- Home
- Industries
- Sheet Metal Fabrication
Industry
Sheet Metal Fabrication
Feeding joining and handling equipment for flat sheet and panel production
Industry Pain Points
What Makes This Sector Difficult to Automate
Derived from Delkotech's published equipment range, which includes sheet metal pick and place, clinching and panel machines.
The cutting machine waits
A laser that idles between sheets is expensive idle time, and the loading method is usually the reason.
Large blanks need two people
Which ties two operators to the front of one machine and carries a handling risk on every sheet.
Joining damages the finish
Welding pre-finished sheet creates a touch up operation that exists only to repair the joining process.
Double blanks
Two sheets picked as one damages tooling or scraps the cut, and it is found after the damage is done.
What Customers Need
Requirements We Design Against
- Automated blank feeding sized to the sheets you actually run
- Separation handled at the stack rather than detected afterwards
- Joining methods that leave coatings intact
- Vacuum handling that lifts from the face instead of dragging
- Equipment interfaced to the cutting machines you already own
Typical Applications
Where Delkotech Equipment Goes In
Laser infeed automation
Vacuum gantry feeding blanks onto the cutting table with a handshake to the machine.
Panel joining
Clinching pre-finished panels without damaging the coating.
Secondary operations
Place and process stations that locate the part and perform the operation in one cycle.
Sheet transfer and re-stacking
Moving sheets between pallets, buffers and conveyors.
Delivery Capability
What a Project With Us Looks Like
Application study
Your part, operation, rate and floor space are recorded from the real production, not from a nominal case.
Concept and layout
A machine concept with the layout, cycle estimate and safety approach, priced against a defined scope.
Design
Mechanical, electrical, controls and safety designed together, with the sequence of operation written before any code.
Build and try out
Manufactured at Vaughan, then dry cycled, run with your parts and run to rate before it ships.
Installation and handover
Installed, interfaced and commissioned, with operator and maintenance training and the as built documentation.
Related
Recommended Equipment
Sheet Metal Automation
Automatic Sheet Metal Pick and Place Machine
Vacuum gantry de-stacker that feeds blanks to a laser or press without manual lifting
View equipmentSheet Metal Automation
Clinching Machine
Cold forming press that joins sheet metal without heat consumables or surface damage
View equipment
Sheet Metal Automation
Place Processing Automation Machines
Stations that position the part and perform the operation in one controlled cycle
View equipment
CNC Assembly Machines
Multi Spindle Screw Machines
Drive every fastener in a pattern in one stroke with torque controlled at each spindle
View equipmentCNC Assembly Machines
CNC Custom Automation Equipment
Purpose built CNC machines designed around your part when no catalogue machine fits
View equipmentRelated
Projects in This Sector
Project
Pick and Place Sheet Metal
Vacuum gantry feeding aluminium blanks into a laser cutting machine
Read the projectProject
Back Panel Clinching Machine
Cold formed joints on pre-finished back panels with no damage to the coating
Read the projectProject
Isolation Cutting Machine
Cutting and handling unit built for an aluminium profile production environment
Read the projectRelated
Related Reading
Comparison Guide
Gantry or Robot for Pick and Place
How to choose between a gantry and an articulated robot for a handling application
Read the articleTroubleshooting Guide
Preventing Double Blanks in a De-Stacker
Why two sheets lift as one and what actually fixes it
Read the articleDesign Guide
Selecting Vacuum Cups for Sheet Metal Handling
Why hold time and cup layout matter more than raw vacuum level
Read the articleQuestions
Sheet Metal Fabrication Questions
Do you have experience in sheet metal fabrication?
Derived from Delkotech's published equipment range, which includes sheet metal pick and place, clinching and panel machines. What we build for this sector is shown in the equipment and projects linked from this page.
Which machine should we start with?
Start from the operation that is costing you, not from the machine type. The four scenarios on this page are the ones that come up most often in this sector.
Can equipment be specified for our environment?
Yes. Materials, finishes, contact surfaces and access are specified at design review against the environment the machine will live in rather than assumed from general industrial practice.
Will the machine produce records we can show a customer?
Where the process needs evidence, counts, process values and test results can be recorded and made available to your plant systems. The data contract is agreed with your IT group before software is written.
What do you need to quote a project for us?
Part drawings and real samples, the operation, the rate, the floor space and the equipment either side. Email [email protected] and we will come back with a concept.
Talk to an engineer
Bring Us a Sheet Metal Fabrication Problem
Describe the operation that is costing you rate, accuracy or labour. We will tell you what a machine can and cannot do about it.