Blanking Automation—Smarter Starts for Streamlined Fabrication

Blanking Automation Starts Everything Right 

In fabrication, everything flows from your first cut. At Space Age Electronics, we’ve learned that if blanking automation doesn’t work flawlessly, nothing else can.

Precision bends? Reliable welds? On-time final assembly? They all depend on the accuracy and efficiency of the blanking stage. That’s why we’ve invested time, tech, and talent into making blanking smarter—not just faster.

From optimized nesting to seamless part removal, we treat blanking as a foundational strategy—not just a preprocessing step.

Punch/Laser Combos: Our Night-Shift Powerhouses

While most of our team goes home, our punch/laser combo machines get to work. 

These cells run overnight, cutting and preparing blanks that roll straight into the next shift’s bending and welding operations. They’ve become central to our approach—turning off-hours into productive hours. 

One of the standout systems we rely on is the AMADA EML 2515 AJ—a punch/laser combo machine known for its high-speed processing and material efficiency. It’s built to handle both intricate cuts and heavy throughput, which makes it ideal for running unattended while still delivering consistent results. 

But machines alone don’t make magic happen. 

It’s how we program and support them that matters. The real difference lies in the details—like how parts are nested, removed, and sequenced to avoid snags, waste, and slowdowns.

Smarter Nesting = Better Material Yield and Throughput 

Our engineers use advanced sheet metal nesting optimization software to maximize each sheet’s potential. 

Here’s what it delivers: 

• More parts per sheet 

• Less raw material waste 

• Reduced skeleton warping 

• Simplified automated removal 

We design every nest with the whole fabrication process in mind. We don’t just squeeze parts in—we think about the bend angles, the flange clearance, and how the parts will get picked up by robots down the line. 

That foresight eliminates unnecessary rework and lets automation hum along. 

Lift-Out Without the Headache

Have you ever seen a machine stop because a part snagged during removal? We have—and we don’t want to see it again. 

That’s why we preempt snag risks by cutting mini-gaps into the skeleton and forming tricky features—like flanges or serrated teeth—during the blanking stage. 

For example, the TCC Clawed Ceiling Bracket used to be a nightmare for removal. Its jagged edge would snag during automated lift-out, causing delays. So, we reworked the approach. 

Now we: 

• Form angled flanges during blanking. 

• Sequence cuts to balance skeleton weight. 

• Add intentional clearances between nested parts. 

This lets our machines lift out even complex pieces smoothly and keeps the rest of the skeleton intact for remaining cuts.

The Ripple Effect of Blanking Automation

Optimizing blanking automation doesn’t just make the punch/laser combo more efficient—it sets the stage for every process that follows. 

Here’s how: 

• Better blanks = fewer jams at the robotic brake 

• Flatter skeletons = smoother workflows across the cell 

• Consistent geometry = faster setup in welding automation 

Because we’ve eliminated many common friction points, we’ve seen our cycle times drop and our uptime jump. It’s one of those upstream fixes that delivers huge downstream wins—just like the machine-ready blanks from TCI Precision Metals, designed to improve throughput from the start.

Looking Ahead: ERP Meets Automation

In Part 5, we’ll dive into how our ERP system acts as the conductor for this symphony—coordinating everything from material inventory to fabrication queue prioritization. 

When blanking aligns with real-time production needs, and welding and bending cells sync with ERP signals, the whole plant runs smarter.