| News Archive |
| 30.06.2009 | Individualised production of doors |
| In European companies within the foods and pharmaceuticals sectors, the doors and gates made by Cool It Isoliersysteme GmbH are considered the perfect closure mechanism for cooling and storage areas. This company based in Melle (Lower Saxony, Germany) owes its good reputation as a premium manufacturer to its innovative door and gate systems for these sensitive areas – and to its capacity to produce these components on an individual basis, in accordance with each order. "For us, the ability to produce custom doors and gates in a consistently high quality and always in compliance with customer deadlines is a decisive competitive advantage. Therefore, already at a very early stage, we have categorised the consistent IT-aided production controls and the processing centres as key technologies for the future development of our production," as Frank Maiwald (Technical Director at Cool-It) explains. However: After we took a closer look at solutions from many other manufacturers, we determined them to be too rigid and inflexible for small batch sizes and pilot series. Then, in early 2008, new perspectives emerged: Employees at Hans Schröder Maschinenbau GmbH (whose pivoting bending machines have been in use at Cool It for a long time now) presented their own ideas for a pivoting bending machine featuring an automatic tool changer. By way of a modular configuration of this solution, the sheet-metal-bending experts from the Upper Bavarian town of Wessobrunn also seek to allow small-scale and medium-scale producers to get their start in applying the technology of computer-controlled processing centres. A pivoting bending machine (a product in the Servo Power Bend Series) made by this innovative mechanical-engineering firm should serve as the basic module at Cool It; this machine can bend steel sheets with widths of up to 3,200 mm and a material thickness of up to 3.0 mm and/or 2.0 mm V2A steel in both directions – in a single work process! The Schröder POS 3000 controls regulate the retrieval of the programs for the bending profiles. Here, with its own software experts, the company Schröder Maschinenbau has in the course of several years engineered a quite high-performance and well-tested control device, which has also prevailed in practical application. Bending programs can be generated on the machine itself, on external computers or by their acceptance from the customers' CAD/CAM programs. A notable advantage of the software is the modern and concise 3-D visualisation of the workpiece and the machine. With the exact real-time simulation of the programmed work processes – and due to plausibility verifications to facilitate collision avoidance – processing errors and damage to machines are effectively avoided. Yet the decision-makers at Cool It have set their sights even higher: "In order to also utilise the possibilities in the production of doors in the very-small-scale production batches which are typical to our production, we have further enhanced the tool changer (in co-operation with Schröder). Due to this unusually close and trust-based co-operation with Schröder as a machine supplier, we were able to perfectly adapt the specifications of the sheet-metal-bending workstation to our requirements," as Frank Maiwald recalls. In late 2008, the manufacturer Schröder then installed the modified Servo Power Bend pivoting bending machine at Cool It – equipped with a fully-automated high-speed tool changer for the upper-string-board tools in the pivoting bending machine. Due to two asynchronously-operating change portals, each with two grip units, up to four tools can be removed from the changer magazine. The portals are powered by wear-free, high-precision linear motors and, with a speed of 7 m/sec, guarantee the fastest-possible tool changing. According to Frank Maiwald, the results speak for themselves: “Thanks to the tool changer, we can now cover the entire portfolio without additional tooling and auxiliary-process intervals. In the medium term, that makes our production even more flexible, because we no longer have to plan to accommodate certain equipment assemblies or batch sizes. In the process, we save the time required for manual changing, shorten the cycle intervals – and with that, increase process reliability”. A further adaptation took place on the control-software level. Here, the Schröder software engineers created a direct interface to the Cool It ERP system. The effect of this measure: the individual orders and the order frequency are now transferred via paperless transmission (via software) to the pivoting bending machine; already in the work-preparation stage the sheet-metal processing function is perfectly synchronised with all of the previous and subsequent processing steps. Then, in the POS 3000 controls, the associated bending programs are retrieved and executed by the machine – this means that manual procedures are no longer necessary to the production controls. The obsolescence of tooling and equipment intervals, along with the centrally-synchronised production, facilitate further minimisation of cycle intervals; the incidence of operation errors is minimised, and the overall productivity level for door production increases. Currently, the installation and the production processes are undergoing further enhancement. The changes in work and planning processes should further increase the positive effects on productivity. "Yet at least likewise important to us is the improvement in reproducibility and quality associated with automation. Our customers and the companies performing the installation will directly benefit from these innovations in the course of installing our doors and gates," as the Cool It manager sums up the advantages of this innovation. | |
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| 08.10.2008 | Press Release EuroBLECH 2008 |
| The innovative Schröder IB Power Speed Center is based on the universal fold-ing machines of Schröder’s IntelliBend-Series with their rotating upper beam and Up’n Down technology for highly efficient bending in both directions in a single operation. By adding additional modules, the standalone machines can be expanded into fully automated folding centers for sheet widths of up to 5,000 mm and material thicknesses of up to 6.0 mm. The automated loading and unloading procedure can be executed via robots or gantry systems. A manipu-lator makes sure that the parts are fed and moved with maximum accuracy dur-ing processing. To be ready for the high automation requirements of varying lot sizes, the IB Power Speed Center has a fully automatic high-speed tool changer that moves with a speed of 7 meters per second. Controller with 3D visualization and simulation ensures quality The programs needed for the individual bending profiles are provided by the Schröder POS 3000 Controller. Programs can be created at the station itself, on external computers or via CAD/CAM programs. Data transfers, updates and service can be handled via remote access and remote maintenance. The state-of-the-art software helps machine operators perform programming and control operations with clear 3D visualizations of the machine and the work pieces. By simulating the programmed work steps and performing plausibility checks down to the last detail, operators can not only prevent processing errors and damages, but drastically reduce the need for expensive test runs and null-series. Special corrective sensor technology ensures maximum precision and repeat accuracy. The IB Power Speed Center lets you meet the highest quality requirements in applications as diverse as the manufacture of control and switching systems, building cladding, industrial kitchen equipment, steel doors and airplane parts with a high degree of efficiency and flexibility. First reference customers realized productivity jumps of 70 to 80 percent with the new folding center. In addition, the modular structure of the Schröder folding center features high investment protection and the ability to automate and increase the production step-by-step as demand rises. EVOLUTION signals steady advances Existing machine types also benefit from the many innovations emerging from Schröder’s development department. The EVOLUTION name suffix identifies the new, heavily improved model series. For example, the FP60 EVOLUTION folding machine for sheets up to 3,040 mm wide and 6.0 mm thick is now being offered with a tool pusher for the fully automatic rotating beam. The tools are moved hydraulically and without manual interference within the flange in order to provide the space needed for upturn folds. With this system, complex bending profiles can be produced in a single, uninterrupted process and thus a lot faster. Kickdown without complex hydraulics Other innovation in the EVOLUTION series, depending on the machine type, include a standard increase of clamping beam stroke from 650 mm to 800 mm for more flexibility and a new "kickdown” system. The newly developed Schröder kickdown system does not require any expensive special hydraulic systems. Instead, it manages to build up the necessary pressure with the hy-draulics that are already in the machine. The result: "leaner” machine concepts with significantly lower operating and maintenance costs. Visitors of the EuroBLECH 2008 can check out the quality and multiple applica-tions of Schröder machines for themselves in live demonstrations and personal meetings. For more information, go to www.schroeder-maschinenbau.de. | |
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