In joinery and moulding manufacture, productivity is increasingly defined by how little time machines spend standing still. Leitz Tooling’s VariPlan ProFix system brings planing and profiling together in a single operation, helping manufacturers reduce set-up times, increasing throughput and cut costs.
With the VariPlan ProFix system, Leitz Tooling is offering a hybrid solution that effectively eliminates the “set-up tax.” By allowing manufacturers to plane and profile simultaneously. The system streamlines complex workflows into a single, low-cost and high-speed operation.
Engineered to Reduce Downtime
The VariPlan ProFix is a favourite of joiners, timber merchants and sawmills across the UK. Designed to streamline planing and profiling processes, this multi-use tool reduces manufacturing costs and cycle times. By combining planing and profiling into one application, the system reduces the number of passes required, doubling throughput for standard moulding applications.
Suitable for both softwood and hardwood, the high-grade solid carbide VariPlan knives offer high quality finishes for solid wood with one pass machining. Heavily reducing rework.
Minimal Set Up Times
The VariPlan system offers more than just downtime reduction. It also features fast profile knife changes, ideal for manufacturers running limited meterage on a single profile or batch producing multiple profile types. Profile knife changes can be completed in under a minute once the tool body has been taken off the machine, with the Leitz Tooling record being just 47 seconds.
Designed with a constant diameter for reduced chatter and tool wear, the VariPlan system benefits from increased precision when machining. The profile also remains constant, ensuring that your finished products are uniform and the perfect fit. This means no adjustment is required to the machine after tool changes and the system offers a higher runout accuracy than most planing systems.
VariPlan Enables Lower Costs
Engineered for improved tool economy and sustainability, VariPlan planing knives achieve up to 50% lower cutting material costs compared to standard grindable tooling and knives, thanks to a 1mm resharpening area. The VariPlan planing knives can be sharpened 3 times and have 8 times longer tool life compared to traditional one-way knife systems. Without the loss of diameter. The Profix Profile knives, can be sharpened up to 30 – 40 times, again without the loss of profile and diameter.
Power consumption is often overlooked by machinists. As power costs rise, it’s more important than ever to maximise machine efficiency. Featuring a lightweight aluminium tool body, the VariPlan ProFix reduces power consumption when machining compared to heavier steel alloy tools. This results in reduced electricity costs when machining. Leitz cutter head systems feature a lightweight tool body, and our tool designs are aerodynamic to ensure minimal power consumption and to assist chip extraction.
Don’t Take Our Word for It
Charles Yorke is a manufacturer of premium high-quality furniture. Aaron Benford, Production Manager comments on the impact that VariPlan Profix has had on their business operations thanks to reduced downtime. “Leitz’s VariPlan ProFix system is saving us approximately £30,000 a year in labour, hours, and downtime for an investment of less than a third of that saving.”
Charles Yorke hasn’t just benefited from the system’s cost efficiency, its downtime reduction has also played a major role in increased productivity at the Charles Yorke factory. Aaron discusses the impact on downtime “With the Variplan ProFix, there is no more measuring tool diameters or adjusting machine heights. It’s straight off, straight on. We’ve gone from a 20-minute setup time down to just a few minutes, allowing us to keep the machines running and the product moving”.
The VariPlan ProFix is a valuable addition to any manufacturer’s tooling line-up. Suitable for multiple applications and engineered to work on hardwood, softwood and thermoplastics; the system offers major flexibility. Ideal for all conventional planing machines ad 4-sided moulders, the system is available with high seed steel or tungsten carbide knives.
Regardless of your business, this system supports joiners, timber merchants, mouldings manufacturers and sawmills across the United Kingdom to increase margins and cut costs.
Contact Leitz Tooling UK Ltd to learn more about this unique tooling solution. Product Categories
