Industry 4.0 showcased at Southeast Asia’s biggest event for the metalworking, machine tools, and automation industries opened with a prestigious ceremony graced by YBhg. Datuk Hanafi Sakri, Deputy Secretary General (Industry) of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). YBhg. Tan Sri Dato Sri Dr Hj Mohd Nasir Bin Mohd Ashraf, Organising Chairman, Informa Markets Malaysia, YBhg. Dato Dr Tan Chin Huat, Chairman of METALTECH & AUTOMEX, and Gerard Leeuwenburgh, Country General Manager of Informa Markets Malaysia, were also present. The ceremony highlighted the significance of METALTECH & AUTOMEX 2024 as a platform for growth and innovation in Malaysia’s manufacturing sector.

Datuk Hanafi delivered a keynote address about Malaysia’s manufacturing sector.

“We are witnessing impressive growth, with investments surging to RM152 billion, a remarkable 80.3% increase compared to the previous year,” he declared. He continued by emphasising the importance of METALTECH & AUTOMEX, saying, “These exhibitions play a crucial role in propelling Malaysia towards becoming a regional leader in smart manufacturing, advanced technologies, and high-tech industries.”

METALTECH & AUTOMEX 2024 boasts an unparalleled showcase, featuring over 1,500 brands and companies from 40 countries. With 18,000 trade buyers and visitors anticipated from 49 countries, the event is poised to be a dynamic hub for forging new partnerships and exploring the future of manufacturing.

Themed “Industry 4.0 Innovations: Powering Malaysia’s Manufacturing Future,” the event places a strong emphasis on the transformative potential of Industry 4.0. Visitors can delve into dedicated pavilions from industry leaders in Germany, South Korea, mainland China, Singapore, and Taiwan region, all showcasing groundbreaking solutions in automation, robotics, and digital manufacturing.

“This year’s METALTECH & AUTOMEX goes beyond just speed,” said Mr. Gerard Leeuwenburgh, Country General Manager of Informa Markets in Malaysia. “The theme highlights how Industry 4.0 advancements can optimise processes, drive efficiency, reduce costs, and promote sustainability. Businesses can discover eco-friendly technologies that minimise environmental impact, achieving a future where efficiency and sustainability go hand-in-hand.”

The manufacturing landscape is undergoing a revolution. AI, robotics, and the IoT are fundamentally reshaping how products are designed, produced, and delivered. METALTECH & AUTOMEX 2024 empowers businesses to stay ahead of the curve by providing a platform to explore these trends, connect with solutions providers, and gain valuable insights from industry experts.

“METALTECH & AUTOMEX 2024 isn’t just an exhibition; it’s a game-changer for Malaysian manufacturers. By showcasing the latest Industry 4.0 advancements – from automation to AI-powered solutions – the event serves as a vital launchpad for progress. These innovations hold the key to greater efficiency, enhanced sustainability, and a stronger position in the global marketplace,” emphasised Dato Dr Tan Chin Huat, Chairman of METALTECH & AUTOMEX.

In addition to the exhibition, METALTECH & AUTOMEX 2024 featured a comprehensive program of industry-leading seminars, offering valuable insights and knowledge-sharing opportunities for manufacturers and professionals navigating the evolving industrial landscape.

Following the opening ceremony, Guest of Honour, YBhg. Datuk Hanafi Sakri, along with Chairman Dato Dr Tan Chin Huat and Country General Manager Gerard Leeuwenburgh, embarked on a tour of the exhibition floor. This high-profile visit presents a golden opportunity for exhibitors. It allows them to directly showcase their cutting-edge technologies and solutions to key decision-makers, potentially leading to valuable partnerships and business deals.

METALTECH & AUTOMEX 2024 is a global stage for industry giants to showcase their latest cutting-edge technologies for the first time. From pioneering advancements in automation and robotics to revolutionary solutions in digital manufacturing, this event offers a glimpse into the future of the industry.

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It is a known fact China, Thailand and Vietnam are EV hotspots, albeit China is dominating the sector with several global investments and collaborations with automakers. The glaring irony is that the Americans have pumped in substantial resources to support China’s EV market. However, it makes perfect sense why China is a better bet now.

