Cutting out a niche with TW Profile Services

May 24, 2023

Nontraditional service centre chasing nontraditional markets.

These are interesting times in which metal service centres find themselves. Many are finding that they have to offer some level of fabricating services to help them stand out among other service centres. They have seen dramatic consolidation on the mill side and are wondering if the mills have a desire to own part of the supply chain, as they do in Europe, where mills own the distributors. They also have to contend with a shrinking manufacturing base.

It doesn't sound like the most enjoyable of times, but where there is turmoil, there is also opportunity. Experienced companies recognise just that.

The latest purchase is a Trumpf 8kW laser, which arrived on the floor towards the end of last year, which comprises a Trumpf TruLaser 5060 two-dimensional (2D) flatbed laser equipped with an 8kW resonator, called TruFlow 8000

That's where TW Profile Services (Pty) Ltd finds itself. The 22-year-old service centre has been able to expand tremendously over the years by offering an array of metal processing services and customer service, thus giving you an understanding of the team's goal of keeping the business alive and strong for the next 100 years.

The company has about 24 000m² of inventory and manufacturing space in Craig Road, Anderbolt, Boksburg, Gauteng, with 9 200m² under roof at its disposal.

High-mix of servicesThe 300-employee company (200 on the floor and 100 in the offices) is equipped with laser cutting, plasma cutting, profiling, bending, countersinking, guillotining, drilling and rolling equipment and other operations for forming and cutting metal. It boasts a fleet of 21 delivery trucks and processes approximately 24 000 tons of material annually. The main input materials used include all grades of stainless steel and carbon steel and to a lesser extent aluminium and some exotics.

The company processes material in a variety of structural shapes, sheets and plate and, more recently, tubing.

A step ahead – chasing nontraditional marketsEliminating processes, speeding up production, and improving quality keep a service centre a step ahead of the competition. But combining this and chasing nontraditional markets takes them even further ahead.

Joost Smuts, now TW Profile Services’ Managing Director and Willie van den Berg, Joost's uncle and Tony Smith one of his original partners, started the company back in 1994, operating from a small building that was part of a scrap metal operation in Refinery Road, Germiston.

"Willie has been retired for some time now and is no longer a shareholder, while Tony is still employed by TW Profile Services. As the company expanded I saw the need to grow my team of partners and approached my brother Martin Smuts, Ben Riley and later Mohammed Daya and Gideon Janse van Vuuren to join."

TW Profile Services chases nontraditional markets by processing imported thick plate between 100mm and 300mm, that is not readily available in South Africa and to TW Profile Services standard

TW Profile Services keeps a large stock of stainless steel sheet and plate

"The company was established in February 1994 and before we knew it we were moving to a bigger factory. In 1998 we were able to purchase our first factory, which was located in Moller Street, Germiston."

"We remained there until we moved to our current location, which we purpose built ourselves, in 2009."

"From the beginning we always had the philosophy that to succeed we had to stand out amongst the rest and we still follow through with this today."

"Traditionally in a service centre you take a standard size sheet of metal or plate, feed or load it onto a machine and then boom, boom, boom or cut, cut, cut and out pops the components. We don't do that. We work with metal and look to operate in a space where generally others fear to tread. It's not a revolutionary approach, but it can appear to be the most unique idea in the world when presented to a purchaser who has no deep understanding of metal processing."

"That kind of thinking is still considered "nontraditional" even today. Old-school thinking companies are so accustomed to high-volume approaches to processing material that developing other areas in their business does not come easily, whereas it is almost second nature for us. Don't get me wrong, we are still a high-volume processor, but it is in the area of grasping and deploying new technologies in our business, looking to jump into new opportunities such as taking on a 50mm stainless steel plate for processing, that gets us into areas that the company thrives on."

TW Profile Services stores a large amount of material onsite

The directors of TW Profile Services. Left to right are Ben Riley, Mohammed Daya, Gideon Janse van Vuuren, Martin and Joost Smuts and Shaun Waring

"Despite this talk, a service centre is only as good as the on-time deliveries it makes. The company motto is: "We guarantee fast delivery no matter how long it takes!"

