Laser-Blanking Line Headed for Chicago Auto Supplier

Automotive supplier SET Enterprises has ordered a 12-kW three-laser-head Schuler blanking line for its Chicago, IL, production facility. This represents the debut of this particular high-output technology in North America, according to Schuler officials.

SET Enterprises, headquartered in Sterling Heights, MI, supplies blanks and slit multiples to automotive OEMs, Tier-One stampers and sheet mills. The company will use the laser-blanking line to produce blanks for exposed and unexposed automotive stampings. SET Enterprises reportedly chose the Schuler line for its high-output capability and flexibility made possible through Schuler’s DynamicFlow technology. This technology offers three laser heads with the ability to simultaneously cut blank shapes of all types with straight-line cutting speeds exceeding 100 m/min. The blanks are cut from a coil-fed, continuously forward-moving strip of coiled metal, itself traveling at speeds to 60 m/min. This high-output feeding and cutting capability makes conventional blanking dies unnecessary, according to Schuler officials, and, as a result, allows for optimized blank shape and nesting.

Line installation is expected to begin this summer, with the operational handoff scheduled for spring 2019. The line then will join four other Schuler three-laser blanking lines operating in Europe.

See also: Andritz Schuler

Technologies: Cutting

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