Global Machine Designed to Exceed

Jerry L. Bupp – Vice President Sales

Vice President Sales

National Machinery LLC

161 Greenfield St.

Tiffin, OH 44883 USA

www.nationalmachinery.com

LeanFX is a new FORMAX® from National Machinery LLC.  LeanFX was introduced at WIRE 2008 in Dusseldorf to a large number of interested visitors, and is available for delivery(Figure 1 – LeanFX at WIRE 2008).  But what is LeanFX and what can it do for your production?

Why:

LeanFX10 is a 4 die FORMAX with no quick change features, designed to appeal to the standard segment of the fastener market.  In this market segment, cost and speed are critical, as longer production runs would typical.  Some machines available today for this market may have low purchase cost, but fall short in actual running speed.  A true combination of speed at a reasonable cost is something that is still requested by the fastener world.

How:

The design for LeanFX was created at National Machinery headquarters in Tiffin , OH USA .  Since 1874, National Machinery has been known for innovation in process and machine design.  This experience was used to design and build the first LeanFX, which was then developed and tested via rigorous part production.  The result was a global machine that can produce high quality M10 fasteners faster than any cold former on the market.

What:

LeanFX starts with high quality FORMAX features and components, such as linear feed, zero clearance heading slide and straight across transfer.(Figure 2 – Linear feed feature).  The machine is based on simplicity, so options are minimal.  The bed frame is the same proven construction as on all FORMAX.  Feed and kickout adjustments, as well as lifting of the transfer, are all manual adjustments on LeanFX.

The “ten” in the name designates a rating to form M10 fasteners such as:

ISO 4014 (DIN931) HEX HEAD

ISO 4017 (DIN 933) HEX HEAD

ISO 4762 (DIN 912) SOCKET HEAD

ISO 1662 HEX FLANGE

Figure 3 shows an example of M10 fasteners formed on LeanFX. For cold forming fastener producers interested in these standard types of parts, National is finalizing development of our patent pending modular tooling that will run at 300 parts per minute.  In an added effort to bring tooling costs down for this option, the tooling will be sourced via our NM Group Technologies-Suzhou facility with standard components built in quantities.

Figure 3 - Example of M10 fasteners formed on LeanFX

Where:

In an increased effort to further reduce costs for this global fastener production machine, National Machinery made additional investments in the NM Group Technologies(NMGT) facility in Suzhou , China (Figure 4 – NMGT facility).  This wholly-owned National Machinery facility, just north of Shanghai is the location where LeanFX is assembled.

NMGT utilizes the latest in machine tools, inspection, assembly and test practices.  Various National Machinery experts in the areas of engineering, machining, assembly, and quality are stationed at NMGT to ensure “National” quality of any product.  Procedures for assembly and testing are the same as done in Tiffin .(Figure 5- NMGT assembly, Figure 6 – NMGT machining).

Customer support for LeanFX is handled the same as with any National machine, by local service centers throughout the world in USA , Germany , Japan and China .

LeanFX is available now, so please contact your National Machinery sale person for further information.  LeanFX is another great option of equipment from the FORMAX family, so choose the option that best fits your production.

Figure 5 - LeanFX assembly operation at NMGT

Company Profile: National Machinery is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of cold forming machines that produce metal parts from coiled wire, bars, slugs, or preforms. Through its continuing R&D, advanced manufacturing capability and worldwide network of sales and service locations, National Machinery has firmly established its position as a world leader.

www. nationalmachinery.com