ISMR February 2022 | Page 31

FOCUS ON COIL PROCESSING

“ The new line produces thin strip with material thicknesses of between 0.1 to 2mm at a speed of up to 50m / minute .”
Grillo-Werke uses the new slitting line to produce high-precision , customised zinc-based special strip .

PRECISION STRIP FABRICATION

Grillo-Werke commissioned a precision slitting line for highquality special zinc strip from Burghardt + Schmidt GmbH .

Zinc is a versatile metal from which Grillo- Werke AG in Germany manufactures a range of products , including customised special strip . The strip is used , for example , for organ pipes ; fuses for special vehicles ; in textiles and fashion ; in construction and in the automotive sector . A new precision slitting line from Burghardt + Schmidt GmbH plays a central role in the production of high-precision zinc-based strip .

Grillo-Werke ’ s metal division
Wilhelm Grillo . covers the entire value chain from zinc production to the production of finished and semi-finished products made of zinc and its alloys . The company operates a foundry and a rolling mill to produce customised zinc alloys .
Wilhelm Grillo was one of the founding fathers of industry in Germany ’ s Ruhr region . A man of enormous energy , visionary thinking and social involvement , he started an impressive business development programme in 1842 when he was just 23 . A hardware store in Mülheim an der Ruhr was followed by a zinc rolling mill in Duisburg-Neumühl in 1849 . A few years later – in 1855 – he founded the first production plants for zinc oxide in Oberhausen , alongside two rolling mills and a gas production plant .
From 1881 , the crude zinc needed by the plants in Oberhausen was produced in a proprietary smelting plant in Duisburg-Hamborn ( Germany ). Liquid sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid were by-products of this process . Today , Grillo-Werke ’ s headquarters are in Duisburg- Hamborn and its CEO is Ulrich Grillo .
Precision strip production
“ Generally , the customer does not prescribe the alloy but specifies parameters such as strength , deep-drawing capabilities and other deformation properties . We then check which zinc alloy best meets the requirements and produce it ourselves in our factory ,” explained Dr . Peter Staubwasser , production manager in the Metal Division of Grillo-Werke AG .
In the metal strip sector , the focus is on order-specific strip , sometimes in small batches . The company manufactures its own coils for production .
Bernd Kasprowicz , responsible for the distribution of zinc strip , explained : “ For us , 50kg batches are common ; sometimes batch sizes of 500kg or 1000kg are ordered . We therefore need a flexible machine park that
ISMR February 2022 | sheetmetalplus . com | 31