Manufacturing

Pressing
ABM have multiple presses on site featuring a variety of bed sizes, tonnage and stroke types. With 11 mechanical presses and 2 hydraulic presses this gives ABM a greater ability to accommodate more parts / tools. Cold pressing has been around for a long time now but the technology still has a place in the modern production environment and is more suited to high volume production.

Roll Forming
ABM have 3 roll formers to support other on site processes, it allows ABM to produce sectioned profiles to later stretch bend or supply as finished. The material starts out as a flat coil and is run through multiple rollers to bend the flat sheet to the desired section. Using rollers allows for production of much more complex shapes than using other methods. Section is then cut to desired lengths.

Stretch Bending
ABM have a total of 4 stretch bend machines on site, these allow us to form rolled section into finished parts that follow roof or door lines. The section is clamped by two arms, the part is then pulled around a form tool to set it into the desired shape. The part can then be divided into halves to produce a left and right hand version in a single process.

Robot Roller Hemming
ABM have invested heavily in automation and robotics, one of the main robotic uses on site is a roller hemming cell. Hemming is a process of folding the edge of a panel over either to create a rounded edge and remove a sharp one, or to enclose another item into the panel. Manually, this is a high skill, time consuming role, using a robot ABM are able to perform this process with great accuracy, repeatability and  speed.

5 Axis Laser
ABM have a TruLaser Cell 7040 located in our production facility, this can be operated as a 3 or a 5-axis laser. This technology is very effective at all scopes of production from prototypes to full production work. Mostly it is used as a support to press panels, the 3-axis function allows us to produce blanks for form tools while the 5 axis allows us to trim complex components, ultimately reducing tool numbers and lowering upfront costs.

Laser Scan
Inspecting components is a vital part of manufacturing, to assist with this we have two Laser scan capable Faro arm CMMs as part of our metrology setup. The arms are very flexible, they can be used in a metrology room as permanent fixture or can be taken onto shop floor, setup in a CNC machine or a press and measure parts or tools in place. The laser as a non-contact inspection method, this allows ABM to inspect delicate parts safely.

Auto Linish / Polishing
A large portion of ABM’s products are supplied with a polished finished, to achieve this ABM has a large polishing and linishing team. Automated and manual processes are used to achieve the finish required by our customers. Automated linishing is used to start the raw part off, this allows for larger areas to be completed quickly and repeatably. A robot arm offers the parts up to a moving belt and can exert a given pressure to complete the part. Manual inspectors then check the part over and can linish further if required.

After this, Automated polishing is then used to continue the part, an automated process can get the component to a partial complete stage extremely quickly and very repeatable. Manual polishers are
then implemented, with the control and fine touch a trained operator can offer, the ensures end part meets quality required up to a high ‘A’ class finish for some of the world’s most prestigious brands.

CNC Machining
ABM have a total of 9 CNC machines on site to support both production and low volume / tool manufacture. A CNC machine is a computer-controlled machine, this allows for great accuracy and repeatability.

The ABM machine shop is dominated by Haas machines which account for 7 of the 9 on the shop floor, the remaining 2 machines are more specialist CNC machines. The first is a Dahlih , this a 3-axis machine with a 4m x 2m x 1m operating window with a bed load capacity of 15 tonnes. This machine gives us greater capability to machine large components or tool components. The other is a Datron high speed machining centre, this features a 1.5m x 1m x 245mm operating window with a vacuum bed, this machine has a very high spindle speed which allows us to machine aluminium or other soft materials extremely quickly. ABM also has a manual machine shop to support the CNCs.