Getting into the thick of it fully"We only started our laser cutting department in 2003 when Shaun Waring joined as a shareholder. Shaun had been working in the metal industry since 1994 and has vast amounts of experience in laser cutting. This experience has proved to be an invaluable addition to the company."

"We were by no means the first in laser cutting but we believe that we were one of the first to purchase a Trumpf 5kW and subsequently a Trumpf 6kW laser in South Africa."

"The latest purchase is a Trumpf 8kW laser, which arrived on the floor towards the end of last year, and is the first of its kind in South Africa."

"The machine is a Trumpf TruLaser 5060 two-dimensional (2D) flatbed laser equipped with an 8kW resonator, called TruFlow 8000, which has increased the laser's cutting capacity by as much as 100% when stainless steel and aluminium is fusion-cut. The TruFlow 8000 doubles the maximum stainless steel sheet thickness previously specified when using a 6 kW laser to cut 50mm stainless steel."

The company is not scared to go big and have purchased two Prima Power laser machines. Both have a bed size of 24 000mm by 3 000mm

Processed metal components waiting to be delivered to customers

"Previously 25mm stainless steel would be cut with a standard plasma cutter, which had some rough edges. Now, however, we are able to cut 25mm stainless steel and produce perfect edges using the BrightLine feature, which has, among other features, improved cutting parameters."

"The bed size on this machine is six metres in length and two metres in width. You can see we are not scared to go big in offering our clients a service of cutting thicker materials and larger sheet sizes."

Cutting abilityIn total TW Profile Services has 10 laser cutting machines that includes eight Trumpf machines and two 24 metre x 3 metre Prima Power machines capable of cutting thickness from 0,5mm and up to 25mm for carbon steel, including boiler plate, aluminium from 0,5mm up to 20mm and up to 50mm for stainless steel.

On the profiling side they have eight multi head profilers and can cut material from 6mm up to 300mm.

In the plasma department they have two ESAB plasma cutting machines. One is a high definition plasma machine with the ability to cut from 4mm to 25mm plate. The other is a conventional plasma with the ability to cut up to 60mm plate in stainless steel and carbon steel. The machines are also able to engrave bending lines, part numbers and hole centres.Both machines are capable of cutting 12 m x 3 m, which is the biggest plate size available at the moment.

Bending, guillotining and rollingTW Profile Services is also well equipped in this department and it is an important added value service for their clients.

The company has five bending machines with bending capacity ranging from 0,5mm up to 12mm over 4 metre lengths on-site and additional bending capabilities of 25mm over 6 metre lengths off-site. Included in the bending equipment are two Ermaksan bending machines

Cutting thick material components is one of TW Profile Services specialities

TW Profile Services has two Prima Power lasers

The counter sinking is done on two Quaser CNC machining centers and five radial drills. Bed size limitation on the CNCs is 1 500mm by 600mm.

Guillotining is offered at 3 metres by 12mm on one machine and 4 metres by 10mm on a second machine.

On site rolling services are offered on two machines with the following limitations – rolling up to 8mm thickness up to 2,5 metres wide. Additional rolling services to roll up to 80mm plate over 3 metres wide, are available off-site.

Tube laser processingTW Profile Services also has the services of sister company TW Tube Laser and Processing, that is located nearby in Kent Street, Anderbolt. Last year the company installed a 6-axis BLM 14 tube laser processing machine and a BLM LT Fiber tube laser.

The large diameter BLM 14 tube laser machine with 3D capabilities can process up to 355mm with a wall thickness of 20mm and can handle sections 13 metres in length, both on the in feed and the out feed and is able to process large hollow sections, open structural sections such as H, I, angle and channel with minimal human interface.

The BLM 14 machine can process mild, high-strength, alloy and stainless steels. There is no need for special fixtures, which simplifies both high-volume production and low-volume prototype work.

