Clearview National August 2017 - Issue 189 | Page 100

MACHINERY
A perfect ‘FIT’
for Stuga
Steve Haines explains how the
FIT Show proved the perfect
platform for Stuga’s ZX5.
» » THE ZX4 SAWING &
machining center has been the
mainstay workhorse for many
leading uPVC window and door
fabricators for the last 12 years
during which time each significant
change, improvement, or upgrade
has been acknowledged with a
small designation change i.e.
MK1 through to, currently, MK6.
The latest version was going to
be the ZX4-MK7 but with a step
change in one or two key areas
of the operational technology of
this version Stuga decided it was
the right time for a name change,
hence the ZX5 name and product
were launched simultaneously.
The FIT Show 2017 at the NEC
gave Stuga the first opportunity
for many years to be able to
demonstrate a full size sawing
& machining center which was
perfect for the launch of the Stuga
ZX5.
The ZX5 is still in the
designated output range of 800
to 1,000 or more windows per
week but enhancements have been
introduced to further improve
performance, usability and
reliability. Stuga constantly listen
to their customers and strive to
learn from them so improvements
are made whenever technically
possible in order to create a better
experience with every new release.
The ZX5 has a CNC drive on
the rotation of the main sawing
unit making the machine quieter
and ultimately more reliable as
a result. It also makes it slightly
quicker. Constant changes in
profiles are making them harder
to grip so Stuga has developed the
‘Tru-Loc’ gripper system which
‘in-depth
questions were
addressed
with in-depth
answers’
not only grips more easily but also
more accurately. The ‘V’ notching
unit has been changed to improve
performance and reliability and
the ‘Y-drive’ saw function has
been untilised following its very
successful introduction on the
Stuga AutoFlow-2. The ‘Y-drive’
is a unique way to produce
‘Y’ notches simply, quickly
and accurately and as with all
Stugas notches are automatically
produced on both sides of any
profile, a feature frustratingly
lacking from some other sawing
& machining centers. With
some of these machines potential
customers later discover they need
to put notches through a manual
‘V’ notch saw but these reverse
sided notches do occur quite
often. Fabricators need notching
on both sides of profiles for ‘V’
or ‘Y’ notches and shouldn’t be
dissuaded from this key point by
being told it doesn’t occur often,
because it does.
A bonus factor for Stuga at
the FIT Show was that many
fabricators were also exhibiting
and found it easy to wander
across to the Stuga stand to see
the ZX5 running in demo mode.
Some were established Stuga
customers considering adding to
100 » AUG 2017 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
or upgrading their equipment
whereas some were new to Stuga
and looking at the company’s
products for the first time. All
visitors appeared to really like the
ZX5 and were pleased to have the
chance to run through the many
features with the experienced
Stuga technical team. In-depth
questions were addressed with
in-depth answers and follow-up
meetings have since been made or
arranged.
BRITISH BUILD
AND BACK UP
Stuga also benefitted from
the fact that the company
manufactures in the UK and has
design, build and back-up here.
This is already a great benefit to
customers and some expressed
concerns regarding supply of
parts from the continent after
Brexit, something that doesn’t
directly affect Stuga customers
as the company purchases all
components in this country. If
machines or components for
machines come from a country
outside the United Kingdom
then surely this is a risk right
now that will inevitably increase
over the next two to three years.
It was good to again be able to
reassure current and potential
customers regarding this ongoing
concern and the fact that Stuga
customers have peace of mind.
All Stuga parts are resourced by
Stuga in the United Kingdom
and the company doesn’t use
special components only available
from Stuga. Even engineered
components can be manufactured
by most engineering companies.
FIT Show visitors were also
quite interested to see the onboard
camera system working which
is so helpful when it comes to
analyzing intermittent faults
that may occasionally occur.
These full HD cameras also
have microphones so that Stuga
technicians can listen to machines
as well as watch. An educated ear
is often as useful as an educated
eye when machinery is running.
Some fabricators work shifts
outside of the working hours for
Stuga Service and if a fault occurs
during one of these periods’
cameras can be set to record
events which can be reviewed by
technicians once the service desk
is open.
The latest Stuga software
was very interesting to current
customers and potential
customers alike with live views
of the bars and operations
progressing through the machine
plus management data to show
efficiency and output figures.
All in all the FIT Show 2017
was a very positive experience for
Stuga and two large orders have
already been achieved on the back
of the show with hopefully more
to come.