Roll Forming For Roofing Components

Roll forming of roofing components for the pre-engineered building and component industries presents unique challenges for manufacturers. Tighter profile tolerances, wider product ranges, and compressed lead times present production challenges for producers running older equipment or those contemplating a move into this market. Some developments in equipment and processes that are important to producing secondary structural members include quick-change roll form tooling systems and tooling that can improve the productivity of roofing components- Cee's, Zee's, Eave Struts, Channel, and Base Angle.

Roll forming roofing components for the pre-engineered building and component industries presents unique challenges for fabricators. Tighter profile tolerances, wider product ranges, and compressed lead-times are production challenges for producers running older equipment or those contemplating a move into this market.

Coil Handling

Coil Handling:
The first step in improving roll formed roof framing components starts is coil handling equipment. Keeping the production line fed always has been a process that has a major impact on line productivity, and it is even more important today with the introduction of high-speed punching systems and quick-change roll formers. Reduced lead-times and just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing philosophies have increased the number of daily coil changes, in some cases by tenfold.

Running a complete coil is no longer the norm. Many producers are running a few parts and then switching to another coil, because they are increasingly producing complete buildings to order rather than rolling components to stock.

Many types of coil handling systems are available to help manage the process and improve productivity in this area. Coil storage racks, rotating turnstiles, and coil cars help production personnel stage coils into and away from the production areas. Coil management software is available to help streamline the flow of orders into manageable units that help the operator balance flexibility and productivity; knowing which coil is going to be run next (and the available length of that coil) is just as important as changing coils quickly.

Double-arm uncoilers with powered hold-down rolls allow the operator to prepare the new coil for production while the line is running and secure the partially used coil for offline rebanding, increasing line uptime. Automatic and semiautomatic feed-up systems with band breakers and nose benders reduce the time required to get a new coil into production.

Roll Forming Machine

Roll Forming:
Today's roofing component producers need the ability to change from C to Z to single- or double-slope-eave struts, in a variety of sizes and gauges, all within the confines of a single order.

Some new purlin production systems on the market today offer this flexibility with both automatic and semiautomatic changeover. Eave struts can be produced inline in either single- or double-slope configurations, eliminating an offline bending operation. Positive gauge changes can be manual or automatic, or in some cases accommodated with floating tooling.

Eave struts can be produced inline in either single- or double-slope configurations, eliminating an offline bending operation. Positive gauge changes can be manual or automatic, or in some cases accommodated with floating tooling.

Material Handling:
It may sound basic, but a high-speed purlin production system requires a high-speed material handling system, and a system capable of producing a range of parts requires a material handling system that can handle the full product range.

Controls:
Keeping pace with the change in forming technology, line controls have evolved as well. Machine controls are available with open-architecture operating systems, enabling direct communication with a variety of production control systems. Many of these systems use off-the-shelf components for local serviceability.