PRECISION ENGINEERING
THE RIGHT FINISH
Van Geenen B . V . Metaalfinishing is unlocking new business opportunities , with its heightened grinding capability for polished sheet and tube products .
Nico van Geenen ( right ) and Bart van Geenen with their Timesavers 81 series machine .
“ Van Geenen has made a significant new investment in the Timesavers 81 series grinding machine .”
The recent arrival of an 81 series wide belt precision grinding machine at metal polishing and finishing specialist , Van Geenen B . V . Metaalfinishing , has had an immediate impact . Through improved capacity , productivity and overall capability , the Rijssen-based company in The Netherlands is unlocking new business opportunities .
The business began in 1977 when Arnold van Geenen and his sons Nico and Gerrit joined forces to provide a hand polishing service - the founders had to sell their cars to buy the vital tools required to get started . Under the guidance of Nico ’ s son , Bart van Geenen , the company now operates from 5000m 2 premises , housing the latest polishing and grinding technology . The most recent arrival is its new investment in the Timesavers 81 series grinding machine .
From those early days , the company began to specialise ( particularly in stainless steel and other exotic materials ). The emphasis is firmly on producing sheet and tube material to the highest quality in terms of surface finish ( right up to Mirror 8 grade ) with greater efficiency and consistent technical
We are always looking to improve efficiency and our investment in automation has boosted productivity
product quality . Today , it grinds , brushes and high-gloss polishes a variety of materials ( sheet , strip and tube ) with any surface finish required . Its machinery can process sheet – cold-rolled as well as hot-rolled – to any specified finish . It can also grind to a particular thickness or to an Ra-value as well as polish to a high gloss of Mirror 8 standard .
New opportunities
“ Hand polishing remains a critical part of our business , but automation has been central to our development since our first investment in a Timesavers machine back in 1984 . We are always looking to improve efficiency and our investment in automation has boosted productivity ,” said Van
Geenen managing director , Bart van Geenen . “ As such , our partnership with Timesavers continues with this major investment in the 81 series machine , an investment driven both by the heart ( with my father ’ s desire for manufacturing technology ) and head ( I am focused on the commercial potential ).”
Van Geenen prides itself on the quality of its work and the strength of its relationships with customers . This combination has unlocked new business opportunities for its polished sheet and tube products across markets including architectural , tanks and food processing .
“ We have always had the ability to do things that our competitors cannot do and , to continue that , we recognized that it was time to move into precision grinding ,” it told ISMR .
The scale of the 81 series will also futureproof production at Van Geenen . At an overall length of 24 metres , the machine has a capacity to grind sheet or plate from 0.15mm up to 100mm ; with stock removal rates of up to 0.2mm / pass achievable with a table size of 2.1m x 8.5m to an accuracy of +/ - 0.02mm and 0.3Ra .
The 81 series is already delivering significant time savings for van Geenen ,
The Timesavers 81 series grinding machine can reduce process times by eliminating other machining processes .
28 | sheetmetalplus . com | ISMR June 2021