Spencer is working at our newest machine, the LISSMAC SMW 123 RB Wet Metal Finishing and Deburring Machine. This new machine provides high-end deburring and finishing for sheet metal parts, removing laser dross or burrs from punching processes. In addition to this, it can also add surface finishing grain to parts, if desired. It can run a variety of materials including steel, stainless steel, and aluminum, can process up part thicknesses ranging from 0.012″ to 4.7″, and features an automatic cleaning senor to ensure a high quality finish on every part. Estes believes that our investment in state-of-the-art technology aligns with our mission to create a competitive advantage for our customers through innovative design, cost savings, and speed.

Estes is constantly looking for ways to improve in all facets of the business to uphold our company philosophy of Continuous Improvement. The company has set up measurement standards to track progress and improve customer value and satisfaction, quality, and speed to market. The result is an organization full of individuals constantly looking for a better way to do things, and these improvements incrementally enable us to reduce lead-times, improve quality, and meet delivery deadlines consistently for our customers, all at a competitive price.

At Estes Design and Manufacturing, we’ve invested in the highest-quality technology available for our customers’ metal fabrication needs – machines whose unique capabilities benefit our customers through cost reduction, improved quality, and reduced lead-times. To uphold this pillar of our company philosophy, we seek to utilize machines that greatly improve quality and processing speeds while allowing us to fabricate extremely complex parts at a reduced cost, and we strive to proactively and constantly monitor our equipment and standards to better serve our customers.

Another pillar in our company philosophy is that we employ People of High Character. At Estes Design and Manufacturing, we understand that the people we employee serve as the foundation for everything we do, and Estes strives to hire individuals who care about the work they do and about the customers the company serves. Estes employees treat customers’ projects as their own and seek to serve customers with dedication, honesty, and integrity at every stage of the project lifecycle. At the end of the day, we want the Estes name to be equally synonymous with honor and integrity as it is with premier metal fabrication.

One of the four pillars of our company philosophy is Creative, Innovative Thinking, and Estes’ creativity is on display through our product development department. Assembly worker, Dave, is putting the finishing touches on an Estes Outdoor Sport Systems (EŌSS) Locker. With the help from our core group of engineers, we were able to develop the EŌSS Sportsman Locker, and this project has afforded us the experience of taking a product all the way from inception to market. Not only are we creating our own products, but we are also able to assist customers in developing products for a variety of industries. We work with each customer from design to prototyping to manufacturing to ensure they are getting exactly what they want with reduced lead-times and lower prices.

At Estes Design and Manufacturing, we’ve invested in the highest-quality technology available for our customers’ metal fabrication needs – machines whose unique capabilities benefit our customers through cost reduction, improved quality, and reduced lead-times. With State-of-the-Art Technology being one pillar of our company philosophy, this is something that we are constantly working towards. One example of this is our Salvagnini P2lean forming machine. With the simple scan of a bar code, the machine control loads the part program and configures the tooling – all in a matter of a few seconds. Tooling adjusts automatically from part to part and bend to bend, eliminating any setup time and adding efficiency to our customers’ products.

Prototype worker, Mikhail, is at our new Amada HG 1003 ATC press brake in our Estes Accelerator department forming a new prototype design. This machine’s differentiating feature is its patented Automatic Tool Changer. Punches and dies are automatically loaded and unloaded with tool manipulators, eliminating the need for manual setup. The result is an expected reduction in setup time translating into lower costs and increased throughput with shorter lead-times. The dedicated equipment in our Estes Accelerator cell eliminates the need to try and cram a prototype into a production schedule and logjams can be avoided. The combination of dedicated personnel and equipment allows us to reduce lead-times and increase customers’ speed to market.

Welder, Trevor, is at our Genesis 4M Robotic Welder programming the robot arm to weld battery boxes. This machine utilizes automation with its Ferris wheel positioner, which allows the robot to weld the metal on one side of the table while the operator loads and unloads assemblies from the other side. This essentially doubles throughput, and with higher welding speeds, you are able to receive high-quality parts at a reduced cost. A wide variety of sheet metal parts can be run through this unique machine, and the Genesis Robot is the perfect solution to any welding project.

