Boxspan Roll Forming Machine Successfully Installed in Australia

A Boxspan roll forming machine has completed installation and commissioning at an Australian customer site. The line turns a steel coil into finished Boxspan steel beams in one continuous flow, and it is now running serial product. Below is what the line contains, how each station works, and what an Australian fabricator gains from local Boxspan production.

Short answer: Believe Industry has completed the installation and commissioning of a Boxspan roll forming machine at an Australian customer site. The line punches, forms, seams, and codes Boxspan steel beams in one continuous flow, with no manual re entry from design to finished beam.

What a Boxspan beam is, and why build it on site

Boxspan is a light structural steel beam made from two cold rolled C sections that are mechanically locked together. The Australian producer Spantec describes Boxspan as a roll formed beam that is 40 to 60 percent lighter than solid steel yet keeps the strength of steel and the workability of timber. Sizes run from 100 by 50 millimetres up to 250 by 50 millimetres, with base metal thickness from 0.6 to 1.0 millimetres, and beams are cut to length up to 12 metres. Builders use them for joists, bearers, rafters, lintels, and roof beams because they will not rot, twist, shrink, or attract termites. A Boxspan roll forming machine is the equipment that forms the two C sections and then seams them into a closed box. You can read the Spantec Boxspan product page for the original beam description, and cold formed steel background on the material class.

The two C channels are the heart of the product. Roll forming makes them fast and to tight tolerance, and seaming turns the pair into a single beam with a double thickness flange and a single thickness web. That is the geometry that puts strength where a floor or roof frame needs it, which is why the roll forming process suits this beam so well.

The full Boxspan production line we installed

The Australian line is a complete single flow system. It starts with an uncoiler and leveler, an upender, and a hydraulic dynamic punching station. It then moves through an adjustable roll forming section, a hydraulic cutting device, an overturn rack, a servo driven push device, and a seaming and dimple machine. An industrial computer with custom software controls the whole line, and an inkjet coder marks every profile. Each station was set up and tested on site before handover.

Dynamic servo driven punching

The hydraulic punching station is the most demanding part of any Boxspan roll forming machine. Our unit punches a full set of hole patterns while the strip moves: GS Hole, HSlot, VSlotP R, VSlotP L, SW Hole, RN Hole, and SV Hole. The punch heads travel sideways on servo driven rails, so the line can punch different patterns for different projects without stopping. Because the tooling follows the moving material, the same coil can yield beams of different lengths one after another. That flexibility is what lets an Australian fabricator serve many job sites from one Boxspan roll forming machine.

The punching accuracy sets the quality of the whole beam. If a hole lands off the flange return, the connection hardware will not seat and the section weakens. We aligned every punch head during commissioning and verified the pattern against the design drawing before the line went to serial production. See our roll forming machine punching guide for how die alignment is set on this class of line.

Adjustable width roll forming

The roll forming section forms a C section from 75 to 400 millimetres wide. Width is changed by mechanical adjustment rather than by swapping cassettes, so an operator can move between narrow and wide profiles quickly. This single station covers the full Boxspan width range, from light 100 by 50 joists to wide 250 by 50 beams. The result is a consistent C profile with tight tolerances, ready to meet into its twin. Quick width change is a recurring theme on our lines, as shown in the automatic size change cable tray machine.

A wider adjustment range also protects the buyer from future scope creep. A fabricator who starts on residential joists can later take on commercial 250 by 50 beams on the same Boxspan roll forming machine, without a second capital purchase.

Overturn rack, servo push, and seaming

After cutting, an overturn rack flips two C sections so they sit one over the other. A servo driven push device then pushes the paired sections into the seaming and dimple machine. The servo drive gives precise stop control, so the push is fast and repeatable, which raises the whole line speed. The seaming and dimple machine locks the two C sections together and dimples them, producing a single closed box beam with higher strength. This is the step that turns two open channels into the Boxspan product builders actually receive. Our seamed box beam roll forming machine and box beam roll forming machine pages cover the same beam family.

The servo push is the quiet productivity win on this line. A faster, better controlled push means the seaming station is never waiting on material, and the line holds its rated speed across the full 1 to 12 metre length range.

Software control and CSV import

The line runs on an industrial PC with custom software. An operator imports a CSV file exported from the design software, and the Boxspan roll forming machine produces each item in the file one by one. Length, hole pattern, and width are taken from the data, so there is no manual re entry and no guessing. After forming, an inkjet coder prints the project name and profile number on every beam, which keeps site sorting simple. The same servo logic that drives our servo electric roll forming lines keeps this line precise.

This is what separates a modern Boxspan roll forming machine from a manual line. The design software already knows every beam on a floor or roof frame. Feeding that list straight into the machine removes transcription error and lets one operator run a full kit.

Why this matters for Australian builders

A local Boxspan roll forming machine shortens lead times and cuts freight. Fabricators can respond to a design change on the same day, produce exact length beams, and reduce site waste. Because the line handles 1 to 12 metre profiles, it serves floors, decks, and roof frames across residential and commercial jobs. Believe Industry has now installed this capability in Australia, joining our installed base of box beam and seaming lines worldwide.

We have shipped custom roll forming lines since 2005. More than 80 engineers, 500 plus projects to 50 plus countries, ISO 9001 and CE certified. Boxspan and box beam lines are part of that record, alongside field installs such as the solar panel mounting frame machine commissioned in the US and the Russian cable tray production line. New to the process? Start with how a roll forming machine works.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a Boxspan roll forming machine?
A: It is a single flow production line that turns a steel coil into finished Boxspan steel beams. It decoils and levels the strip, punches hole patterns on the fly, roll forms a C section, cuts to length, pairs two C sections, and seams them into a closed box beam.

Q: Which hole patterns can the punching station produce?
A: The hydraulic punching station produces GS Hole, HSlot, VSlotP R, VSlotP L, SW Hole, RN Hole, and SV Hole. The punch heads travel sideways on servo rails, so different projects get different patterns without stopping the line.

Q: What beam widths can the line form?
A: The adjustable roll forming section forms a C section from 75 to 400 millimetres wide. That covers the full Boxspan range, from 100 by 50 joists to 250 by 50 beams, with no cassette swap required.

Q: How does the seaming and dimple machine work?
A: An overturn rack flips two C sections together, a servo push feeds them into the seaming machine, and the machine locks the pair and dimples them into one closed box beam. The servo push gives precise, repeatable positioning that keeps line speed high.

Q: Can the line import data from design software?
A: Yes. The operator imports a CSV file exported from the design software, and the Boxspan roll forming machine produces each item one by one. Length, hole pattern, and width come from the data, with no manual entry.

Q: Why install a Boxspan line in Australia?
A: Local production shortens lead times, cuts freight, and lets fabricators respond to design changes the same day. The line serves floors, decks, and roof frames across residential and commercial jobs with exact length beams and less site waste.

Article Changelog

Originally published: May 20, 2025

Last updated: May 20, 2025

Changelog:

• May 20, 2025: First publication. Company news on a Boxspan roll forming machine that completed installation and commissioning at an Australian customer site. Covered the eight unit line configuration, dynamic servo punching of GS, HSlot, VSlotP R or L, SW, RN, SV holes, adjustable 75 to 400 mm width roll forming, overturn rack and servo push, seaming and dimple into a box beam, CSV import from design software, and inkjet coding.

Next Review Triggers: Serial production output figures from the Australian plant, a change to the standard Boxspan hole pattern layout, a standards update affecting Boxspan beam dimensions, or a 20 percent change in search interest for “Boxspan roll forming machine”.