The company was founded in 1987 by Frans Bax, the father of the current director. Our customers are in food, in semicon and we also have some big customers in interior construction. We have a diverse mix of customers in different markets. We work in a high-mix, low-volume environment so we manufacture many different products in small quantities that are becoming increasingly complex.
Bax Metaal handles the entire process, from design to end product, as well as custom jobs. We actively contribute to engineering, laser cutting, bending, welding and post-processing. We can take care of all the production logistics, which many customers find a valuable asset.
The most important factor in selecting LVD was the software. Our philosophy is that the machines themselves are very good from most suppliers but the software, the control, making the product mix manageable, is what makes the difference. The fact that LVD’s CADMAN software is able to process many different parts quickly was why we chose it.
At Bax Metaal we have six press brakes including two ToolCells, 3 Easy-Forms and a Dyna-Cell. In the Laser Parts division we have two laser cutting machines, a 10 kW and a 6 kW, and a ToolCell. We use CADMAN software in the laser, bending and assembly areas. We’ve set up our production process and adjusted our logistics to make full use of this software suite. We can now more easily work with small orders, giving us much greater freedom in planning and managing production. It also allows us to serve our customers with greater speed and efficiency.
Has the software made us more flexible?
Yes, it has, in combination with the machines. ToolCell in particular is easy to use by less skilled operators. Even those with little experience in sheet metal working can quickly learn how to produce good parts with the ToolCell.
As for the Dyna-Cell, we mainly use it for repeat jobs and longer runs. We move this work directly to the Dyna-Cell to leave our experienced professionals free to handle the more challenging single-piece, complex and high-value parts. All programming is done offline, we no longer program at the press brakes. This ensures that any programming errors are detected in advance. As a result, all bending solutions are feasible. This reduces the number of rejects and we know at an earlier stage if the product geometry needs to be adjusted.
In the past we always had extra parts laser cut so that we could properly set up the press brake but this is no longer necessary. Everything is pre-programmed and the settings are accurate so we cut exactly the required quantities. For several years now, we’ve been adopting QRM processes, which basically means we no longer have rush orders.
Orders are approved for production and scheduled according to urgency. All orders follow the same route but the urgent ones come at the top of the pile. Workers don’t know whether or not an order is urgent. To them it’s just another order.