Under Pressure

How Holloway Co. Achieves 5-Day Lead Times for Heavy-Duty Vessels and Structural Rolling

How reliable Davi plate rolling enhances Holloway's manufacturing operations

Story overview

Holloway Company Inc. leads the way as an industry leader in structural forming. We’ve built a solid reputation for integrity and reliability. We approach business with our customers’ needs in mind offering the best quality products and services available.

Website

https://www.hollowaycompanyinc.com/

Location

United States

Industry

Jobshop & Metal Structures

Preventing Structural Deformation Across Diverse Thicknesses

To remain a market leader, Holloway Co. must roll steel plates ranging from 17 gauge up to 3 in. (76.2 mm) thick. The primary technical challenge lies in preventing structural size changes, wrinkling, or deforming during the rolling or bending process—particularly when executing tight radii on thick materials. Because materials and thicknesses vary from job to job, Holloway Co. needed versatile plate and section rolling equipment that could deliver predictable, repeatable results without relying on time-consuming trial-and-error runs or forcing the operator to constantly remove parts for external quality checks.

The Solution

A Fleet of High-Precision 4-Roll and Angle Bending Machines

Holloway Co. resolved these production challenges by building a dedicated fleet of Davi plate rolls and angle rolling machines to handle different plate thicknesses and geometries:

Thin Gauge Precision: The Davi MCA 4-roll plate roll manages thin-gauge materials up to 6 ft. (1.83 m) wide and 0.250 in. (6.35 mm) thick.
Mid-Range Tank Production: The Davi MCB 4-roll machine rolls plates from 10 ft. (3.05 m) wide and 0.250 in. (6.35 mm) to 0.750 in. (19.05 mm) thick, primarily producing the shop's 6-ft. (1.83 m) and 8-ft. (2.44 m) tank lines.
Heavy-Duty Capacity: A heavy-duty Davi plate roll bends plate up to 1.625 in. (41.28 mm) thick, while another Davi machine processes 10-ft.-wide (3.05 m), 2-in.-thick (50.8 mm) plates, achieving tight inside diameters down to 36 in. (914.4 mm).
Structural Section Rolling: To expand beyond plates, the company integrated Davi MCP angle rolls. These three-roll double-pinch section bending machines feature three independent motorized rolls to safely bend square and rectangular tubes, channels, T-beams, and wide flange beams without slippage.

In the Davi 4-roll design, the bottom roll clamps the plate, guaranteeing absolute control over its positioning throughout the rolling cycle. The side rolls, driven by Davi's unique planetary guides technology, deliver high bending force closer to the pinch point, which allows Holloway Co. to form the tightest possible diameters with minimal flat ends.

The Results

Minimized Cycle Times

Advanced Davi technology allows operators to measure parts directly on the machine without removing them. This shortens inspection times, keeps the material in the machine, and reduces overall lead times.

Environmental Resilience

Even in extreme Texas summer heat, the Davi machines maintain consistent electronic and hydraulic accuracy, preventing the thermal deviations common in less robust equipment.

Reliable Long-Term Support

Backed by Davi's dedicated 24/5 technical service and immediate parts availability, Holloway Co. maintains high manufacturing continuity, overcoming the lack of support that previously caused costly bottlenecks on other brands' machinery.

In high-mix B2B fabrication, maintaining tight lead times without compromising dimensional accuracy is a major operational bottleneck. For Saginaw, Texas-based Holloway Co., handling massive, complex parts is a daily reality. The shop regularly manufactures heavy-duty vessels up to 13 ft. (3.96 m) in diameter, 80 ft. (24.38 m) in length, and with weight capacities of up to 60,000 lbs (27.2 metric tons).

Serving sectors from aerospace and architectural to storage and agriculture, Holloway Co. frequently fabricates demanding ASME-code pressure vessels, partial data cylinders, and atmospheric tanks. Turning custom structural jobs around in just 7 to 10 days, and custom bending projects in 5 to 10 days, requires fabrication technology that eliminates scrap, prevents machine downtime, and maintains mechanical accuracy under extreme conditions.

The capabilities of Davi machines were proven when Holloway Co. manufactured one of its largest custom silos to date. Utilizing their Davi plate roll, which handles plate thicknesses up to 1.625 in. (41.28 mm), the shop rolled, cut, fabricated, and welded a massive 60-ft.-long (18.29 m) silo with a 15-ft. (4.57 m) diameter entirely in-house, delivering a flawless heavy-industrial asset to their customer on schedule.