Your Guide to Rollforming & Folding Innovation
The conversations I’m having on site have shifted this year. Where buyers used to lead with price, more are now asking how a machine will lift their output and keep their people safe. A tighter market has sharpened that thinking, and it’s the right instinct: the manufacturers pulling ahead are the ones treating automation, safety and quality as one decision rather than three.
That is the lens for this edition. Two machines built on exactly those grounds, the Thalmann TD folder and CIDAN’s STACKMASTER sheet storage, both made to take the heavy and repetitive handling off your people while lifting throughput. We finish on structural decking, one of the few segments still short on capacity.
Thalmann TD: Speed Without the Safety Trade-off
Folding is one of those jobs where speed and safety usually pull against each other. Run an automatic folder hard and you have to think about where your operators are standing. The Thalmann TD is built so you do not have to choose.
Safety is built into the frame. Three laser scanners cover the front, left and right floor areas, with a fourth mounted up top. That zone is wide enough to do away with the old two-operator requirement in automatic mode, so the machine runs at full speed with one person and a clear envelope around it.
On the automation side, the TD takes manual handling out of the cycle. Bi-directional folding beams make up and down folds in a single pass, so parts are not turned by hand. In full auto it averages around 10 seconds per three folds and 13 seconds per flip, every part, every shift. An integrated flipping device turns parts between bends, a multi-head side loader feeds up to four strips at once, and vacuum grippers and a fast loader deal with the awkward small flanges and strips that usually need a second pair of hands.
Underneath, five torsion shafts under pulse-encoder control keep every fold parallel to within plus or minus 0.5 degrees. Working lengths run from 3.2m to 12.2m, with capacity up to 2.5mm steel depending on model, and the 21.5 inch touchscreen pulls jobs straight from nuIT or a DXF file.
STACKMASTER: Stop Lifting Sheet by Hand
Floor space is something often in short supply. CIDAN’s STACKMASTER is a vertical storage tower that manages your sheet storage vertically, whilst also keeping track of how much you have on hand.
It holds cut-to-length sheet and punched or laser-cut blanks in automated trays, and delivers the one you need on command. Each shelf takes up to 2000kg, it handles plate up to 1500mm x 3200mm, and it comes in 10, 15 or 20 shelf builds. The DUO version loads from both sides for a tighter layout or to feed two processes. The control system tracks the format, grade and colour in every tray, so nobody is hunting through stacks or pulling the wrong sheet.
It also reduces forkhoist traffic, creating safer workspaces, and can also be interfaced with a machine loading robot that takes the sheets directly from the stacks, into your bending equipment.
Structural Decking: The Segment Still Short on Capacity
If you are weighing up where to invest next, this might be one place to look. Rather than race to the bottom against all the other suppliers on Corrugate and Trim roofing, where the margin gets thin fast, the considered move might be into work fewer people are doing. Structural decking.
Composite or Steel floor decking does two jobs at once on a build. It is the permanent formwork the concrete is poured onto, and it is the tensile reinforcement that stays in the slab. High-density housing and apartment work are pulling demand up, and the field is far less crowded than cladding, because the initial entry cost is high — but so can be the returns.
This is heavy-gauge work, and the lines that make it have to be built and supported to match. Our rollforming partner Tandarra has been engineering structural decking solutions for many years, with customers across New Zealand, Australia, North America & Europe. If you are looking for a high value differentiator for 2027, this might be one worth considering.
Preowned Machines Available Now
Looking to expand capacity without the lead time and cost of new equipment? We’ve sourced quality second-hand folders that are currently still in operation, but now surplus to requirements and ready for a new owner.
What’s Available:
✓ Thalmann TZ (2019) – Single Folder, 6.4m, Premium Swiss engineering
✓ Hayes (2008) – Single Folder, 8.2m, Proven workhorse
✓ SWI Simplex (2012), CTL and Uncoiler – Single folder, full flashing solution
Why buy through us?
1. Technical inspection by qualified service technicians
2. Full transparency on machine condition and history
3. Ongoing parts (Thalmann) and service support available
4. Fast delivery compared to new equipment lead times
* All equipment may be subject to location embargos (owners won’t sell to the guy down the road)
Planning your 2027 equipment strategy? We are here to help you make informed decisions around capacity, capability, and efficiency.
Book a call with Lance
Email directly: solutions@totalrollforming.com
Maintenance Tip: Read the Cut Edge Before It Costs You a Profile
On any rollformer with a guillotine shear, the cut is an early warning indicator. Light burring or a rolled edge at the cut is usually the first sign the blades would benefit from a sharpen, or at the very least — a gapping check.
Left to run, worn blades stop cutting cleanly and start distorting the profile. They can also leave sharp spikes that can cut your operators or customers when handling the sheet.
Check the top and bottom blade edges on a set interval, and plan a regrind or replacement early, before the burring sets in. A sharp blade protects the product and the people handling it.
Ask us about a blade and shear check.
