FOCUS ON BENDING
subcontractors, a panel bender like the P2 isn’ t just a productivity tool— it’ s a positioning tool.”
Austin agreed.“ Although most of our customers are UK-based, their products ship all over the world. They trust us not just because we hit deadlines, but because we help them to streamline their own manufacturing. When they walk through our shop and see the Salvagnini machine running, it gives them confidence that we’ re a partner, not just a supplier.”
Unifabs didn’ t just adopt Salvagnini technology, it integrated it across the workflow. The machines are connected to the SolidWorks environment via STREAMBEND software, enabling offline programming, 3D simulation and seamless job transfer.
“ What impressed me,” outlined Grealy,“ was how little time it took to get up to speed. We trained new operators, with no previous bending experience, from scratch. Because everything is simulated and verified before it hits the floor, we get it right the first time.”
That same approach is now being extended to press brakes, thanks to lessons learned from the panel benders.“ We saw how efficient offline programming was with Salvagnini panel benders, so we started doing it for press brakes too,” Grealy added.
reliability, the remote assistance has been excellent. On the rare occasions that we have experienced breakdowns, Salvagnini is usually quick to support us and help get things resolved efficiently, which is reassuring,” James highlighted.
A mindset for the future
As Unifabs continues to grow, automation remains central to its long-term strategy.
“ We’ re keeping a close eye on Salvagnini’ s developments in areas such as robotisation, AI and vision systems,” said Austin.“ Smarter handling and loading will be key to the next stage of efficiency and, when the time’ s right, we’ ll be ready.
“ For us, this wasn’ t just about buying new machines— it was about reshaping how we think about production. Tools like the Salvagnini panel benders have helped us to shift the conversation from capacity problems to new capabilities,” he concluded. n
About Salvagnini
For over sixty years, Salvagnini has been designing, producing and selling flexible systems for sheet metal processing. Its panel benders; punching machines; press brakes; fibre laser cutting machines; FMS lines; automatic store towers and software have found application in a wide range of industries.
https:// unifabs. eu /
www
. salvagninigroup. com
Scalability without compromise
While Unifabs still runs seven press brakes, the panel benders have taken over a significant share of the workload— particularly, but not only for repeat, mid-to-high volume parts.
“ Press brakes still play a vital role,” said James,“ especially for parts that don’ t lend themselves to automation, but it’ s a balance. If a part is suitable for the Salvagnini panel bender, it goes on the Salvagnini panel bender. It’ s not just about volume— it’ s about repeatability. As a subcontract manufacturing partner, we run many of the same parts over and over. Once a job is programmed for the panel bender, it’ s ready to go whenever we need it— no set-up and no delays. That makes a real difference to efficiency.”
While the initial programming takes time, the long-term gains are substantial.
“ The more we run a part, the more value we extract from the automation,” added James.“ That’ s why we say it pays off over time— because it really does.”
The result? A faster, leaner, more resilient process.“ You get this mix of speed and flexibility that we just couldn’ t match with conventional press brakes. In terms of
Angles and corners bent on the P2.
80 | ismr. net | ISMR September 2025