FACE TO FACE
ISMR : Which investments have you made over the past two-three years ( machine tools , factory , staff etc .)?
JT : We have been investing in more staff , especially in our software engineering department . We are now ready to expand our factory in Hyvinkää , Finland , and double the assembly hall area . Our current production and office space is 4600 square metres . We have also been continuously increasing our R & D activities and aim to have some new developments ready to launch at the EuroBLECH exhibition in Hanover next year .
We also continue to develop partnerships with other manufacturers on our production lines . For example , we have been working with Polish laser manufacturer , Eagle , on a new coil laser cutting line for a customer in Finland and Sweden . This large project incorporates a new rapid 2D laser built especially for coil processing as well as automatic and reliable sorting . Material utilisation is much better , with very little scrap and waste . We are planning to bring it to the EuroBLECH exhibition in Hanover next year .
Our other R & D projects are focused on software and dynamic nesting ; coil straightening and a fully servo electric bending machine . These are important projects for the future . We always try to find out what customers need when we start discussions or invest in R & D . We have an engineering mindset aimed at finding customised solutions to challenges ; very seldom do we say ‘ no ’.
ISMR : What are your views on the current global business climate / markets for sheetmetal professionals ? How do you view 2024 ?
New coil punching and shearing solution
Pivatic is now offering a new coil punching and shearing solution to manufacturers . “ Pivatic systems give you multiple options to run your parts . Using advanced nesting , users may choose the part type , amount and the order in which they want the parts to be produced . All parts of the same material can be produced from the same coil width , nested side-by-side . After the Pivatic double punching process , material is cut to length ( CTL ) from the coil by a shear ,” explained Pivatic .
Coil nesting systems give users multiple options to run their parts . They may choose the part type , amount and the order in which the parts exit the system . All parts of the same material can be produced from one wide coil , nested side-by-side .
To nest parts side-by-side on a strip , Pivatic uses a CTW ( Cut-to-Width ) station to shear and separate the nested parts . All parts are stacked or buffered
JT : Three years ago , when COVID-19 started , the sheet metal industry had a tough time . Mid-sized companies like ours were unable to travel and meet customers . Luckily , our existing customers placed repeating orders with us . The sheet metal industry then faced spiralling material and component cost increases last year , and long delivery times for some customers due to supply chain disruptions ( especially for parts containing electronics and semi-conductors ). This year automatically in piles on top of pallets for easy transportation or transferred directly to follow-up processes . Waste is minimised by filling the coil with nested parts . For high-quality part production , the CTW can also act as an edge trimmer prior to punching in a PivaPunch PCB Punching Center for Blanks .
By separating each process step , Pivatic aims to deliver significant leaps in productivity . This solution is being delivered for locker manufacturing but similar solutions have also been delivered to manufacture parts for HVAC ; domestic appliances ; commercial appliances ; steel doors ; office furniture and electrical enclosures .
“ We have been working with coil for years and are true pioneers in using coil in the sheet metal industry to reduce waste and optimise usage and material etc . We also design coil-coated / prepainted material processing lines for customers ,” Pivatic told ISMR .
and last year , interest rates have shot up which have negatively affected capital investments .
This year , consumption in Europe has been slowly stabilising . Some of our customers , who were running high volumes , were not investing up until the Summer and were delaying , cancelling or postponing projects . Despite this , we kept on bringing out new line innovations and better value solutions .
I am pleased to report that , over the last two months , the situation has changed and a lot of ‘ on-hold ’ projects have now been reactivated
Coil nesting .
ISMR November 2023 | ismr . net | 25