Business Profile: Millomat

Laser efficiencies demand press brake answers at Millomat

The heart of the Millomat shop has been two Mitsubishi CO2 lasers, a 3.5 kW and a 6 kW. The shop has become something of a poster child for maximizing the capabilities of these lasers.

The heart of the Millomat shop has been two Mitsubishi CO2 lasers, a 3.5 kW and a 6 kW. The shop has become something of a poster child for maximizing the capabilities of these lasers.

One of the biggest challenges with investing in any piece of machinery is determining whether it will fulfill all your needs. Are you buying equipment today strictly to fit a niche need, or is it going to be the backbone of future development? When the owners of Millomat Stampings/Accuburners Corp. of Mississauga, Ont., recently went looking for a new CNC press brake, they knew they needed something fast and flexible for a variety of product runs. They have been more than rewarded for taking on the investment.

Laser Efficiencies Take Off

Millomat was founded in 1985 as a tool and die shop by Sam Sehmbi. Since taking over the daily management of the shop in 2004, Sam’s sons Mani and Junior transitioned the business into a fabricating shop driven by laser cutting capabilities. Although the company was known as a specialist in the gas appliance products sector making custom fireplace burners and manifolds, its laser capabilities have expanded its potential market reach. Complementary to its laser work, Millomat has had a couple of hydraulic press brakes, a plate roller, a beveller, and a welding team.

However, the heart of the shop has been two Mitsubishi CO2 lasers, a 3.5 kW and a 6 kW, managed primarily by Junior. The younger of the two brothers learned to operate the lasers when they arrived, having had no prior experience with the technology. But because of his enthusiasm, the shop has become something of a poster child for maximizing the capabilities of those lasers, running up to ¾-in. aluminum and 1 ¼-in. mild steel on the 6 kW.

The brothers devised their own tower system for storing plate and set up a compact area in which the two lasers are networked together. It’s also where their own draftsman is installed with the laser programmers to create a compact team at the centre of Millomat’s 30,000-sq.-ft. facility. With this setup, jobs can be geared to whichever machine is either free or best suited to the work at hand.

The efficiency the complete setup created, however, eventually resulted in bottlenecks elsewhere in the shop’s production. The shop runs three shifts on the lasers. Millomat simply didn’t have a press brake that could handle the breadth of complex geometries the shop was receiving from clients.

“With the work we were getting, we had to find a new solution,” said Mani. “We were getting jobs with multiple bends and some for kit processing. We had to reduce setup time, and for the type of jobs we were getting, an electric press brake made sense.”

Freeing the Bottleneck

Press brake operator Vipondeep (l) with Mani (centre) and Junior Sehmbi in front of their new SafanDarley E-Brake 100-3100.

Press brake operator Vipondeep (l) with Mani (centre) and Junior Sehmbi in front of their new SafanDarley E-Brake 100-3100.

The Sehmbis chose to invest in a SafanDarley E-Brake 100-3100 from Westway Machinery. It is a 110-ton, 10-ft., 7-axis model. The e-brake is a servomotor-driven press brake that employs a belt pulley system to power the ram down.

Millomat’s brake is equipped with 7 axes, so even for complicated, multibend parts, the Sehmbis know the part will be easily produced.

It is the speed of production, precision of the bends and the simplicity of the controls that Mani appreciates most.

“I am saving a lot of time on setups; the machine does a lot of the brainwork for me,” Mani said. “I am doing 120-in.-long pieces on it, 12 bends per part. One part we are running has as many as 18 bends on it; in that case, we set up multiple dies on the machine to speed the processing.”

The Sehmbis invested in tall tooling for the machine as well so that they could do, for example, bump bending and multiple-radii bending on a part in one setup.

As the shop has some production runs in the thousands, the efficiency and precision of the new brake have been welcomed. Both brakes in the shop are now running two solid shifts.

“The challenge now is that our team wants to bend everything with more than two bends on the new press brake because it is so easy,” said Mani. “Even my brother is running it and meeting tolerances well beyond what we were able to achieve on our old equipment.”

Thus far, Mani says he isn’t getting any new clients from his investment, but existing customers are observing Millomat’s capabilities and putting more work their way.

“My big customers have simply gotten bigger,” Mani said.

Millomat’s brake is equipped with 7 axes, so even for complicated, multibend parts, the Sehmbis know the part will be easily produced.

Millomat’s brake is equipped with 7 axes, so even for complicated, multibend parts, the Sehmbis know the part will be easily produced.

Having seen what a CNC e-brake can do for Millomat’s operations, Mani is already considering how long he can wait before purchasing a second system. For several years now Millomat has differentiated itself with its delivery speeds, being careful not to overpromise so it can keep clients. The challenge will be determining when to make that next move.

Editor Robert Colman can be reached at rcolman@canadianfabweld.com.

Millomat Stampings / Accuburners Corp., 905-670-1633

Westway Machinery, 800-263-1199, www.westwaymachinery.com

About the Author
Canadian Fabricating & Welding

Rob Colman

Editor

1154 Warden Avenue

Toronto, M1R 0A1 Canada

905-235-0471

Robert Colman has worked as a writer and editor for more than 25 years, covering the needs of a variety of trades. He has been dedicated to the metalworking industry for the past 13 years, serving as editor for Metalworking Production & Purchasing (MP&P) and, since January 2016, the editor of Canadian Fabricating & Welding. He graduated with a B.A. degree from McGill University and a Master’s degree from UBC.