Affectionately dubbed 3.0, the latest generation of Enventek’s NEXPLATE injects Formula 1-style velocity to truss build tables. Building on the foundation of version 2.0 — which debuted last year at the Building Component Manufacturers Conference (BCMC) in Omaha — NEXPLATE 3.0 steps up the pace significantly. It is no longer just about dispensing truss plates; it is about completely orchestrating efficient workflow. Rather than requiring workers to sort through pre-picked bulk inventory, the system automates Just-In-Time (JIT) collated truss plates directly to each individual truss build table. [For all photos, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
NEXPLATE 3.0 now comes fully loaded with advanced process organization and smart dispatch software that automates JIT collated truss plates to each truss build table. Enventek has delivered a next-gen automation solution that will increase existing total plant truss output by eliminating the hidden wasted time in traditional “lean” truss setups and reclaim table crew and machinery idle time.
High-Speed Dispensing: From a bird’s-eye view, the industrial plate rack hoppers can accommodate a massive variety of SKUs. The system thrives on complexity, dispensing collated pairs of truss plates at a blistering rate of 1,000 to 2,000 plates per hour.
The NEXPLATE operator simply refills the plate hoppers with the stocked plates and manually places any non-stocked plates as instructed by the tablet at the end of the bin catch (in the photo, see non-stocked plate boxes conveniently placed on the catch table upper shelf).
It doesn’t take long for NEXPLATE to fill bins in the exact truss build order for each table. The operator easily stacks the filled bins as ejected, representing the exact truss build order when the NEXPLATE carts arrive at each truss build table.
At the tables, it looks clean and lean on each truss changeover and in between every truss built and ejected. Shown next are the collated plates in truss build order in the foreground (left side of the jig). The empties are in the background (right side of jig).
Let’s look at a few trusses (R45, R46, R47, and R48) from a typical 10 unique truss build.
Truss R45 has a non-stocked 9x19 Super High Strength pair of plates placed manually on top in the bin.
Truss R46 starts off moving right to left along the truss with 2x4 on the bottom, 5x6 on the top joint, 6x8 bottom, 6x8 top, 8x8 bottom, 6x8 top, 8x8 bottom, 6x8 top, 4x4 top, 6x8 bottom, 6x8 top, finishing with 2x4 bottom. The top photo shows R46 ready for rolling and lift-out.
Truss R47 has a completely different set of truss plates than the previous truss R47, all of which will also be efficiently and speedily distributed.
Here’s a look at the bin containing the plates for truss R48, layered in order starting from right to left of truss.
Now, here’s a “before NEXPLATE” photo that shows how things look at a typical truss build table. The plates look “scattered,” and the cut lumber takes time to set up in front of the truss build table.
Technically, once the lumber is in front of the table, the crew could start building the first truss, however, without NEXPLATE, most crews will then need to take the time to lay out batches of truss plates at each joint while the table is idle. This can take upwards of 20 minutes. And then it needs to be repeated, depending on how many pairs of plates can be laid out at each joint.
A run of 80 trusses may need to go through this 20-minute re-batching process four times! NEXPLATE will reclaim the time used to lay out batches of truss plates at each joint.
“After” NEXPLATE, you can maintain a clean, uncluttered work surface, which facilitates the table being worked more efficiently and safely. It also allows crew re-balancing and better sequencing to speed up truss build times.
It’s easy to see how the loaded bin carts are going to enable high-speed truss production, coupled with organized cut lumber in front of the truss tables ready to go.
The sequenced, layered bins are produced without manual stacking, as the machine automatically layers the plates into the blue bins, collating them across the truss from left-to-right or right-to-left, configured for each table.
Each blue bin ejected from the system represents a complete, sequential truss, finalized with integrated bin content paperwork.
Each cart represents trusses to be built at a designated table in the exact build order — the top bin is the first truss to build and the bottom bin is the last truss.
Importantly, NEXPLATE is invisible to the truss design and production workflow, and NEXPLATE works with all truss plate suppliers and their respective software.
With NEXPLATE, Enventek has delivered a next-gen solution that finally smashes the hidden automation bottleneck plaguing “million-dollar truss tables.” For too long, expensive investments in advanced auto-jigging setups and precision laser projection have been neutralized by the old-school, inefficient distribution of truss plates. By replacing outdated manual plate gathering with high-velocity, automated plate sequencing, component manufacturers can finally unlock the true ROI of their table automation.
For operations ready to trade traditional lean best practices for Formula 1-style velocity, the race to the finish line just got a lot faster. https://limteksolutions.com/#solutions