nearby Holiday Inn for those of you who will arrive early.  Please let us know ASAP so we can reserve yours.

RSVP to info@komatsuna.com

NTC America Introduces New Ultra High Speed Laser Cutting System

New TLH Series 5-axis laser cutting system offers high cutting speeds and versatility

Komatsu America—Laser Group, Novi, MI, has introduced its fastest performing system yet with the TLH Series 5-axis, three dimensional Komatsu Fiber Laser processing machine. The TLH Series, of which there are three models, provides cutting speeds to 1,181 in/min (30,000mm/min)and features fiber optic beam delivery with 2 and 3 kW power options.

The series is ideal for hot stamping operations and has shown itself to be more accurate than other operations such as robotic laser systems. Further, the series is ideal for any production application that requires high speed cutting of thin gage mild steel, aluminum or stainless steelÉworking best with materials less than 3/8″ thick. These highly rigid machines allow operator access from the opening of one side of the machine for optimal accessibility. The feature provides dramatically superior operability and workability.

The series provides X, Y and Z axis travel up to 177 in. (4500mm), 45 in. (1150mm) and 20 in. (500mm) respectively with positioning and cutting accuracy 0.0015″/19.68″ (0.04mm/500mm) Combined with its controllable optical head angles of +720 degrees on the C axis and rotation of +/-135 degrees, on the A axis, the TLH can operate in virtually all cutting applications.

The series can be modified with two integral pallet changers or a large indexing table (up to 120 in.) for increased flexibility and production. The system uses a Windows® operating environment, non-contact gap sensor technology, controllable optical head angles, and operator friendly joystick and hand-held pendant—along with a teach mode that all help to make complex cutting simple.

The TLH Series was developed to provide, through simple programming and operation of integrated motion and laser systems, high-productivity performance in cutting complex parts, to generate intricate beam paths and to adapt laser parameters to various cutting requirements.

The TLH also provides precision cutting, established first on its cantilever-style construction and solid base that are the foundation of its operating accuracies. The construction features are matched with AC servo motor drives, ball screw feeds and linear ball guide mechanisms that provide movement tolerances of +0.0019 in. per 19.6 in. of travel distance (+0.05mm per 500mm). To assure consistent beam penetration despite contours and form irregularities, the TLH’s non-contact sensor provides rapid response to changes in the gap between cutting needle and material to maintain the beam’s optimum focus.

The TLH Series programs can be prepared either by using the teaching playback system or by using NC data made with an optional automatic programming system and corrected by the teaching playback system if necessary. The teaching mode allows for settings for on/off laser beam, pulse rate, laser power, cutting speed and other parameters. In addition, the control incorporates memory storage for multiple part programs and includes integral subroutines such as linear, circular and spline interpolations, copying and mirror shaping, pattern downloading, circular cutting and corner rounding from center point definition, scheduling parts and operations for unattended production.

Machines includes the TLM Series 3-dimensional, 5 axis.

Komatsu TLH Series 5-Axis Fiber Laser
Komatsu TLH Series 5-Axis Fiber Laser

The TLH Series of Komatsu Fiber Laser 5-axis, 3-dimensional laser cutting systems from NTC America—Laser Group, (shown with dual pallet change) is an ultra high speed and versatile performer ideal for hot stamping and a variety of process applications.