FOCUS ON SURFACE FINISHING
Automated deburring process ; the EasyBot ® handles the parts .
About Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel GmbH
Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel GmbH , as a stockholding trading company with decentralised structures , maintains a presence throughout the entire market with warehouses and sales locations , in keeping with its motto ‘ Systems . Service . Steel .’ In addition to a comprehensive range of steel products , rolled steel , tube products and tube accessories in all dimensions and grades , the company ’ s technology in warehouses enables most forms of processing for final assembly .
“ The EdgeBreaker ® 4000 and the FlatMaster ® 140 met our expectations . They enable us to process different sheet metals reliably and with high quality ,” said Götze .
The production site in Zeithain manufactures parts of various thicknesses and lengths . Most of these are up to 40mm thick , with dimensions of up to 300 x 500mm . This is fine for ARKU ’ s machines : using its oscillating grinding drum , the EdgeBreaker ® deburrs and rounds even thick sheets on both sides in a single pass . The machine also handles stubborn burrs and slag produced by flame and plasma cutters .
“ When it comes to levelling , the FlatMaster ® 140 roller leveller processes materials of up to 60mm thick and 2000mm wide which run through multiple rollers in the machine . This creates alternating bending movements that reshape uneven areas . The process levels flame-cut parts and eliminates internal stresses within seconds . Subsequent processes ( such as welding , bending or chamfering ) all benefit from the condition of the materials . This enables work to be carried out faster and with greater process reliability ,” ARKU told ISMR .
Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel ordered both machines . In Zeithain , it is now able to safeguard efficient and customeroriented production . ARKU also assisted with the installation of the machines .
“ ARKU ensured that we were thoroughly prepared for the expansion of our machine park ,” explained Götze . “ The service technicians carefully inspected our existing infrastructure of blasting , plasma cutting and oxyfuel cutting systems and installation of the new machinery in advance . This allowed us to make the necessary preparations .”
As a result , actual installation was completed quickly , enabling the company to successfully get to work with its new machines . The EdgeBreaker ® 4000 processes around 100,000 parts per year for SMSD .
New features and markets
After the company had commissioned the new equipment , it soon went on to make further upgrades . The EasyBot is a handling robot that loads and unloads the EdgeBreaker ® and enables autonomous deburring . A key feature of this robot is its extreme flexibility which also allows it to automatically move small and medium batches .
The robot moved into the Zeithain production hall at the end of 2019 . The move was preceded by numerous analyses which were in favour of the robot – with convincing results .
“ We compared the robot ’ s performance with manual loading and the magnetic crane that moves our parts ,” Götze reported . “ The robot works much faster than any worker and
saves colleagues from this extremely fatiguing activity .”
The metal panels are often heavy , which means back-breaking work for the employees . The analysis clearly showed that using a robot to handle the parts would help Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel significantly with deburring .
The levelling machine currently processes 25,000 panels per year . Although the system is still loaded manually , it then makes all the necessary adjustments automatically . Verifying the material flatness still plays an important part in the levelling process , which is why colleagues check the levelled sheets with a straight-edge . Despite all the automation , employees continue to play a central role at Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel . Overall , ARKU has significantly accelerated the levelling process at SMSD .
“ We used to level far fewer parts because
The EdgeBreaker ® 4000 processes around 100,000 parts per year for SMSD
The EasyBot ® places the parts autonomously onto the roller conveyor . It can move small and medium batches automatically .
30 | sheetmetalplus . com | ISMR May 2021