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SD Manufacturing Increase Panel Productivity By 30% With Leitz Tooling RazorCut Saw Blades
Read this case study to learn how RazorCut saw blades from Leitz tripled feed speeds, reduced cycle times and resulted in a 30% increase of panel production for SD Manufacturing.
Established in 20023, SD Manufacturing is a joinery and shopfitting company based in East Kilbridge, Glasgow. SD Manufacturing produce a full range of custom manufactured shopfitting and joinery products and frequently collaborate closely with clients to provide high quality bespoke joinery solutions. Their 13,000 sq. ft factory is fully equipped with specialist CNC machinery and SD Manufacturing are also approved fabricators and installers of Solid Surfaces (Corian, Hi-Macs, Krion and Hanex).
SD Manufacturing is reaping the benefits of a recent investment in a new Homag Beamsaw and in Leitz RazorCut Saw blades, and since have seen an increase in demand for their panel processing services and a marked improvement in production output. David Donaghue, Managing Director commented “When we were looking at the next phase of growth for the company, we knew that we had to invest wisely in our machinery so last year we decided to purchase a new Homag Beamsaw and Edgebander. This investment in new machinery naturally meant another look at the saw blades we were using and whether or not they were still meeting our needs. We have worked with Leitz Tooling for many years, so when we purchased the new Homag Beamsaw, we contacted Norrie Good of Leitz Tooling to discuss new blades for the Homag Beamsaw”.
SD manufacturing was using the Leitz premium saw blades to cut and size their material. However, new manufacturing challenges required a reduction in cycle times and so Leitz tooling introduced SD Manufacturing to the RazorCut saw blade. The RazorCut saw blade is engineered with a special cutting edge geometry and an Irregular tooth pitch. This unusual tooth design allows the RazorCut to achieve up to 50 % better productivity in comparison to conventional circular saw blades thanks to improved cutting speeds. Equipped with high-grade carbide from the Leitz carbide factory, each tooth has been tuned to application to ensure finish cut quality on a variety of materials like chipboard or duroplastics. RazorCut saw blades are designed with specialist gullets and other ornaments that reduce noise pollution when cutting by -4 dB(A) compared to conventional circular saw blades. These design elements also decrease tool wear thanks to vibration reduction and improve the accuracy of cutting.
David continues “When Norrie suggested the Leitz RazorCut Saw blades, we did our research and decided that they would offer an opportunity to improve our efficiency and productivity. Before we purchased the Leitz RazorCut Saw blades, we generally worked with 8 sets of saws, so our operators tended to have 4 sets getting serviced and four sets in use in the factory. The new RazorCut Saw blades have resulted in an immediate saving as we now only have to work with 4 sets of saws at any one time because they last a lot longer than the Premium Blades. At least twice as long between services, and even as much as 3 times depending on the materials being cut.”
The introduction of RazorCut saw blades also helped the company to reduce their running costs and make their manufacturing more profitable through an increase in feed speeds. “The investment has also resulted in an increase in production output from 20 metres per minute to 50 metres per minute, more than doubling the feed speed, a marked improvement to the quality of finish and a near-zero changeover downtime. In the past 6 months alone, we have increased our panel processing production by at least 30%. We take on a lot more projects now which are solely panel processing. Work which we never proactively sought until now”
The Leitz Tooling Glasgow Manager, Norrie, also weighed in on the impact this new tool had on SD Manufacturing’s servicing costs. “When David contacted me to discuss the new Homag Beamsaw, I suggested the Leitz RazorCut Saw blades because I knew that they would have a massive impact on production output. The Leitz RazorCut Saw blades have given SD Manufacturing a longer tooling life between sharpens, reduced production costs, and reduced downtime from tool damage and wear.”
David also mentioned the impact of the new saw blades on downtime, sharpening costs and performance after servicing. “One of the other many benefits is that after servicing, the downtime in changeover from one set of blades to the other is near zero. They come back serviced and sharpened exactly matched as a set as they were previously. There is no adjustment and the operators never need to adjust anything with the scoring blade in relation to the main blade. It is literally just change and go which is an excellent benefit.”
Leitz Tooling operates a national network of 8 tool and saw sharpening centres across the UK and a large range of automated saw and tool sharpening machinery and robotics. Including two dedicated diamond sharpening centres. Leitz prioritise quality and traceability in their tools service programme above all else. National Sales Manager, Brian Maddox goes into more detail about Leitz’ dedication to quality. “When the saw blades are returned to the service centre, we examine the saw blades for wear and tear. If the saw blades are overrun, we can identify that, and we also track how many sharpens the saw blades have had. It is something Leitz is immensely proud of and there are many benefits to the customers. This type of self-policing ensures that we can get enough regrinds so that the customer is not spending money when they don’t have to. The advantage of tracking the saw blades and how many sharpens they have had is that we can estimate the end of life for the sawblade and warn our customers in advance.”
David Donaghue concluded: “Our collaboration with Leitz Tooling UK is very beneficial to our company. They understand what our needs are and guide and advise us on the best solution for our business, so it truly is a win-win situation for everyone.”
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