the EMO Hannover offers decision-making assistance for choosing the right series strategy 

 

Frankfurt am Main, 5 March 2013  – For machinery producers, it’s always a rather special design challenge when manufacturers are seeking an optimum solution for a series production job. Possible choices include rotary table systems, transfer centres or CNC units. At the EMO Hannover 2013, there will be an abundance of solutions for this purpose on show, not least from MAG, Göppingen, and the Swiss Starrag Group.

 

“A line’s useful lifetime is 20 years, but a workpiece lasts for only seven: this means the production system is going to see at least three generations of components” is how Dr. Manfred Berger, President Automotive Europe at MAG Europe GmbH from Göppingen, describes the tricky job profile involved. The company meets these requirements from its customers for modern-day production systems in most cases with versatile manufacturing systems based on single and twin-spindle CNC units, which, says Manfred Berger “are commonly, but incorrectly, referred to as machining centres”.

 

The CNC unit dominates

At MAG, the CNC units continue to dominate, accounting for about 90 per cent of machinery sales. When difficult components are involved, specialised machines are used. “The trend nowadays is definitely towards aluminium workpieces for cars, and thus lighter metal-cutting with CNC units”, the expert explains. “We make particular use of transfer machines in cases where workpieces of grey cast iron have to be produced in very large quantities.” For these components (batch size >600,000 a year) and aluminium workpieces (> one million a year) with limited part diversity, he adds, not only transfer lines but also rotary machines operate very efficiently with high levels of productivity. Transfer centres are specialised solutions, offering a high level of productivity thanks to their multiple-spindle design, coupled with the flexibility of a travelling device. Drill heads and devices can be easily changed over. To quote Manfred Berger: “Transfer centres thus marry the productivity of a transfer machine to the flexibility of a CNC unit. They are ideally suited for use with high workpiece volumes and limited part diversity.”

 

But what will visitors to the EMO Hannover 2013 see on MAG’s stand, what “machine variant” will be showcased? Manfred Berger is unable and unwilling to divulge any details, but he’s at least prepared to reveal some trends: “Within the framework of our “Intelligent investment – efficient production” initiative, we shall at the EMO Hannover 2013 also be progressing the in-depth efficacy of our foresightful corporate planning, our capital investment for more flexibility in terms of volume, workpieces and technology, plus the use of sleeping reserves in production lines by tapping into better personnel skilling.”

 

A Chemnitz-based company approaches the issue from a different viewpoint. “Within the Starrag Group, and in particular at Heckert, we have not focused our product strategy solely on large-series business”, comments Dr. Eberhard Schoppe, Managing Director of Heckert GmbH from Chemnitz (a member of the Swiss Starrag Group). “For us, the primary focus has always been on the flexibility of the manufacturing concepts involved, driven by our technical solutions.”

 

When it comes to choosing the right production concept, however, the machine buyer is spoiled for choice. “In the context of our production solutions, with the ongoing trend towards automation and maintaining a high degree of flexibility, what we see emerging is a focus on systems for pallet storage and overhead transfer”, observes Heckert’s Managing Director Schoppe. “The increasing product variance at our customers ultimately results in a shrinking series character, and a rising need for automation solutions featuring pallet storage systems.” When it comes to manufacturing large series, says Schoppe, about one in four of Heckert’s machines have for this reason already been fitted with a linear pallet magazine. 

 

Author: Nikolaus Fecht, specialist journalist from Gelsenkirchen

 

Editorial responsibility is held by: VDW - German Machine Tool Builders’ Association