Indonesia Declares EV Entry

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said that Indonesia has all components required to produce EVs. Hence, it has a huge opportunity to build an ecosystem for the EV industry in future. “We have nickel, copper, and also tin. All the components needed for electric cars are in Indonesia,” he said at the opening of the 2023 XVIII PP Muhammadiyah Youth Conference in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan.

Hence, Indonesia is keen on building a large EV ecosystem, Jokowi stressed. He added, “We must have good products that could make other countries depend on us. The raw materials are all in Indonesia, including that for EV batteries. The future of this ecosystem will become big in Indonesia.” Jokowi noted that a developed country can make other nations depend on the products it manufactures.

Indonesia’s potential in the EV market commands attention given the accumulated investment volumes, due to its rich nickel reserves. The country reportedly signed more than a dozen deals worth more than US$15 billion for battery materials and electric vehicle production with global manufacturers including Hyundai, LG and Foxconn. It may not be long when the market welcomes an Indonesia EV.

Other Markets

China is the world’s largest EV market, with sales expected to top 6 million units in 2022, doubling 2021’s 2.99 million cars. However, it is a cutthroat market, as Beijing’s drive to encourage the use of EVs has attracted some 200 companies, which have invested tens of billions of dollars in developing, designing and assembling electric cars. Member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are target markets for Chinese EV companies whose cars range from RMB 100,000 (US$14,204) to RMB 200,000.

Statista.com’s findings revealed Thailand’s revenue in the EV market is projected to reach US$178.80m in 2023. The annual revenue growth rate is projected to be (CAGR 2023-2027) of 22.31 percent, resulting in a projected market volume of US$400.10 million by 2027. That translates to projected unit sales reaching 9,196.5 vehicles in 2027. The volume weighted average price of EV market in 2023 is expected to amount to US$44.76 k.

Vietnam’s EV market is dominated by its own VinFast. However, it will face competition on home ground when Chinese competitor BYD Auto Co builds a plant in Vietnam to produce car parts, Reuters learnt — in a move that would reduce the company’s reliance on China and deepen its supply chain in Southeast Asia as part of a global expansion. It would worth keeping our eyes open on the Southeast Asian EV market when regional big guns navigate the tricky mission of business expansion – especially when an Indonesia EV enters the market.

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The investment in northern Vietnam would exceed US$250 million, one of the people said, expanding parent BYD Co’s presence in Vietnam, where its electronic unit produces solar panels. The move underscores a wider trend by manufacturers to reduce their exposure to China amid trade tensions with the United States and production disruptions caused by Beijing’s previous COVID-19 lockdowns. BYD did not comment on the report.

The Xian-based carmaker, which outsold rival Tesla Inc in EVs by more than two to one in China last year, has been expanding elsewhere in Asia, including Singapore and Japan, and Europe. Backed by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, BYD makes both plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles.

Like Tesla, BYD controls much of its supply chain, including battery production, a strategy that sets it apart from established automakers. The company announced in September it would build an EV assembly plant in Thailand with annual capacity of 150,000 cars from 2024.

By investing in Vietnam, BYD is looking to add capacity, control costs and diversify production from its operations in China, where demand has been strong. Talks are said to be underway to select a site for the Vietnam plant. One said construction was planned to start by mid-year.

Augmented Presence

It was unclear what components BYD would build in Vietnam and whether it would include batteries or battery packs. BYD’s planned investment and a US$400 million project by digital display maker BOE reported said that it would equal more than a quarter of the US$2.5 billion Chinese companies invested in Vietnam all of last year.

U.S. corporations such as Apple Inc and their suppliers, such as Taiwan’s Foxconn and China’s Luxshare, have also been seeking alternative production hubs, with neighbouring Vietnam one of the main options. BYD is now joining the cohort of manufacturers getting a slice of Vietnam for cost-effective measures.

It is looking to lease 80 hectares (200 acres) of industrial land, more than doubling its footprint in Vietnam, where its electronic unit rents 60 hectares, a second source said. The Vietnam plant will export components to the assembly plant to be built in Thailand, one source said.

The operation in Vietnam could also serve the local market, mostly through maintenance services and spare parts for BYD vehicles imported from China, one source said. That would pose a direct challenge to VinFast, a Vietnamese EV maker that began selling cars in 2019 and plans to expand in the United States and Europe. Consumers will be spoilt for choice given it is not any ordinary EV titan entering the turf, but a maker with a reputation on par with Tesla’s in its home ground.

