FOCUS ON SURFACE FINISHING
The FlatMaster ® 140 levels up to 25,000 panels per year .
Above : Christian Nau , Sales , ARKU ( left ) and the three Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel employees discuss results from the FlatMaster ® 140 . Below : It takes a few seconds for panels to exit the FlatMaster ® 140 level with minimal internal stress ( on the bottom ). For comparison , a bent part before levelling ( on the top ).
The suppliers themselves are subject to extremely demanding standards . Maximum precision plays a vital role . Parts that fail to meet exact specifications put important business relationships at risk and , sometimes , even strategically important markets . Almost all customers in today ’ s expanding industries have their own ideas about the ideal initial condition of the materials .
“ Level , burr-free parts are at the top of the list ,” said Norbert Gärtner , Salzgitter plant manager at the Zeithain site . “ Because these customers are strategically important to us , we are constantly upgrading our manufacturing technology . Some machines that were state-of-the-art only five years ago are now considered obsolete .”
The steel trader therefore began rethinking its levelling and deburring approach several years ago .
“ We had signed an important framework agreement with a customer . The service portfolio included specific flatness specifications that we wanted to offer the customer ,” explained Daniel Götze , Product Manager Preprocessing , SMSD . This required a general overhaul of the existing processes . Up until then , levelling had been carried out manually on an older machine . However , there was potential to improve flatness . Deburring was also still handled manually with angle and belt grinders .
“ We also had to automate this area to satisfy the customer ,” recalled Götze . Qualitative over quantitative growth was the motto – but with a plan .
Forging a strong partnership
The steel trader and ARKU , a manufacturer of levelling and deburring machines in Baden-Baden ( Germany ), had repeatedly met at trade shows and discussed trends and new developments . Over the years , they had established a solid foundation of trust . Building on this , they took an important step together .
“ We were looking for a competent partner to advise us on selecting the right equipment ,” emphasized Götze . “ The equipment needed to provide convincing value for money and performance .”
ARKU was ready to help . The company tested parts from Salzgitter Mannesmann Stahlhandel on various levelling and deburring machines , obtained feedback from the results and made further suggestions – until the choice came down to two candidates .
Manufacturing processes and technologies are changing so quickly that today ’ s solutions can become obsolete tomorrow
The EasyBot ® is much faster than SMDS employees , saving them a fatiguing workload .
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