HEC Manufacturing Replaces Two Press Brakes With One Hyform
If you find yourself in Bardstown, Kentucky—just south of Louisville—you might make your way past HEC Manufacturing. They don’t have a website or any digital presence to speak of, but automotive OEM and tier 1 business is booming. Across 86,000 square feet and ten different machines, the company’s 45 employees craft ultra-reliable shipping racks. They make upwards of 10,000 per year.
But there was just one problem:
Alongside all their high technology, HEC had a couple of antiquated mechanical press brakes. “We would constantly say, ‘well, we can’t do that because we can’t consistently bend it,’ or ‘we don’t have the tooling for that,” said Leo Essex, President at HEC.
And on top of that, they couldn’t get any repeatability for their projects. As a result, they had to go back and redo or adjust them, all while juggling plenty of other jobs—often 30 to 40 projects at once. So, plenty of time was being wasted. What’s more, safety on the old mechanical press brakes was a concern.
HEC has CNC saws, plasma tables, robotic plasma and the engineering talent it takes to design for that higher technology. So whenever their old press brakes entered the conversation, they were a sore spot and an area of the business HEC didn’t want to show off. “We’d want to throw a tarp over our old mechanicals when customers came in,” Essex joked. “Ultimately, we wanted a productive piece of equipment that was safe.”
At this point, you may have guessed, Cincinnati Incorporated entered the HEC story.
Elevating the business with the Hyform
Initially, HEC and the press brake sales reps they contacted planned on replacing their two antiquated brakes with two newer machines that were a slight step up. The game plan checked out; they had two and assumed they needed two to replace them. But that plan changed when Mark Rosenberger, Regional Sales Manager at CI, walked onto the floor.
“When Mark came in and took a look, he simply said we didn’t need two brakes. We needed one good one,” Essex said. That one good press brake turned out to be the 150 ton by 12’ Hyform, CI’s quiet and efficient hybrid offering.
The Hyform’s productivity, safety and versatility were just what they needed. Job setups are assisted with a graphical display of tool locations, hydraulic tool clamping and programmable crowning. Ram speed of 500 ipm and precision ram repeatability of +.0004” assure fast and consistent production. The generous 14” stroke and 6-axis backgage easily tackle challenging tool heights and part shapes. The advanced hydraulic system’s servo motor-driven pump only runs during the working portion of the stroke, which saves a mountain of energy. In addition to energy savings, the Hyform is environmentally friendly, using only 22 gallons of fire-resistant, readily biodegradable hydraulic fluid.
When we asked what made him choose CI over other options, Leo had an answer ready. “They just seemed very genuine, and they really knew the product line. After just a couple of minutes with a demo in their showroom, Chuck (our Operations Manager) said ‘Hell, I can run this thing.’ It’s all Windows-based, so if you can look at a screen, you can run the machine.
“The machines are proven, and they last for decades.”
The impressive Hyform results
Upon installation in August 2020, the first thing the HEC team noticed about the Hyform was its appearance. “It’s just such a clean looking machine,” Essex said. “People could walk in and not know it’s a press brake; it’s very aesthetically pleasing. And of course, there are so many things—hydraulic clamping, controlling stroke height, repeatable bends, positioning the backgages with 6-axis capability—that it lets us do that we could never do before.”
When Mark sold HEC the Hyform, he told the guys that the only reason they’d ever need another press brake is if the machine’s productivity skyrockets demand to the point that designers could use an addition. That day is rapidly approaching already. “We utilize the Hyform so much more than we ever did,” Essex said. “We’re thrilled with the machine. It runs 8 hours a day, every day, without issue.”
If your team could use a press brake that can replicate the output of two older brakes, talk to us today about the Hyform. It’s an instant difference-maker.
