Vertically integrated façade panel production with Ranger CNC, Loader and Alu Bender for Lockheed

Lockheed Architectural Solutions, Inc., based in Pascoag, Rhode Island, is a family-owned business founded around 70 years ago by the current president’s grandparents. Starting out in the window business, it has evolved into a full-service commercial glazing and façade contractor, specialising in the Division 08 fenestration industry. With around 115 people, Lockheed serves K-12 and higher education, hospitality, housing, detention and federal government projects, primarily across the Northeast of the United States.

Until eight years ago, the company relied on outsourced suppliers to fabricate its ACM façade panels. This is especially challenging in the construction industry, where much of the work has to be verified and adjusted directly in the field, while the building is going up: relying on third parties meant timelines that didn’t fit the schedule, and less control over the result.

The main objectives were clear:

1. bring façade panel fabrication in-house, to control measuring, engineering, programming and production
2. become a single, vertically integrated provider, able to offer clients both the fenestration and the façade with one point of contact
3. enter a new market — façades — integrating it with the company’s historic window business

To achieve these goals, Lockheed chose the Ranger CNC Work Center with the Loader and, more recently, the Alu Bender. The initial challenge was learning to master a technology that was then new to the company and to the industry; with constant support from Muratori Machines, Lockheed now has streamlined processes and knows exactly how much surface it can produce in a single shift.

The benefits have been concrete and measurable. Productivity has doubled or tripled compared to previous methods. The Loader allows the line to be run by a single operator, from loading to grooving, cutting and offloading. The vertical worktable significantly reduces the floor footprint — a valuable factor in manufacturing — and lets the operator apply barcodes and labels to the back of the panels before they are even folded into cassettes.

The Alu Bender has further expanded the company’s capabilities: beyond ACM, Lockheed successfully processes HPL high-performance laminates and fiber cement, using edge sealing with a bath and wheel for fiber cement products that require it — an operation previously done by hand. Thanks to these technologies, the company has been able to take on projects that others, lacking the right equipment, had to decline.

The collaboration with Muratori Machines highlighted the value of build quality, technology and a service with a direct presence in the United States: elements that help Lockheed set itself apart from the competition and build a solid, lasting partnership.