News Demtool makes big leap forward with facilities expansion and new machinery.

About 4 years ago, the brothers bought their first laser to expand their capabilities beyond the machine and welding shop. It was a used Bystronic ByStar 2800 W CO2 laser that needed a complete rebuild, but the brothers were up for the challenge. At that point, Jim took responsibility for the fabricating side of the business, and Derrick concentrated on the machining. “   

Buying the laser when we did, during the downturn, opened up a whole bunch of new markets for us,” says Jim. “When we added that capability, we were set up to do everything.”   

An important client base for the brothers has been automation companies that need projects cut, bent, machined and assembled. Being able to get that from one shop is a bonus. The Demtool customer base is varied. As a shop set up in the countryside just west of Kitchener-Waterloo, the business is well situated for agricultural work, automotive, automation and food-processing related work. With such a wide mix, Demtool has around 200 active customers.   

For more than 5 years, the brothers had two separate shops a short drive from each other – the machining and welding/forming in the original location, and the laser in a 2,500 square foot shop down the road.   

“The laser shop was bursting at the seams,” says Jim. “Just to be able to get jobs done we would have to move materials outdoors during the work day.” The shop included the laser, as well as all the inventoried materials. The fit was more than a little tight. The original location was under the same space restriction pressures; with the addition of a second press brake and adding more fabricators space had become scarce in this facility as well.

Fiber and press upgrades

When the brothers decided they were going to invest in a serious upgrade in their capabilities, they knew they had to do it right the first time, because it was going to be an expensive proposition. First off, they planned to build as large an extension on the original building that they could (they’ve long since taken over use of the full facility from their parents). The new extension adds 14,000 square feet to their operations, and allows all production to happen under one roof.   

Two of the key machines purchased to facilitate growth have been a BySprint Fiber 3015 6 kW fiber laser and an Xcite electric press brake, both made by Bystronic in Switzerland.“   

The fiber laser was the best fit for the efficiency and speed we were looking for,” says Jim. “Right now we’re purely doing custom work so the speed of the fiber really isn’t a huge benefit for us because we are changing sheets and jobs all the time. However, we do want to move into more production work. At that point, the speed will really make a difference.”   

“The lower operating costs on the machine were a big consideration as well,” says Derrick. “The old laser we have requires more power to run than the new 6 kW fiber. And there are some relatively local potential customers that could really benefit from its capabilities.”   

The brothers picked up the Xcite 80E electric press brake to run alongside the fiber laser because it has advantages in speed and accuracy over Demtool’s existing hydraulic brakes.   

“On the Xcite, the special layout of the machine frame developed by Bystronic – in conjunction with the electric drive system – ensures precision,” says Jim. “This drive system is called Force Dynamic Drive, and it ensures that virtually no deflections occur in either the upper or lower beam.   

”The Xcite’s motor only runs while bending, so it is more energy efficient and quiet than other press brakes. It is an 80 ton, 2050 mm system.   

“The electric press brake is fast and very simple to use, and very precise,” says Jim. “Most of the complicated work you see out there today is small stuff, so that’s where the machine really fits. With multiple bends per part, every bend adds complexity and a margin of error. The more sophisticated the machine, the more precise the tooling, it narrows the margin of error.”   

Nitrogen independence 

One of the most important purchases the brothers made, in Derrick’s opinion, is the multi-bank Parker Maxigas nitrogen generators.   

“These allow us to produce our own cutting gases on site, which is a huge advantage,” he explains. “The units are compact, high-pressure and on demand. This means no more need for cylinder deliveries, downtime waiting for gas, or the safety hazards associated with traditional gas supplies. That was a real problem for us in the past, and when you consider that we are running two lasers, and that most everything is getting cut on a fiber laser with nitrogen, we can’t afford to have any downtime.”   

The shop’s nitrogen generators were installed and are serviced by Applied Pneumatics in Dundas, Ontario.   

“We worked out what we paid for rental, and all other considerations, and the payments for the generators were almost identical to what we would be paying to rent,” says Derrick. “It should be a seven year payback, without even taking into account production increases. And after that, our operating costs drop drastically. And it’s built on redundancy, so we’ve got two compressors and if one goes down we’re still operating.”   

Flow management improvements

Despite all of these impressive investments, Jim insists that the shop still isn’t quite ready to handle the volume that they are looking to achieve.   

We are setting up the shop so we can maximize efficiencies,” he explains. “Our material handling is a bit of a bottleneck, so once we set that up properly, we’ll be set.”   

Jim and Derrick designed and built a whole wall of material racks so that the shop can maintain a healthy supply of materials for customer needs. The shop currently has one overhead crane, and another will be added shortly. Alongside that, there will be a Work In Progress rack for staging materials for the laser. Once the proper flow is established among these different system parts, Demtool should be ready for anything. Ultimately, they hope to run three shifts on the laser.   

At this point, Demtool has about a 70-30 split between the fabricating and chip sides of the business. They work about 60 percent in stainless, 30 percent in mild steel, with the remainder in aluminum and other metals.   

The Demerlings understand a lot about both marketing and management. They keep a very tidy shop, and understand the value of being organized on all levels. To further improve that part of their business, the brothers recently hired a production manager to streamline processes in the shop.    

“He is helping to create more documentation for our jobs, time tracking, and more detailed paperwork,” says Jim. “Prior to his arrival, I looked after the office and the floor, so everything was in my head. I didn’t need to write anything down. Having him has added a new discipline to the operations. It has changed how we work.”   

The company is also developing its own workflow management software for the shop to better streamline the floor.   

There are still other projects required to complete the fabricating floor in the Demtool facility. For instance, two heating systems are in the process of being tied in.   

“We are recovering heat from our two 60 hp air compressors that run our nitrogen generators and pumping that heat into our radiant floor heating system, as well as recovering heat from the old CO2 laser to minimize the amount the chiller needs to run to cool the system,” Jim explains. “That should help us save a lot of hydro and natural gas.”   

Once the projects on the fabricating side are complete and Jim is able to ramp up to the production levels they hope to see, it will be Derrick’s turn to revamp the CNC machining side of the business. “   

All the changes that Jim has made are going to give me room to expand the machine shop in the next couple of years,” Derrick explains. “We are planning for more machining centers, and just creating more room around the machines we already have.”   

Tackling the funding crunch 

The biggest challenge the brothers had with their big plan was getting the financing. Consider all of the different parts of their plan, and every last piece went in over the past year. That’s a big financial outlay, and it was hard to explain it to the banks.   

“The thing is, you can’t build half a building,” says Derrick. “And there’s no point buying the nitrogen generator without the laser, or the laser without the right press brake for the complex jobs. But banks don’t necessarily have the experience to understand the need to invest in it all at once.”   

What the Demerlings ended up doing was to get the building construction financed by the bank, and the equipment financed by Business Development Bank of Canada, alongside a grant from the Southwestern Ontario Business Development Fund. The Fund offers a grant of 10 percent of what you spend on your project.   

It no doubt helped that the Demerlings had a very solid plan for their development that they had been working towards for five years. They didn’t think just in part output, but also energy requirements and supply chain management.   

The investment has already paid off in productivity gains, and Demtool has added 8 employees to their team in the past year to support that. 

by Rob Colman, Editor                                                 As appeared in Canadian Metalworking, Production & Purchasing Magazine                                                October/November 2015