In December the U.S. Commerce Department found that units of BYD and other Chinese companies were circumventing decade-old U.S. tariffs on Chinese solar cells and panels. If finalised in May, that finding would mean those companies would be subject to duties on products made in Vietnam and some other Southeast Asian countries. Finally, the million-dollar question will be whether the tariffs make financial sense.

Source: Reuters

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Article by B+S Metallbearbeitung GmbH.

The services offered by the B+S Metallbearbeitung GmbH include all kinds of mass finishing operations like deburring, polishing, etc., as well as shot blasting, part cleaning and packaging. The company handles a broad range of work pieces with different shapes, made from different materials, requiring different finishes and coming from all kinds of industries. To ensure continued excellent quality and on- time deliveries in a cost-effective manner, this service company is counting on well- trained employees and utilises modern equipment and consumables from Rösler.

The beginning of the B+S Metallbearbeitung GmbH dates back to the year 1959. The company, founded by Herbert Bickel, specialized early on in jobshop services in the field of mechanical surface treatment, such as mass finishing. In 1991 Mustafa Sahin became an employee of the B+S Metallbearbeitung GmbH located in Murr in Southern Germany. Since 2004 he held a 50% share in the company. When the founder decided to withdraw from the business in 2007 for health reasons, Mustafa Sahin became the general manager. He recognized quickly that in order to remain competitive and run the business successfully in the future, the outdated equipment had to be replaced with modern machinery. In addition, to strengthen the company’s competitive position in the market he decided to expand the service portfolio with additional finishing operations. An important aspect of this expansion strategy was to process the customer’s work pieces safely and consistently and to use high-quality equipment that could be operated round-the-clock.

Full Article On B+S Technology >> https://bit.ly/3mhnWPv

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Article by igus.

Krones AG produces systems and machines for making, filling, and packaging beverages and liquid food. The industry never sleeps. So it is hardly surprising that Krones systems have to break their own speed records again and again. This becomes a problem when a part cannot withstand the pressure and there is no alternative that can perform better. That is why igus GmbH developed knife-edge rollers made of tribo-polymers for Krones, helping them achieve new records. In 2005, Krones faced a challenge with the Variopac Pro, a fully automatic all-round packaging system: the system’s performance had to be increased by 20 packs per minute. There was therefore an urgent need to change the conveyor belt deflection. Originally, metal rollers with needle roller bearings were used here, but they couldn’t meet the higher performance requirements and were cost-intensive. Looking for an alternative, Krones Design Engineer Jürgen Werner came upon igus GmbH products.

Full Article Available >> https://bit.ly/39VLJig

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By pursuing its growth strategy, Bystronic aims to further expand its leading position as high-tech solutions provider for the sheet metal processing industry: New smart factory software solutions meet the growing demand for automation and digital processes and support customers with the networking of their manufacturing processes. The company intends to open up new fields of application, strengthen its position in the individual regions and increase its focus on services. As a result, Bystronic’s market share is to continue to grow organically, by means of strategic partnerships and based on targeted acquisitions.

As already communicated on occasion of the Capital Markets’ Day on November 25, 2020, Bystronic is aiming for an annual organic sales growth of five to eight percent in the medium term (baseline year: 2019). By the end of the strategy period (2025), revenues are thus projected to increase to approximately 1.3 billion Swiss francs. The company has also set itself a profitability target with an EBIT margin in excess of 12 percent. Thanks to a capital-efficient business model, a return on net operating assets in excess of 25 percent is to be achieved. The service business is to grow from 19 percent (2019) to 26 percent of total revenues by 2025.

“Today is a special day for Bystronic and all our employees. I am very proud of the entire Bystronic team and their commitment to implementing our ’Strategy 2025`. We look forward to demonstrating that Bystronic is a modern, sustainably managed and agile company, and we share this moment with our employees, customers, investors, partners, and other stakeholders,” said Alex Waser, CEO of Bystronic.

“On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, I would like to sincerely thank the Conzzeta team and all employees involved and congratulate them on the successful completion of our transformation – towards a company with a focus on high-tech solutions for the sheet metal processing industry. We all wish Bystronic a great start and, as a company now listed on SIX, continued success with the implementation of its ambitious growth strategy,”said Ernst Bärtschi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bystronic.

