Stemco LP (Longview, TX)
SEYI Gap Frame Presses Deliver "Straightside-Like" Productivity, Larger Bed Performance at Heavy-Duty Wheel Seal Manufacturer

Around 2003, the management at Stemco (Specialized Truck Equipment Manufacturing Company), Longview, Texas, reexamined their stamping operations. They realized that some of their older stamping presses had tonnage capacities that were lower than what was currently needed. The decision was made to replace several of these units rather than spending money to rebuild these stamping presses. The company began a search to find a supplier that could not only provide equipment with the capabilities to help keep the stamping operation successful, but also the personal touch required to assist in finding the right equipment for the job. After researching several press builders, Stemco chose to form a relationship with SEYI Presses, Inc. and that relationship has continued to strengthen ever since.

Defining Stemco’s Capabilities
Since 1951 STEMCO has been manufacturing and supplying high quality wheel end components to the medium and heavy duty truck and trailer markets.  STEMCO products include elastomeric and leather wheel seals, bearings, hub caps, axle fastening devices, hub odometers, brake linings, steering axle kings pins and spring pins.  In addition, the company offers a family of RFID products that include mileage counting devices, tire pressure monitoring sensors and remote data collection devices.  STEMCO products and system solutions are used in both OEM and aftermarket applications.

As a result of more than five decades of experience in the trucking industry, STEMCO has accumulated product and process knowledge of wheel end systems that benefit fleet customers by offering products that reduce maintenance costs, provide less equipment down time and safer operating equipment.  STEMCO is located in Longview, Texas and employs more than 360 people throughout North America, China and Australia.

Rebuild or Replace?
Stemco decided to upgrade stamping presses five years ago with the requirement of adding versatility to its shop floor. Its existing presses were repeatedly sustaining damage and the company was continually forced to rebuild them. Cranks, bearings, pilot gears, bull gears, pitman arms, etc., were all replaced.

So rather than continue to rebuild presses and incur increasing costs, Stemco decided to purchase new ones. Billy Hall, Stemco Manufacturing Engineer, set out on a trail to find a supplier. That trail led him to press manufacturers’ booths at trade shows where he gathered stacks of literature and business cards. Hall eventually made contact with a representative from SEYI (Tullahoma, TN). According to Hall, that representative was not only an expert on SEYI’s products but was also very knowledgeable about stamping processes.

“SEYI gave me a better understanding of the new technology that presses have today,” Hall said. “SEYI was the first company to visit me. Other companies came in after that, but I didn’t get as warm of a feeling as I did with SEYI. They responded to my questions with good, solid answers.

“They understood my needs very well and worked with me to come to a solution. They helped me select a press that met the requirements Stemco out lined.” 
Hall said he definitely wanted presses with increased tonnages to avoid the hassles experienced due to the damage taken on by the older presses.

“I wanted to be sure we got more tonnage than we needed to give ourselves some room,” he said. “Plus, newer presses have a hydraulic overload system that can absorb some of the added stress.”

Stemco made its first acquisition of SEYI equipment in July 2005, a 176-ton SN1 series single-point gap frame press. Stemco added an identical press in May 2006 and a 176-ton SN2 series two-point gap frame press in August 2007. They provide high-precision stamping for Stemco’s applications that require larger dies/larger bed sizes. Some of the features that each of the presses have in common are:

• Fabricated steel frame, cast slide and bolster
• Rigid frame with minimal angular deflection
• Full-length, high-precision six-point gibs for accurate slide guidance
• High accuracy transmission gears and high rigidity crankshafts
• Pneumatic high-torque combination wet clutch and brake
• Fast response hydraulic overload protection system
• Monitored automatic lubrication system

In Control
Each press is also equipped with SmartPAC controls that are positioned on the customized moveable pendant arms. The controls are placed on the arms to add efficiency and protect the control itself.

