New tooling technology can profoundly influence fabricating productivity when installed in either new or existing fabricating equipment. Take for example, United Support Solutions (USS), a leading East Coast screen printer and finishing company that recently expanded into full service fabrication and branded products manufacturing.

       In early ’07, USS acquired its third Strippit CNC punch press and tooled it with the Mate Xcel thin turret tooling, more than tripling tool life over previously used tooling while improving part quality and setup times.

      The switch came after a simple tool test of a Mate tool run over a 45 day period and comparing setup time requirements, part quality and frequency of sharpenings with a different brand of tooling USS was using. The results were astonishing, according to Joe Ostering, president of USS, and lead to a phasing in of Mate Xcel tooling on all three of the company’s Strippit presses.

      “Tooling is extremely important to us,” reports Ostering, “because it has a major impact on all aspects of our operation, everything from quality and fabricating speed to efficient labor utilization and ultimately profitability. We punch 10 tons of sheet metal a week. Most of the material is 5052 and 6061 aluminum in thicknesses up to 3/16 inch. We punch up to 2,000 parts an hour. The latest Mate Xcel tooling, as we’ve experienced, really impacts our punching operations for the better. By constantly upgrading our tooling and using it in innovative ways, we perform a smarter service for our customers that translates into a better, more cost-effective product.”

            Rapidly growing demand for CNC punched parts led USS to look for ways to improve its punch press operations with a focus on tool utilization. Reports Ostering, “We heard about the new Mate Xcel tooling for Strippit presses. Mate has a reputation for long life tooling and we wanted the best. Glen Winters, Mate Precision Tooling sales engineer, gave us an Xcel tool to try. The first thing we noticed was that we weren’t sharpening the Xcel tool as often as the others we were using. We were getting much better run times and the daily savings were really mounting up. The decision was made to convert the entire Strippit Global 1225 model (30 stations) to the

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