FOCUS ON BENDING in smart, automated processes— among them Salvagnini panel bending technology. The first P2 panel bender installed in 2021, and a second in 2023, have significantly boosted productivity and flexibility in the bending department enabling Unifabs to handle higher volumes, greater product variety and tighter lead times.
These investments have marked a step change in Unifabs’ operational efficiency and service offering, reinforcing its role as an endto-end partner for OEMs.
A clear vision
Jason Austin, CEO and co-founder of Unifabs Ltd, has been at the helm since the start.
“ We always knew we had to differentiate ourselves. For a subcontractor, you are often judged on price, but we have worked hard to shift that conversation to value— how fast we can deliver, the consistency of our quality and how we help our customers to improve their own designs,” he explained.
That shift gained momentum in 2020 when Unifabs invested in its first Salvagnini P2-2516 panel bender, equipped with CLA, P Tool, DPM and RSU options for flexibility.
“ We had looked at panel benders before, but we thought they were limited. The truth is, panel bending has always been this capable— it’ s not the technology that has changed, it is the way that we think about it. You need to approach it with a different mindset. Once we did, [ it unlocked ] a whole new set of possibilities,” outlined Jason Austin.
“ Like all our panel benders, the P2-2516 chosen by Unifabs combines productivity( with automatic bending and handling cycles averaging 17 bends per minute) and flexibility, thanks to its universal bending tools. No retooling is required, as the upper and lower blades, counterblade and blankholder are universal and can process the full range of thicknesses and material types. The ABA automatic blankholder adjusts the tool length in-cycle based on the size of the part being produced, eliminating downtime or manual intervention for tool changes,” added Salvagnini.
The P2-2516 offers a maximum bending length of 2500mm and a maximum bending height of 165mm. It can process sheet thicknesses of up to 3.2mm, making it suitable for a wide range of applications in sheetmetalworking. The CLA auxiliary blades— modular in length and available in positive and negative configurations— enable the creation
of upward or downward tabs and short-side bends. The P tool allows the production of narrow panels, tubular shapes, hidden or radius bends, as well as bends with intrusive embossing close to a bend.
Future-proofing production
For Jason Austin, the decision to invest was not driven by ambition alone, but by a very real need to solve recurring production issues.
“ We have always grown through reinvested profits year after year. So, every purchase must make sense. And at that point, staffing was becoming a serious challenge and maintaining consistent quality across shifts was a struggle,” he explained.“ We started asking ourselves what we could do differently to address this problem.”
That question led to a broader rethink of how Unifabs could future-proof its production. The solution came through a dual approach: launching the Unifabs Academy— providing apprenticeships and skills development— and investing in advanced automated equipment. This led to a closer look at Salvagnini.
“ We had reached capacity with our pressbrakes,” confirmed Tom James, Managing Director, Unifabs.“ The set-up times were slowing us down, and we were becoming too dependent upon skilled labour. Finding experienced press brake operators is increasingly difficult, and training someone to reach full independence on complex parts or machine set-up can take over a year.
“ With the P2, that barrier is drastically reduced. It’ s intuitive, repeatable and far less reliant on long-term expertise. You don’ t need decades of experience— just the right mindset and a few weeks of focused onboarding. We provided Salvagnini with designs for various components that we produce regularly and
The Salvagnini P2 panel bender at Unifabs.
Bent profiles on the P2.
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