Product category:
Press shop and sheet metal working automation, slitting, shearing
News Release from: AP and T AB, Automation, Press and Tooling | Subject: Automation and power press control systems
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 January 2007
Automation brings new life to an old
press line
Retrofitting latest automation and power press control systems to a 30 year old press line raised line efficiency by 25% and reduce shifts operated from three to two.
As your production machinery ages and you wish for both higher capacity and operational reliability, look to AP and T for a very cost-effective way to give your old equipment a new life AP and T helped indoor climate company Flakt Woods increase efficiency in their old press line by 25 percent using new automation and a new control system
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Sep 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The Flakt Woods production plant in Aneby produces sheet metal parts for ventilation systems and has several lines with AP and T presses, some of which are almost 30 years old.
"One of our key press lines for manufacturing ventilation couplings simply had a reliability level that was too low to be able to serve the other three units in the group," said Niklas Grundstrom, who is site manager at Flakt Woods in Aneby.
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"Our customers expect fast deliveries, and at the same time, we have to minimize the amount of finished parts kept in inventory - the demand for which varies widely over the course of the year," said Grundstrom.
It became quickly apparent that a high level of reliability and a certain amount of extra capacity were needed to handle the variations.
The production capacity in the old line was always on the border of what the plant could handle and a costly three shift production run was necessary.
"Building a completely new plant was never discussed for cost reasons, but something had to be done," explained Grundstrom.
The old press line was equipped with a coil line with separate control, a modular press for clipping and a hydraulic press to form the part.
Each component in the line had its own operator's panel, which wasn't ideal for the operator.
Feeding the parts in and out of the press was handled by two older generation CD robots from AP and T - a loader and an unloader.
It was here that AP and T's Roger Waltersson saw the potential for breathing new life into the old press line.
"It looked unnecessarily complicated to have two different CD robots for these operations.
I thought about what could be achieved with our new SpeedFeeder and then the discussions began," said Waltersson.
There was nothing wrong with the presses and the coil line.
It was more the way they were being used - even updating the line with more efficient automation would not be enough.
The old control systems prevented the press line's availability from being what it ought to be.
AP and T's solution was to integrate the hydraulic press, modular press and coil line into the same control system and to run them from the same operator's panel.
The coil line received an entirely new electrical system including a servo motor, while the mechanics were left untouched.
"One control system for the entire press line involves simplicity for the operator, but also improved options for running the plant and winning tenths of a second from each press cycle," said Waltersson.
AP and T also replaced the loader and the unloader with a single SpeedFeeder, which ejects the parts out of the tool while simultaneously inserting a new press blank - two operations in the same movement.
Another challenge for increasing capacity was to minimize the time to replace the tool - an operation that is done on average three times per day.
AP and T gave the press a tool change system that makes changing the tool simpler and faster for the operator, thanks to the fact that all the tool recipes are collected at one site.
This increases the press line's flexibility.
The discussions about giving the press line new life began in earnest in September, 2005 and during the winter detailed solutions were developed.
By March of 2006, an agreement was reached.
Flakt Woods started building up a production buffer to be able to manage the deliveries during the installation period and AP and T started building the line.
The technology was installed in three weeks during the summer, when Flakt Woods normally has lower production demand.
"First we built all of the equipment in our own factory and tested it with a virtual press, so that it was then just a matter of 'plug and play' when we got everything in place at Flakt Woods," said Waltersson.
The week after the installation, the press line was ready for production, and even now the production is still being optimized.
"The new control system is an efficient analysis tool and now we are going after 1/10 of a second difference in the press cycles.
1/10 of a second turns into seconds, hours and ultimately weeks in a year.
There is a lot to collect," confirmed Grundstrom.
"By investing in this conversion, we see a potential increase in efficiency by 25% depending on the part being manufactured.
When we can get rid of the night shift, we will have a 30% increase in available capacity," concluded Grundstrom.
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