FACE TO FACE
machine tools to strengthen our internal production capacity , a new organizational chart ( underlining our need for highly skilled and specialised professionals ) and the installation of powerful management software that enables manufacturers to organise and control the entire production process .
ISMR : Which trends and growth areas do you see developing in global coil-processing markets ?
Above , centre and overleaf : Examples of coil-processed metal .
FM : Production from coil , by coil-fed machines and systems , enable users to obtain finished products that do not need further , or various disparate , production processes . However , coil processing is not as prevalent in global markets as , for example , processes that initially deliver finished workpieces from flat sheet-metal feeding .
The production of metal workpieces directly from metal sheet is a mainstream process in the market , despite the great production benefits of feeding metal direct from coil . Many major global sheet-metalworking machinery manufacturers and brands offer machines and systems that feed flat sheetmetal . Our experience with coil processing equipment has convinced us of the benefits of production using coil-fed machines , eliminating all preliminary processes . We are therefore working on expanding the range of our operating equipment and machine accessories to offer completely automated solutions using coil in the production of metal components .
ISMR : Please explain Produtech ’ s strategic and technical objectives ?
The goal is to reproduce the same conditions as those for sheet feeding with the material change to be processed , while maintaining all the benefits of coil . This development will make it advantageous in all respects to use Produtech systems that produce metal components by feeding directly from the coil , even with material thicknesses of up to 8mm .
Investments are also underway in new
FM : Manufacturers in various production sectors ( such as the ‘ white ’ household appliances sector ; air conditioning ; clean rooms ; automotive ; grain silos ; metal furniture and shelving ) have already expressed a strong interest in systems and machines that produce from coil . They see , in this production method , many opportunities relating to the flexibility offered by our coil-fed equipment which can carry out complex cutting and deformation processes automatically on one single machine , without reworking and without intermediate tooling .
The ability to complete ‘ just in time ’ orders responds to the needs of the market , which increasingly calls for rapid solutions to complex requirements . Technological innovations , the result of extensive research and design efforts , have increased our expertise and enabled us to compete in challenging , but certainly rewarding , markets such as in the USA , Germany and India etc . For these reasons , we believe that the market for machines that feed directly from coil is destined to expand and that there are excellent opportunities for the positive development of coil-processing equipment .
The new ISEO coil-fed laser line .
FM : Our ability to respond to customer needs with innovative and high-tech products has enabled us to extend our presence in many overseas markets . We decided to create new solutions aimed at mitigating any production challenges . Systems are being designed that make coil change easy , rapid and automated , with the automatic insertion of the coil head into the production machines . All this is done through a cycle managed by the CNC , to process low- and high-thickness materials and enable all processing via coil feeding . It encompasses the entire range of material thicknesses needed by the production sector , overcoming the difficulty of producing components from different materials that require complicated coil-change operations .