Laicor Fixtures Fabrication
Our sales engineers at Mate have years of experience on the shop floor. We are inspired by supporting our customers achieve their vision— whether that’s running the shop more efficiently or fabricating a part they’ve never made before.
One such Mate customer is Laicor Fixtures of Peterborough, Ontario, a fabricator that serves the supermarket and retail industries with custom checkout and store fixtures. Laicor uses aluminum, stainless steel, cold roll, galvanneal and hot galvanized steel to make its products, and they continually seek to reduce costs, without sacrificing quality or efficiency.
Ultra QCT System Supports Enhanced Quality
When Laicor’s fabrication manager Vince Scott discovered Mate’s Ultra® QCT™ quick change tooling system at the FABTECH show, he wanted to learn more. He realized it had the potential to streamline the operations of their Prima Power turret presses (Shear Brilliance and Shear Genius) while making workers more productive—which translates to cost reduction. Even more intriguing was the fact Laicor could upgrade to higher quality punch inserts made from M4PM™ steel and still reduce costs. Available in A and B stations, the Ultra QCT system works with all existing UltraTEC®, Ultra XT™ and Ultra fully guided guides and canisters. Only one punch driver is needed for rounds or shapes.
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When it came time to get serious about making a switch, Scott contacted his Mate “tool guy” Peter Visser, who was there to support Laicor’s efforts. With more than 20 years of experience operating a variety of machines, Peter had great respect for Laicor’s business and fully understood how Mate’s Ultra QCT thick turret tooling system would be a winning combination to reduce costs and improve quality. Not only could Laicor realize improved productivity, there were hard dollar savings as well.
Insert Design Respects Budgets, Time
With its insert style punching system, Ultra QCT allows fabricators to buy only the insert and not the whole punch. This translates into the opportunity to get an insert with the higher quality M4PM steel at less cost than a whole punch with a standard tool steel. Featuring a durable patent-pending design, the tool-less punch retention mechanism makes simple work of changing the punch insert –the operator simply snaps a new insert in place with just the flip of the latch. There are no tools to use, break or lose. Laicor expects the Mate tooling to last considerably longer than the previous tooling they were using.
Laicor also relies on the Mate Premia sharpening system for tooling maintenance. The system is simple to use: place the die or punch in the machine and program the amount to be removed. Premia system frees the operator to walk away during sharpening. Not only does the Premia system improve productivity, but it’s safer too.
We are pleased to support the evolving fabricating needs of Laicor, and would be happy to talk further about how we can support your needs too.