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Your punching machine can do more than just punch. Fitted with an intelligent punching head and the right tool, your machine will also demonstrate its talent for forming. This allows you to fully process a great diversity of sophisticated components on one machine—and even burr-free if required. It is also efficient for small quantities as tool costs are low and setup times are short. 

The ability to produce burr-free sheet-metal parts directly on punching or punch laser machines saves you the time-consuming process of retrospectively removing the punching burr. This considerably reduces the throughput time, in particular for coated sheet metal and formed parts. Furthermore, the improved edge quality lowers the risk of injury when further processing the parts. 

Roller Deburring Tool

The roller deburring tool is mainly used for simple, large-surface contours. The punched edges are thus perfectly rounded off, which is a decisive advantage for visible edges in particular. A high-quality result is obtained with all of the sheet thickness ranges by adapting the roller contour to the modified burr and to the width of the separation gap.

Ball Deburring Tool

You can get an even better edge quality if you use the MultiShear slitting tool in addition. For shapes with contour radii of less than 20 mm, the deburring MultiTool is to be used. The ball deburring tool is suitable for smaller contours, holes and workpiece corners. Specially hardened balls press the punching burr into the base metal. In doing so, a chamfer is produced on the upper side of the part.  Thanks to the tapered punch head, deburring near formed areas is also possible.

Deburring MultiTool

TRUMPF’s deburring MultiTool, with its three embossing inserts in the die, excels on radii of less than 0.8 in in particular. The tool presses burrs flat in a single stroke or in nibbling mode, even in corners and small contours.

The MultiTool makes your machine more productive by integrating up to 10 different punches and dies into one tool. The strengths of the MultiTool are particularly notable in processing sheet metal parts with small punches of different sizes.

Benefits

• Shorter production times through complete processing on one machine
• Lower risk of injury
• Deburring of all geometries, whether simple, complex, small or large.
• Also for coated sheets and for parts with formed areas

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Vincent Chai

Established since 2003 , Bichamp Cutting Technology (Hunan) Co. Ltd manufactures high-performance bandsaw blades. Based in Changsha in Hunan Province, China, the company—one of the leading bandsaw manufacturers worldwide—is the only bandsaw maker in China that is listed in the stock exchange.

The company manufactures blades in its latest advanced production equipment and facilities in Changsha, Hunan. Bichamp uses top global raw material components and currently have the biggest production capacity in China.

READ: Caring for Your Bandsaws

In an interview with Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News, Vincent Chai, Regional Sales Manager ASEAN at Bichamp Cutting Technology, talked about the landscape for bandsaw products in Southeast Asia, the latest challenges facing manufacturers when it comes to cutting, and how they are helping customers improve their processes.

WHAT OPPORTUNITIES ARE YOU SEEING IN SOUTHEAST ASIA?

Vincent Chai: The Southeast Asia market is not as big as China or Europe, or even Japan, but we can see that over the past decade, there has been consistent growth in this market. That means there is potential for further growth here—not to the extent of what you are seeing in North America or Europe—but it is still a reasonable market.

I would say that Bichamp now is in the same stage as the other players worldwide. We are providing sawing solutions, and we are growing our technical team in this region to better service our customers. One concern with Southeast Asia is that you need to work with the right distributors in each country, and assists them in building their customer base moving forward.

READ: Behringer Talks Asia Market, Latest Sawing Technology

Vietnam is now the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia. Due to affordable labour and government incentives, investments are coming in more and more, especially from Japan, Singapore, they are setting up more factories and manufacturing here.

The automotive industry is also growing. Big automotive companies are setting up manufacturing plants here, as a duplicate of Thailand, and even Indonesia. I would say, maybe in five to 10 years’ time, we would see Vietnam overtake certain countries in ASEAN. As we know, Thailand is still the number one in automotive sector, followed by Indonesia.

WHAT TECHNOLOGY TRENDS ARE IMPACTING THE BANDSAW INDUSTRY?

VC: Bandsaws have been here for a few hundred years already. There are not too complicated in terms of investments in technology. The only thing is that we are now seeing different types of sawing application—from bandsaw, people are shifting to circular saws as an alternative, which we might be looking into this application in the future as we do see these kinds of trends moving toward circular saws. Of course, circular saws and bandsaws are two different things. They both have limitations—there are things bandsaws can do, which circular saw can’t, and vice versa.