The multi-axis cutting head on the 6-axis BLM LT 14 tube laser can perform inclined cuts, weld preparations and chamfered holes without needing to move the tube, ensuring excellent productivity and cutting quality.

On the profiling side they have eight multi head profilers and can cut material from 6mm up to 300mm. In the plasma department they have two ESAB plasma cutting machines. One is a high definition plasma machine with the ability to cut from 4mm to 25mm plate. The other is a conventional plasma with the ability to cut up to 60mm plate in stainless steel and carbon steel. The machines are also able to engrave bending lines, part numbers and hole centres. Both machines are capable of cutting 12 m x 3 m, which is the biggest plate size available at the moment

TW Profile Services have recently purchased a Weber polishing machine, supplied by Retecon Machine Tools

"Again we thought out of the box on this one. At the time it was the largest and most automated machine of its kind in South Africa," said Joost.

The BLM LT Fiber tube laser, with a capacity up to 152mm can process tube and sections in lengths up to 6,5 metres with maximum finished products up to 4,5 metres. It has a fiber laser cutting system that is characterised by the following additional advantages: programmable and automatic set-up where automatic changeover can be done in just two minutes, reduced electric energy consumption and installed power, and a higher beam quality that guarantees a much faster cutting speed to laser power ratio and reduced maintenance costs.

"The market for round and square tube cutting below 140mm is well catered for. As was the case with our LT 14 we had to think of what more we can offer the market, what advantages can the LT Fiber have over the other machines out there, what will make us different? Our advantage over the Tube Laser market is being able to cut from 12mm in diameter up to 355mm diameter on our tube laser processing machines."

Similar plans to be differentThe service centre is continuing its efforts to be as different as possible from competitors. It's mandatory. That's life as an independent.

"Due to our high electricity consumption, we needed to look at possible solutions. The result is that the company has recently installed a 200kW solar panel system supplied by Passat energy," said Joost.

I also notice that TW Profile Services, a company that is ready and willing to apply new technology to grow the business and where possible be the first, has not ventured into the fiber cutting space for its flat bed lasers.

The company has five bending machines with bending capacity ranging from 0,5mm up to 12mm over 4 metre lengths on-site and additional bending capabilities of 25mm over 6 metre lengths off-site. Included in the bending equipment are two Ermaksan bending machines

Counter sinking and drilling is done on two Quaser CNC machining centers, supplied by F&H Machine Tools, with a bed size limitation on the CNCs of 1 500mm by 600mm

"We know all about the benefits of a fiber laser but they are still limited in producing the results that we want for cutting thicker materials. A large proportion of our cutting does occur in the thinner gauge material but we like to believe that we have captured a sizeable amount of business in processing material for the heavy engineering industry such as mining and rail transport."

"Plate with a thickness of 100mm in S355 and less is readily available in the local market. From 100mm to 300mm it is not being made to our standard by our local mills. As a result we are now importing this material from China, along with quench and tempered material to 400 and 500 Brunel hardness."

"But we could change on the fiber side in the not too distant future because we have heard that there are developments in the 25mm range."

Counter sinking is also done on four radial drills

TW Profile Services has eight Trumpf laser cutting machines. The company can laser cut material from 0,5mm and up to 25mm for carbon steel, including boiler plate, aluminium from 0,5mm up to 20mm and up to 50mm for stainless steel

"Like our sister company that was conceived on the notion of process-in-one larger sections of material rather than pieces of tube and sections being handled six or seven times to achieve a fully processed part ready for assembly, we have always had the belief that ‘there has to be a better way to do this.’ But it is all about educating our clients and pointing out how we can save them time and costs."

"We carry stock in carbon steel and stainless in coil and plate. With our full CAD facilities and drawing department, we are able to assist our clients with their drawing needs as well as offer cost effective material usage to eliminate wastage."

"We have learnt that change is a constant, but some traditions die hard. However, we have everything in place to be a full sheet metal and plate supplier. In short, no one is turned away."

For further details contact TW Profile Services on TEL: 011 894 3031 or visit www.twprofile.co.za