RSSBack

18 March 2008

Productivity with flexibility

Trumpf machinesAutomation equals productivity.  Certainly that is the purpose of the exercise but all too often volume manufacture is only achieved at the expense of flexibility.  And in today’s highly competitive market both are critical factors. 

The Trumpf stand at MACH 2008 will emphasise that there is no need to compromise.  It will demonstrate its competence in automated punching, laser cutting and bending and the ability of its systems to accommodate changing production needs and still achieve quality parts at the lowest unit cost. 


The machines also accept flexible and expandable automation.  The choices range from simple productivity gains from features such as automatic laser nozzle exchange through to all the elements necessary for full lights out production.

All Trumpf machines are designed so that the batch size, material and programme can be changed with ease with no detrimental effect on manufacturing cost.

Degrees of automation
Naturally a range of Trumpf technologies will be represented at MACH 2008 – punching and forming, laser cutting, bending, laser welding and marking.  Many of the machines featured will demonstrate different degrees of automation.

The single station punching or laser cutting head is a vital component of every Trumpf machine.  This remains a unique feature and one that significantly reduces set-up and machining times.  With this intelligent head system as a starting point Trumpf has the basis for true lights out production. 
In the field of 2D laser cutting for example the head works in tandem with another unique feature, automatic laser nozzle exchange.  This makes it possible to process a variety of parts and materials using optimal cutting parameters, even during unmanned shifts. 

Dependent on the machine model chosen, any sheet thickness from 1 – 25mm can be processed with the machine’s single cutting head as the engineering beam guidance system automatically adapts to the material and adjusts the laser beam.   Automatic nozzle changing will be demonstrated separately at MACH 2008 to highlight its significance.

2D precision laser cutting will be demonstrated at MACH 2008 by the TruLaser 2030.  This larger format model is new to the UK and will be shown with the higher powered 3.2kW TruCoax laser that delivers exceptional beam quality.  This compact machine has fully integrated load and unload and is designed for high productivity.

Fully automated bending
Turning the parts from the TruLaser or TruPunch machine into finished components will be the TruBend 5130 that is characterised by its short cycle times.  Precise bending every time is assured by the Automatically Controlled Bending a system that has potentially up to eight sensors.  This press brake will be shown complete with BendMaster that will feed the machine blanks as well as sort and stack the finished parts. 

BendMaster automatically selects a mechanical gripper for small parts or a vacuum gripper for larger ones.  As a result it can handle a wide product range up to a maximum weight of 40kg.  The TruBend and BendMaster are operated by a single control and jointly programmed by the dedicated TruTops Bend software.

Punching potential
Trumpf will also be emphasising another important point at MACH 2008 - don’t dismiss punching!  Thanks to continuous development punching is the quickest and cheapest method of producing many parts, especially those that require additional operations such as forming and tapping.  The company’s latest punching machine, the TruPunch 5000, will demonstrate this potential.

The high productivity of this machine has been achieved through faster processing and tool rotation, additional drives and faster acceleration thanks to lighter weight components.  This has given the TruPunch 5000 a productivity boost of 15% on its predecessor.  In common with all of the Trumpf high productivity machines this model can be specified with automation to suit the need from semi-automatic loading through to a fully automatic manufacturing cell with warehouse interface.

And finally …
Completing the process picture on the Trumpf stand will be marking and welding.  The TruMark Station 5000 performs a wide range of marking and microprocessing tasks on various metals, plastics and ceramics.  Its compact design allows its easy integration into a production line.   This model is also available with flow-through transfer allowing longer workpieces to be processed.

The stand-alone TruLaser Station 5004 is the last exhibit and is a compact and ergonomic workstation for deposition laser welding with wire.  It represents another first in laser processing with the inclusion of an electronic stereomicroscope that allows quicker and easier set-up.


Back to top