It has been said that circular saws will take over bandsaws in the future. But I have been hearing this since I first started in the industry. And bandsaws are still moving up, and sales have been increasing. I don’t think there will be much difference for now but who would know what future lays ahead.

READ: FMI: ‘Energy Efficiency’— the Key Marketing Touchpoint of Bandsaw Machines Market Players

In circular saws, the limitation is the thickness of the size you can cut. At the moment, we would say that the most common size are below 200 mm in diameter; but with bandsaws, you can cut up a wide range of sizes and shapes. The range is unlimited; it depends on the type of machine you have. The bigger the machine, the bigger materials it can cut. In South East Asia, we don’t have very large cutting capacities compare to China.

But with circular saws, the bigger the machine you use, the higher costs you have. There are limited companies that would invest in this kind of big circular saws, unless they are steel manufacturers. If they produce steel, yes, I do see circular saws as big as 3m to 5m. But in the manufacturing industry, circular saws are used for machining parts, where you have consistent parts of, like, diameter 80, and you need thousands of pieces per month. Then you use circular saws—they are faster and cost effective. But if you are in an industry where you process multiple sizes to cut, and multiple materials, bandsaw is still the best.

WHAT ARE THE USUAL CHALLENGES YOUR CUSTOMERS EXPERIENCE?

VC: At present, we now have more advanced technologies, so the materials used to manufacture a product are getting more advanced as well. They get tougher and more wear-resistant. So, workpiece materials tend to be harder to cut, especially in industries like oil and gas and aerospace; they have titanium, Inconel and other superalloys. Also, we usually hear people saying they still don’t understand a lot about bandsaws. They always think that bandsaws are just simple pieces of band that cuts materials. We are here to educate users the right way to maximize their sawing operations.

READ: Bringing Bandsawing Into The Modern Age

HOW DO YOU HELP CUSTOMERS ADDRESS THESE ISSUES?

VC: It’s not as technical as compared to cutting tools. We already have products that are suitable for cutting superalloy materials. Besides provide the right cutting parameters; to understand further their sawing operation, we would arrange appointments to learn more and gathered details information from machine type, workpiece materials and sizes as well as other requirements so we could further assist their operation.

WORKING CLOSELY WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS IS A VERY BIG FACTOR TO SUCCESS.

VC: Yes, and also with distributors, because they are the frontliners. We don’t do direct sales. Most of the bandsaw manufacturers appoint distributors, they are the frontline. They go out to do the selling and servicing . How we support them is by constantly doing joint visits with them, as well as updating their training to improve their technical competency. The more I get involve in the market, the more we could understand the market demands.

DO YOU HAVE ANY FINAL COMMENTS?

VC: In the future, I would believe that companies from China would be a very strong competitor to those forerunners because bi-metal bandsaw is not a sophisticated technological advance product. It is more about customer service. I am sure that we would be strong globally moving forward, because we have a team of global sales that understands. Bichamp believes in investing in the right people.

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The post Bichamp Sees Strong Bandsaw Potential in Southeast Asia appeared first on Asia Pacific Metalworking Equipment News | Manufacturing | Automation | Quality Control.

Today’s bending automation software has considerable intelligence built in. Depending on the software, the operator can create and simulate 3D-designs.

The landscape has changed for robotic press brake bending. Advances in machine, software and robot technology have made bending automation more practical for a broader range of fabricators across Asia Pacific as they look for ways to optimize workflow, shorten turnaround time and lower their per-piece cost.

Just a decade ago, bending automation meant a significant investment—in the cost of the automation and in the support required to realize an efficient and consistent bending process. Six key factors have changed bending automation:

1. Offline Programming

Today’s programming software for robotic bending is more powerful and much easier to use than the software of 10 years ago. This has resulted in simplified CAM program preparation, creating robot trajectories, machine setup and operation. Programming a robotic press brake can be handled completely offline with no need to physically teach the machine setup or bending of the first part.  In contrast, in some automated press brake operations, robot teaching required approximately one hour per bend. This eliminates considerable downtime and ensures that the throughput of the bending cell is not interrupted. The software automatically generates the robot’s movement, directing it from one bend to the next to form the part and then to offload or stack the part. The software is able to calculate a complete collision-free path – generating the robot’s trajectory through all positions.

