Your Guide to Rollforming & Folding Innovation
Hard to believe we are almost through February. After a slow January on both sides of the Tasman, we are seeing that volumes are starting to pick up across many of our customers.
We have also been very busy with six new machine installs completed, the staged launch of our TOTAL Reliability platform to our Preventative Maintenance customers and another successful nuIT integration under our belt.
This edition covers CIDAN’s latest offering, the OnRoll standing seam rollformer, our first installs of the year across Australia and New Zealand, and what we are doing to better connect your facilities.
In our last edition we said the signals across Australia and New Zealand were consistent: infrastructure pipelines strengthening, activity building. In a recent survey of our customers, 40% said they’re now in active growth mode and looking to acquire additional plant.
If you’re looking to replace existing equipment, or add new product lines – we’d love to discuss your plans to see whether we can add value.
CIDAN OnRoll, Factory Floor to Jobsite
Flat panel profiles are notorious for requiring a lot of packaging (cost) or getting damaged in transit. And with numerous flat profiles (Nail Strip, Board and Batten, Flush etc) now gaining in popularity – having a single machine solution provides versatility at a reasonably low investment.
OnRoll is CIDAN’s newest Standing Seam rollformer to hit the market. Engineered in Sweden, it runs at 28 metres per minute on a centre-driven pinch roller system with precision-ground shafts, pulling material evenly across the full width and eliminating side-loading on long panel runs. Width adjusts symmetrically via a quick-lock handle and linear rails that keep rollers parallel throughout. Material thickness is set on a single dial. No feeler gauges, no recalibration.
Available as a factory based or trailer mounted (trailer not currently included) OnRoll provides single phase, three phase and even petrol powered drive solutions. The latter being perfect for onsite manufacturing. The Roll-Link touchscreen is 10.1″ and IP66-rated, built to run in wind and rain, with an onboard coil calculator, rotary encoder for accurate panel measurement, and USB job-list import. Two 1300kg decoilers come standard, each with tension locks to prevent overspin.
Stainless steel tooling carries a 5-year warranty. Profile changeovers are quick change with dowel-pinned placement on the tool rail. A limit switch prevents the machine from advancing until the cut panel is cleared. Dual-hand shear engagement keeps operators away from the blade.
Popular? The CIDAN US team mounted an OnRoll on a double axle trailer and drove it across the southern United States. From all accounts the feedback was extremely popular, backed up by the team securing numerous orders from those that saw it.
Install Update
A busy start to the year with the first six installs across Australia and New Zealand.
CIDAN Evo Duo, New South Wales First machine out the door this year went to a well equipped independent manufacturer in regional NSW. Replacing an old shear, the Evo Duo cuts up to 28 times per minute with a pneumatic hold-down beam sitting less than 35mm from the cutting line, NC controlled motorised backgauge, and front side delivery wagon (delivery to rear also available).
Tandarra Mini Corrugate, New South Wales Mini corrugate is one of the harder profiles to get right. Tandarra Engineering custom-built this line for an Australian customer, their third Tandarra line in the past few years. Customer self installed and after a few tweaks they are very happy with the machine and more importantly the profiles it produces.
CIDAN FX32, Auckland After seeing the FX32 in person and running some profiles at the AMW show in Melbourne last year, our customer who has previously bought a Cidan Evo Duo shear from us decided they had to add this versatile Combi Beam machine to their business. With folding capacity of 2mm mild steel, and 1.2mm stainless this machine has slotted in nicely to their production facility. The verdict: “Machine’s great, I don’t know how we ever lived without it.”
CIDAN MFB, Auckland Since there was available space in the FX32 container, the customer thought throwing a manual MFB 1250mm folder with sectional tooling made commercial sense.
Offering a foot activated clamping system, single touch removable tooling for those multisided parts and wheels that allow it to move to where the work is – the MFB is a great addition to their business.
Tandarra PanelRib, New South Wales After installing a 700mm conceal fix rollformer to this customer during 2025, it was time to add another Tandarra built machine – PanelRib.
This flat cladding profile adds another product line to their Sydney business. The profiles have been shown to potential customers and we hear the feedback has been very positive.
CIDAN FX32, Queensland After operating a FX32 in their Brisbane branch for a couple of years, the decision to add one to their custom sheetmetal shop in the Gold Coast was a pretty easy decision. The versatility of this machine can’t be underestimated. The user interface is very intuitive and after just an hour of me demonstrating the control functions, the team were into folding some 4-sided, 1.2mm stainless trays that had previously been done manually on a Magnabend. The time saving was instant, and as I left the team they looked excited to see what else the FX could do!
Software Systems
The manufacturers we see running the most efficiently (read: profitably) aren’t just running better machines. They’re running better systems. Here’s two new solutions we are offering to help with that.
TOTAL Reliability: Rolling out to Preventative Maintenance Customers
TOTAL Reliability is something the team and I have been working on for some time. A custom-built platform that captures your Maintenance Data, summarises non-compliance, and provides estimates for repair so that issues are addressed – all in one digital location.
Service history, Oil Test results, electrical drawings, and manuals etc can also be stored for each machine at your site in one easy to reach, and easy to find place.
On-machine QR codes allow operators to log issues directly into the system meaning our service team (or yours) are aware of what’s been going on with your machine before we arrive, and your Ops managers don’t need to remember what that niggle was the machine operator mentioned a few weeks ago.
Rolling out initially to our Preventative Maintenance customers across New Zealand, we are also offering it as a fully equipped Maintenance Tool for customers that wish to do their own maintenance, or have a preferred local contractor(s). Available either with our pre-populated maintenance sheets for all your production equipment, or if you have specific forms you would like used – we can customise accordingly.
Get in touch, we would love to give you a demo.
nuEVOLUTION: Another Successful Integration
Our nuIT online flashings management tool just got smarter, and more efficient as we rolled out the Xero accounting integration to one of our NZ customers. This customer has the platform fully integrated into the business, allowing their customers to draw and order flashings via their website. The webshop feature also allows them to supply screws, mesh and even touch up paint online, complete with pricing. The orders are then scheduled by the back office before being sent out to their production machines for manufacture.
Once completed – they can now update the order status and the job data is sent automatically to Xero where the invoice can be generated and sent to the customer. A huge time saving, and big step forward toward the paperless production environment.
Planning your 2027 equipment strategy? We’re here to help you make informed decisions that expand your product offering or improve efficiency (bottom line).
Book a call with Lance
Email directly: solutions@totalrollforming.com
Maintenance Tip: The 60 second Level guillotine check
Do this daily to prevent guillotine failure
Watch the Blade: Cycle the shear and keep a close eye on the blade to make sure its lowering and raising completely parallel. If one side moves higher or lower than the other, its likely your hydraulics need looking at.
The Prognosis: Hopefully its just seals that have worn after all the cutting your guillo has been doing, but it could be some more sinister – likely dirty oil that might need to be replaced.
The Solution: Oil testing at regular intervals (we suggest 6 monthly) using a service that provides test on test comparisons is the best way to ensure your oil quality isn’t going to cause system problems.
