Founded in 1980, Orbitform is a premier manufacturer of standard and custom forming, fastening and assembly machinery. Orbitform's mission is "Solutions Delivered," to reflect its commitment to excellence of products and customer service.

According to Daniel Shirkey, manager of Orbitform's Business Development Team, the key to Orbitform's success is its staff of highly qualified design engineers who seek innovative ways to improve productivity and profitability, while maintaining high quality and service levels.

Today, Orbitform Group designs and builds precision machinery for Orbital and Spiral Forming, Impact Riveting, Rollerforming, Welding Automation, Conveyors and Custom Machines for manufacturers in a multitude of industries, including automotive, aviation, medical and CNC metal cutting.

Designing standard and customized machinery for diverse applications would be challenging for any engineering team. To better manage complex projects, Shirkey notes that Orbitform's engineering team leaders are willing to deploy proven, cost-effective solutions that help improve the design process while reducing engineering time and costs.

"Our engineers use Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks' 3-D CAD technology during the engineering phase," Shirkey says. "In customizing mechanical parts for machine building projects, they often specify precision-made, configurable components from MISUMI USA. We have always been extremely satisfied with the quality of the components, as well as the time-and cost-saving advantages."

Shirkey describes a project involving an Orbital Riveter Bench machine with a clamshell clamping fixture for forming a striker assembly, and also used in other systems. Engineers compare the time and cost of buying MISUMI mechanical components versus designing and making specialized components in-house. This exercise is time well spent, especially when designing standard machines requiring customized automation and fixturing elements.

"We frequently order tooling components from MISUMI, including shafts, couplers, hard stops, bearings and sheet metal," says one engineer. "They can be ordered in various standard sizes and many are configurable. All typically ship within one week and cost significantly less than if we were to design and make the custom parts ourselves."

He also says MISUMI's 3-D CAD Configurator saves time and streamlines workflow. "The time we save by downloading the model instead of creating a detailed drawing helps shorten the design process. We estimate these downloads typically result in cost savings of 15 to 40 percent and time savings in the 50 percent range — quite a significant benefit," notes the engineer.