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A hidden network of tunnels, pipelines, and underground conduits ensure the delivery of reliable modern conveniences—electricity, phone, cable, and high-speed Internet service. To efficiently create these tunnels, energy and public utility contractors rely on trenchless digging, using directional drilling equipment. Ohio-based Barbco Inc. is one such manufacturer of directional drilling equipment. The company’s machines can quickly drill through layers of earth creating the tunnels needed to not only lay wire, cable, and fiber, but to also construct oil pipelines and pressure pumps for shale extraction.

Owned by Jim Barbera and managed by sons, David and Tony Barbera, this family business started out in 1989 using oxyacetylene. It didn’t take long however for Barbco to switch to plasma. Today, every single one of Barbco’s metal drill parts made from plate are cut with plasma. As David Barbera explains, “Plasma really hit us in the face. You had to ask yourself, what am I doing with this flame?”

The company’s original plasma systems served them well until 2007 when it become obvious Barbco’s shop had outgrown its current plasma cutting machine. Their business had expanded so much the company found it needed the ability to cut thicker and larger plate. Like any intelligent business owner, the team at Barbco considered several different metal cutting methods: plasma, CO2 laser, and waterjet.

After thoughtful consideration, both CO2 laser and waterjet were ruled out. The company felt laser was too cost prohibitive and waterjet too slow. Besides, although both technologies cut beautifully, the super precise cuts weren’t really needed by Barbco. The most viable option turned out to be plasma and the decision on which system to go with was pretty easy. The table manufacturer strongly recommended a Hypertherm HyPerformance HPR260, which Barbco subsequently purchased in 2008.

“We went with Hypertherm because the customer service from the OEM was great. Honestly, kudos to them. Our questions were answered directly; we received a fair offer and were shown a demo. It was a good experience,” said Matt Wolf, Barbco’s Production Engineer.

The HPR260 did the job for Barbco and then some. However, by 2010 strong demand for Barbco’s products—driven in part by the company’s reputation for manufacturing innovative products—meant Barbco was once again in need of more cutting capacity.

Barbco began by upgrading the Hypertherm HyPerformance HPR260 purchased in 2008 to Hypertherm’s newly introduced XD (eXtreme Definition) technology. The upgrade to XD enabled Barbco to immediately begin piercing and cutting 1 ½ inch thick metal. Before the upgrade, Barbco relied on oxyfuel to cut the thicker metal. Though oxyfuel did the job, it created bottlenecks for the company because the process wasn’t as fast as plasma.

By late last year, Barbco was once again dealing with bottlenecks; this time in its machine shop. Its process of undercutting holes using their plasma system and then sending the plate on to the machine shop for final drilling was no longer working. The work load had gotten too great for the shop to keep up.

As before, the company didn’t just assume plasma was the way to go. “With changing attitudes about plasma, we considered waterjet and laser again due to our growth, but plasma won out again,” explained co-owner David Barbera. “I know we have not exhausted what plasma can do for us. We still have capacity for growth in plasma.”

After analyzing the different methods and seeing a cut sample provided by their table manufacturer, Barbco decided to go with Hypertherm’s Built for Business Integration Cutting Solutions line-up because of its True Hole technology. True Hole technology is a mild steel process that eliminates the hole taper typical of plasma cut holes. The technology also reduces the ding found inside the hole, and biases it to the outside. The end result is bolt ready holes with minimal operator intervention.

The company was impressed with the hole quality delivered by True Hole, and pleased the process was actually more efficient than its old method. “We’re very excited about the ability to drop a bolt right through our holes,” said Wolf. “By handling fewer parts, we’ll save time in our machine shop.”

Wolf goes on to explain Barbco’s plasma evolution this way, “HyDefinition plasma has been the backbone of this company and now True Hole is the future.”

Customer Spotlight author, Ann Thompson, works on Hypertherm’s North American Marketing Team and can be contacted at ann.thompson@hypertherm.com.

AVOIDING DOWNTIME

Though smart business choices are a part of Barbco’s success, so too is the company’s commitment to taking care of its equipment.

The company understands that just as regular oil changes and tire rotations help cars run better, regular system maintenance helps their machines run more efficiently, saving potential headaches and downtime down the road.

Barbco works closely with its OEM to follow Hypertherm’s recommended preventative maintenance schedule. “What gets done to the cutting machine varies greatly on the age of the system,” stated their OEM. “We make two visits annually to Barbco since that is what is needed based on the workload of their machine.”

Preventative Maintenance kits for Hypertherm mechanized plasma systems are available from all Hypertherm authorized table manufacturers or system integrators.

The kits contain parts that most commonly wear out during a period of one year. Barbco’s kit came with a replacement torch head, o-ring rebuild for their torch, pilot arc relays, main contractor, two filters and eight gallons of coolant to replace the filter and flush the coolant every six months.

Since Matt Wolf is responsible for keeping Barbco’s production line moving, he understands the benefits of preventative maintenance, saying, “It’s hard to know how much downtime we avoided since we haven’t had any problems, but I’ve noticed that maintenance costs have gone down. Nowadays, machine parts are being replaced at regular intervals, while before we were waiting for something to go down and then had to scramble to fix it. At this point, we’re budgeting for the PM kit each year and that cost is now folded into our standard operation.”

Preventative maintenance protocol and a work schedule are available in the instruction manual that came with your Hypertherm plasma system. If you still have maintenance questions after reviewing it, contact your OEM or systems integrator directly for help.

CUSTOMER SPOTLIGHT

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