Company Purchases Amada Sheet Metal Loader/Unloader
CHARLOTTE, NC – Oct. 9, 2020 – Quality Products & Machine, LLC, a leading manufacturer of precision metal components and fabricated assemblies for blue chip customers, has purchased an automated Amada LMP-3015 loader/unloader to supplement its laser cutter, enhance productivity, and support its lights-out production.
The new loader/unloader works as an attachment to the Compass Precision operating company’s Amada 2500-watt laser cutter. It automatically loads sheet metal into the laser cutter, increasing productivity by at least three times. With its automation capabilities, Quality Products can re-designate its employees to other projects. The loader/unloader can also run unattended at night.
“The basic thing here is to keep this piece of equipment running as close to 24/7 as we can,” said Kevin Farmer, Quality Products President. “It’s just leaps and bounds above loading and unloading sheets just during the day.”
Once it’s running at full capacity, Kevin guessed that the loader/unloader tripling the company’s productivity would be a conservative estimate.
The loader/unloader holds a sheet size of 60 by 120 inches. Depending on material thickness, the machine can handle as many as 44 sheets per skid. The loader/unloader can handle sheets up to a quarter of an inch in thickness and still run lights out.
Quality Products plans to use the machine for parts mostly made of aluminum, stainless steel, mild steel and some other less common metals.
“Adding a robotic system to load sheet metal into our Amada laser cutter is another example of our continual efforts to automate everything possible,” explained Gary Holcomb, CEO of Compass. “We have great people capable of many things. Adding automation makes our organization even better and allows our employees to focus on activities no machine can do.”
Quality Products operates from a 47,000-square-foot facility in Charlotte, NC at 4600 Westinghouse Boulevard. It manufactures complex prototype and low-to-mid volume metal parts, with a focus on power generation and defense markets.
Quality Products was founded in 1962. ZP Enterprises, LLC, an Atlanta-based firm, acquired majority interest in the company in 2010, then purchased the remaining ownership in 2018.
In 2019, ZP Enterprises decided to seek new ownership for three of its portfolio companies, including Advanced Machining & Tooling, LLC of Salisbury, NC and Tri-Tec Industries, LLC of Charlotte, NC as well as Quality Products. It quickly reached an agreement with Main Street Capital Holdings, a Pittsburgh-based private equity firm. Main Street acquired Quality Products, along with its two sister firms, and placed them under a new umbrella company, Compass Precision, LLC.
In August 2020, Compass Precision added Gray Manufacturing Technologies, LLC of Denver, NC as its fourth operating company.