Our production and engineering staff are reviewing a customer’s part design looking for ways to reduce manufacturing costs. The three main ways Estes offers cost reduction is through automated technology, lean initiatives and design for manufacturing and assembly (DFMA). Our team evaluates the customer’s part using value engineering to reduce manufacturing costs and simplify assembly. High levels of automation maximize uptime and improve part accuracy and consistency while lowering costs. DFMA adds value to the product by increasing speed to market, improving production efficiency, and lowering the cost per part. Through these cost reduction processes, we are able to fabricate parts at a lower cost that are easier to assemble.

S4 operator, Jeremiah, is at our Salvagnini S4 CNC Shearing/Punching Center. This machine combines the punching versatility of a turret press with the blanking capabilities of a shear. The S4 punches features into the blank and then shears the perimeter of the blank to separate it from the sheet. The punched parts are then automatically unloaded onto a tray to be temporarily stored in our Salvagnini MV Warehouse until they are ready for forming operations. Precision and speed are ensured through digital communication and the center’s advanced control techniques. The S4 is capable of running unmanned, allowing it to run lights-out over weekends when tight deadlines are necessary. With this machine, Estes is able to deliver high-quality parts, reduce lead-times, and ensure on-time delivery.

By using lean manufacturing at Estes, we strive to offer our customers reduced lead-times, greater quality, consistent on-time delivery, and reduced costs. At the heart of lean manufacturing is continuous improvement which is one of the four pillars of our company philosophy. Our team focuses on waste versus value-added activities in the manufacturing process, which means our employees are identifying and removing wasteful practices from their production and constantly seeking improvement. The use of measurement standards helps to track progress, and we believe one of the best ways to improve is to constantly re-evaluate and grow as an employee–which makes for a stronger company.

Production worker, Luke, is overseeing the L5 as it automatically loads raw material and unloads sheet skeletons using the Automatic Sheet Loading (ASL) system. The ASL consists of two identical cutting tables that swap places once cutting is completed on a sheet, making the L5 extremely efficient. While the new sheet is cutting, the ASL removes the cut parts and sheet skeleton with a retracting finger system that fits between the cutting grids of the table. It then lifts the parts/skeleton off the cutting table and stores them on a tray that goes back into our MV Warehouse. The ASL will then load a new sheet on the cutting table in preparation for the next table swap. The ASL adds to a fully automated and integrated production environment that greatly reduces lead-times while still producing our customers’ parts with a high level of precision.

Press brake operator, Karric, is at our Trumpf Trubend 5085 X press brake. This machine features thickness-controlled bending sensors that automatically adjust the plunging depth based on the thickness of the part being formed. This allows for high accuracy and complex bends in both thin and thick sheet metal parts. The Trumpf also allows for off-line programming to increase processing speeds and ensures precise angles across long bends with automatic crowning features. Setup times are greatly reduced with the machine’s lightweight click-in tools, cutting down on lead-times and costs. This Trumpf is an ideal solution for all of our customers’ bending applications – no matter how simple or complex the part may be.

Production worker, Emily, is at our Fabrivision scanner ensuring that this part blank is within tolerance and that the blanking operation has been correctly executed. Our Fabrivision scanner utilizes cameras to capture the cut perimeter and feature edges of a blank as the scanning bridge passes over the part. These scanned perimeter and feature outlines are then compared back to the CAD-generated flat DXF of the part blank, generating a detailed color map, and then indicating the conformance of the part edge versus the engineered blank. This quality step ensures the quality and accuracy of punched and laser cut parts before they are moved on to forming operations.

Continuous improvement serves as one of the four pillars of our company philosophy, and Estes is constantly looking for ways to improve all facets of the business. To ensure this continuous improvement mindset goes beyond a philosophy statement, we have set up measurement standards in the form of daily layered accountability (DLA) to track progress and highlight areas of improvement. DLA is a systematic way of daily monitoring the status of departments or projects based on various metrics. Through our continuous improvement efforts, we are able to offer our customers shorter lead times and lower prices without compromising on quality.