“Mounting the control on the press allows the operator to position it out of the way while you’re working on the press or making setups,” Hall said. He added that employees throughout the plant have enjoyed working with the SmartPAC controls because of both its overall capabilities and its ease-of-use. The controls have allowed Stemco to implement some customized programs that allows employees to remotely monitor operations. One program that Stemco has implemented is LETS, which is produced by Honeywell.  LETS allows employees to view real time data for OEE, productivity and downtime (to name a few) from remote computers.

The SmartPAC controls have also made standardization at Stemco a no-brainer. According to Hall, each press acquired by Stemco in the future will be equipped with SmartPAC and three older presses have already been retrofitted with it.

“Standardization is important,” Hall said. “Once we start down a road, we’re going to stay on that road unless something tells us we shouldn’t. SmartPAC is going to be the controller on our presses from here on out.”

One-Hit Wonders
Another feature of SEYI presses that is especially beneficial to Stemco is their extra large bed size. This allows versatility in setting up a variety of applications.

“We needed more bed space to enable us to run dies that require two operations because of the nature of the part,” Hall said. “With more bed space, we can put them in one press and still finish the part in one hit. Andrew Rucker, Stemco’s stamping process engineer, has been experimenting with this concept. “We still have a compound die doing the work, but rather than taking two setups to do it, we can set  two dies in one press and get one part in one hit,” Rucker states.

And, Hall says, making parts in one hit is a very important aspect in maintaining efficiency at Stemco. SEYI gap frame presses have been especially beneficial to Stemco. They have allowed the company to continue one-hit operations while enjoying the larger bed space it requires and still being able to produce at high volumes.

“We do all of our work in one hit, which is pretty unique for our industry,” Hall said. “We run one compound die in one hit, so we’re making steel coil into parts in just a single operation.”
Halls adds that working with compound dies and performing one-hit operations reduces downtime because only one die is set up during changeovers. “With one die, you just slide it in, hit parts, and then take it out,” he said.

Stemco makes four to six changeovers per day, Hall says, each taking an average of 18 minutes. Hall believes the company can pare that time down to less than ten minutes.

Minimal Maintenance
Maintenance is also simpler and quicker, Hall says. “If you’re using progressive dies, the first time you take it out you have to separate a lot of things…it’s just harder to fix,” he said. “With compound dies, unless you have a major crisis and break something, it’s usually just a four hour turnaround.” 

Maintenance on the presses themselves has been a nonexistent issue since Stemco took ownership of its first SEYI press. That press has performed more than four million hits without needing one service call, Hall states.

“We haven’t worked on the press since we got it,” he said. “It’s done nothing more than just make parts.”

On the Horizon
Looking ahead, Hall says Stemco will continue to seek more ways to improve. “We want to keep progressing every day,” he said.

One of those ways, according to Hall, may be to add a new transfer system in the near future.

“If we get a new transfer system, Stemco can take a deeper look at dual line dies so that we can run parts out of both directions of the press,” Rucker adds.  “Instead of producing 32 parts per minute, we could get 64 parts per minute.

Whatever directions Stemco goes in the future with stamping products, Hall would like SEYI to be alongside. Aside from the quality of its products, Hall places great emphasis on the type of relationship SEYI and Stemco have formed.

“They (SEYI) call me regularly to see what’s going on, to see if I have any needs,” Hall said. “That’s big to Stemco. It’s important to us to be able to work with people whom we trust and who have as much of an interest in us as we do in them.”

About the Companies
SEYI Presses, Inc., with North American headquarters in Tullahoma, TN and a Regional Sales/Service Office in Walnut, California, is a globally-leading producer of Mechanical C-Frame, Straight Side and Link Style Presses. For more information, contact SEYI Presses, Inc, 843 Joint Park Blvd, Tullahoma, TN 37388. PH: 931-455-7700, FAX: 931-455-6092, email: sales@seyiamerica.com, website: www.seyiamerica.com.  (Special thanks to SEYI’s Texas Sales Agent: H&O Die Supply, 2810 Ruder Street, Dallas, TX 75212. PH: (800) 222-5441, Email: sales@hodie.com, Web: www.hodie.com.)