More than programming the robot, software with CAM 3D virtual production simulation capability provides a complete walk through of the robot and press brake functions so the user can check and visually confirm the bending sequence before bending begins. Before a piece of metal is formed, the process is verified, avoiding costly mistakes and material waste.

2. Flexible Robot Gripper

An example of a bending cell that permits both robot and manual operation for greater flexibility.

The robot gripper is a critical component of a robotic system. Gripper designs of the past did not have the flexibility to accommodate the many part geometries of bending. That meant investing in a number of different grippers to handle different part geometries and taking the time for gripper changeover, which could involve multiple changeovers per part.  New gripper designs are much more adaptable. The gripper in Figure 1 is a patent-pending universal design that fits part sizes from 30×100 mm up to 350×500 mm and handles a maximum part weight of 3 kg. This adaptive design enables the user to process a series of different geometries without having to change the gripper. It’s possible to make bends on three different sides of a part without regripping. Use of a universal gripper not only saves on investment cost but also saves costly change over times between grippers, keeping production continuous and uninterrupted.

3. Capable Industrial Robot

The use of industrial robots worldwide is on the rise. The International Federation of Robotics estimates the supply of robots to be 521,000 units in 2020, more than doubled in just five years. While the automotive and electronics industries are the leading users of robots, the metals industry is a growing application.

Robots themselves have also improved in terms of capacity and reliability. One of the world’s leading robot manufacturers offers more than 100 industrial robots with a payload from 3 kg up to 2.3 tons and maximum reaches up to 4.7 m.

4. Fast “Art to Part”

This universal gripper (patent-pending design) makes it possible to bend on three different sides of a part without regripping.

Another advance in robotic bending is a faster design to part process. The press brake bending cell in Figure 3 takes 10 min for CAM generation of the bending and robot program, and 10 min for set-up and first part generation—a total of 20 min from “art” to “part.” That’s a result of the tight integration between the press brake and robot, and easy to use, intuitive software.

5. Better Process Control

Real-time in-process angle measurement technology adds advanced process consistency to robotic press brake bending. An angle monitoring system can adapt the punch position to ensure precise, consistent bending. In the system pictured,

digital information is transmitted in real time to the CNC control unit, which

processes it and immediately adjusts the position of the punch to achieve the

correct angle. The bending process is not interrupted and no production time is lost. This technology allows the machine to adapt to material variations, including sheet thickness, strain hardening and grain direction, automatically compensating for any changes.

6. More Affordability

In the past, fabricators have tended to “over automate.” Despite advances in function and flexibility, a robotic bending cell still represents a sizable investment. In order to generate a healthy ROI, it’s important to ensure that the ratio of the cost of the automation is not more than twice the cost of the stand-alone machine. Getting this ratio right keeps the direct cost of the part at a sensible level—the direct part cost is not “loaded”—and the user does not need large volumes to make the process cost-effective.

Also, worth considering is the versatility of the system. A bending cell that has the flexibility to operate in stand-alone mode when batch sizes are too small to benefit from robot automation will be more productive and profitable and, therefore, easier to justify. In this scenario, the user can operate the robotic bending cell lights-out overnight or after-hours and during normal business hours, can choose to work in either mode (with the robot or with the robot parked). In the bending cell shown (Figures 5 and 6), programming is handled with 3D bending software so that the same program can be used for bending with the robot or for manual bending.

Is Bending Automation Right for You?

What jobs are best for a robot? Surprisingly, it’s a fairly broad range of applications, including high-volume repeat jobs, low-volume jobs that are reoccurring, and jobs that are heavy duty. The flexibility of today’s bending automation technology makes it possible to run a variety of bending jobs profitably.

New bending automation products, such as LVD’s Dyna-Cell, eliminate the need to teach the robot, which greatly simplifies robotic bending. Current bending cell designs are also much more affordable than past models, both in the cost of the press brake and robot and the cost of operation and maintenance of the cell.

In the Asia Pacific region, as manufacturers are encouraged to adopt automation and Industry 4.0 initiatives through government loans and grants, bending automation offers fabricators a way to address issues such as shortage of labour, higher cost of wages and quality control. If you think bending automation may be your solution, it’s best to consult with your equipment supplier.

