When a TRA client was awarded a high volume contract to produce seat frame assemblies for a leading automotive manufacturer, TRA designed a full production tube bender that significantly improved the production process. Faced with automatic seam finders that wouldn’t work, an outdated controls system, excessive change-over time, limited capability in producing complicated tube designs, and a lack of speed and flexibility for future programs and expansions, our client was looking for an innovative tube bender that not only eliminated the current problems but was also more versatile than currently available benders.

TRA’s full production tube bender features an economical seam finder that allows for 99% accurate seam placement. A new controls system, based on the AllenBradley ControlLogix platform, reduces down time and maintenance costs. The conversational interface of TRA’s new controls system allows technicians to program for new tubes without having to access the main PLC program. The quick-change set-up in the bender system decreased change over time by 66%. By incorporating extra degrees of movement in the bend head, TRA’s new tube bending system can bend far more complicated shapes enhancing the machine’s potential for future jobs and decreasing cycle time by 34%.

Using TRA’s Full Production Tube Bender means our customers can:

• Reduce cycle time.
• Reduce mistakes and scrapped parts.
• Reduce wear on tooling.
• Reduce changeover time.
• Reduce maintenance costs.