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MAM Maschinen, part of the ENERCON Group, processes more than 33,000 tons of steel per year. Employing around 300 people, MAM Maschinen is currently one of the most relevant players for the fabrication of heavy-duty components for several industrial sectors, in particular, wind towers and steel bridges.

In line with the trend towards higher efficiency in manufacturing, MAM has been improving its degree of automation as well as internal know-how to provide the highest quality products to their customers with the maximum respect for the environment.

In this framework, MAM Maschinen became in need of a plate roll technology partner that could support their serial and intensive production of wind tower sections. Evaluating different plate roll manufacturers, the company aimed at identifying the optimum technology in terms of performance, repeatability, and reliability to comply with the strict tolerances imposed by the end-users.

“From the initial contact in 2017 to the final purchase, dealing with DAVI has been satisfying in every respect,” says Andreas Kühn, Innovation Leader at MAM Maschinen. “The negotiation with the company was fair and they managed to meet our requirements. Now, we are happy with the machine that is working properly and quick. We are carrying on the foreseen works on our DAVI plate roll that entered our production flow, making it smoother and with no issues caused.”

MAM Maschinen selected a four-roll plate rolling machine with a capacity of 3,000 x 96 mm, equipped with dedicated accessories for the highest level of flexibility. The DAVI machine now constitutes a major fabrication asset to MAM, being utilized to roll wind tower sections as well as other components for the mechanical industry, in general.

Leveraging 50 Years of Experience and Know how

With over 50 years of experience in delivering high quality three- and four-roll rolling machines, DAVI’s R&D developed high-value patents deployed in unique product lines specifically designed for the wind energy industry. DAVI also developed a proprietary Wind Energy control system capable of providing full automation as required by the Industry 4.0 standards.

DAVI’s High Productivity Line introduced to the market innovative CNC-controlled features such as the possibility of executing exacts first pre-bending at the beginning of the rolling process, thanks to the patented infeed lifting conveyor. By lifting together with the bending rolls, the conveyor supports the plate while pre-bending, completely eliminating the distortions which would otherwise occur due to counter bending forces generated by the plate own weight.

While rolling large diameter workpieces, the front edge would “close” under its own weight and adjustment operations would be needed in order to avoid overlapping with the trailing edge. As part of the High Productivity Line, DAVI’s patented pushers with hooking fingers installed on the lateral supports completely eliminate the risk of overlapping as well as allow for perfect positioning and alignment of the two plate edges at the end of the rolling process in preparation for on-machine tack welding. The two features combined can increase the operation speed by 25%/30% (compared to manual process).

Addressing the Cone Forming Challenge

Cone forming is recognized as the most challenging rolling process. Forcing the plate edges to travel at two different speeds, the process generates high stress on the rolling machine as well as on the plate itself. On a typical wind cone application, it is of paramount importance to protect the integrity of the bevels, which must be realized prior the rolling process (due to high costs involved in beveling the plate after it is formed into a cone or can). For this reason, the state-of-the-art Wind Towers & Foundations cone rolling involves a step-by-step forming process where, at each step, the plate must be repositioned in order to make sure that the cone generatrix overlaps the top roll axis. Depending on accessories installed, this repositioning would both take a very long time, deplete the final workpiece tolerances and potentially put the operators at risk

DAVI responded to the industry needs by introducing a ground-breaking fully automated cone forming system. This is achieved by positioning and guiding the plate while cone forming without damaging the bevels (wide contact surface) for plates up to 100mm. This system allows for a complete cone forming executed by a single operator, with maximum repeatability, highest accuracy and the shortest possible floor-to-floor time (30 percent–50 percent faster compared to manual process).

The whole process—consisting of plate positioning, squaring, pre-bending, rolling and aligning for tack-welding—can be completed in less than 20 minutes, even for high-thickness plates.

“The positive experience we are having with DAVI leads me to believe that, for future needs, we will certainly make contact with them again. The plate roll shows a high quality and an impressive mechanical stability. A relevant aspect we really appreciated about DAVI was the customer support we can receive in our own language, that made the troubleshooting easier and faster. The aftersales care we received from DAVI is really appreciated,” says Kühn.

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