Page 36 - MetalForming November 2015

Italian Metal-Fabricating
fabricating job shop. It recently invest- ed in a Prima Rapido 3D laser-cutting machine. As explained by Coprauto sales manager Andrea Rizzi, laser trim- ming of stamped parts has enabled the company to expand its offerings to its metal-stamping customers, and to attract new customers for prototype development.
“Since we installed the Rapido, which features a 3-kW CO2 laser, one year ago, it’s been operating 10 hr./day,” Rizzi says. “We’re producing lot sizes from 10 to 500 parts. At that rate, we expect a return on investment for the machine of less than 4 yr.”
Coprauto has realized significant growth in recent years, says Rizzi. Since 2011 revenue has climbed by 50 per- cent, and company management has supported such growth by continuing to invest in new fabricating technology, including laser cutting.
In addition to the Rapido machine, also new to the shop is its second flat- bed laser-cutting machine, a Platino model with a CV4000 4-kW CO2 res- onator rated for mild steel to 22 mm thick, stainless steel to 12 mm and aluminum to 10 mm. It’s accompa- nied by a 10-shelf (3000-kg capacity per shelf ) material storage tower and automated load/unload system, “to handle larger prototype orders and production runs,” says Rizzi, “which can require cutting as many as 2000 parts or more.” We spied the Platino CV4000 cutting 8-mm-thick steel parts, for machinery manufacturers in the medical industry.
The new machine joined an existing Platino flat-sheet cutting machine that’s been a workhorse for Coprauto since 2008. Sinopoli explains the most sig- nificant difference between the two model years.
“The older Platino employs a CO2 laser resonator has a mechanical-bear- ing turbine that typically requires maintenance every 8000 hr. of opera- tion,” he says. “Newer CO2 resonators, including the CV4000, have a magnet- ic-bearing turbine that can typically run for 80,000 hr. before requiring maintenance.”
Married: Panel Benders and Press Brakes
We next moved on to Salvagnini, in Sarego, manufacturer of fiber-laser cut- ting machines, punching-shearing machines, panel benders and press brakes. Under the spotlight at its show- room, we saw the FlexCell, introduced at EuroBlech 2014. The cell, explains project manager Pierandrea Bello, uniquely combines a panel bender with an automated press brake.
“Fabricators want maximum flexi- bility, efficient production management and minimum cycle times in their bend- ing operations, and the FlexCell satisfies all three of those needs,” says Bello. “As a punched or laser cut part enters the FlexCell, the cell software automatical- ly determines which machine will form the part—the automated press brake or panel bender—based on size, thick- ness and material composition. Since introducing the FlexCell to the market late last year, we’ve had good success with customers using both machines in a cellular arrangement.”
Flexibility is the mantra Salvagnini follows as it develops new metal-fabri- cating equipment—stand-alone machines and integrated automated systems. With more than 5000 installations in 75 coun- tries, 2014 marked a record sales year (€281 million) for the company. And Bello, as well as
facility (including 50,000 sq. m dedi- cated to manufacturing) featured a look at the firm’s P2lean panel bender. Salvagnini introduced the P2lean at EuroBlech 2014 and will officially intro- duce it to the North American market at FABTECH 2015.
“Customers are making parts in the P2lean that they never thought could be made in this type of machine,” Bello says. Compared to previous models of Salvagnini panel benders, the P2lean has an expanded range of workpiece thicknesses (to 3.2 mm in mild steel) and a smaller minimum flange dimen- sion. Both features are designed to expand its range of applications. Max- imum bend length is 2.2 m, and maxi- mum bend height is 165 mm.
The machine we saw was equipped with automatic bend adjustment, which reconfigures its tooling to pre- pare for the next bend as soon as the part is presented. “Customers are con- stantly finding new ways to use a panel bender,” Bello adds.
The P2Lean is an intelligent machine that continually monitors bending and, when necessary, automatically adapts parameters to accommodate variations in thickness and material resistance to achieve the required bend angles. Sal- vagnini calls this standard feature MAC 2.0—material attitude calibration. The
34 MetalForming/November 2015
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Eugenio Bassan, CEO of Salvagnini America (who also attended our meet- ing), expect contin- ued sales growth in 2015 and 2016.
“In the United States,” shares Bas- san, “we’ve grown 20 percent per year since 2013.”
A walk through the forming- equipment show- room (a separate showroom is dedi- cated to laser-cut- ting equipment) of the 80,000-sq.-m
Salvagnini’s P2lean panel bender has an expanded range of workpiece thicknesses and a smaller minimum flange dimension. Both features are designed to expand its range of applications. “Customers are rethinking how they can use a panel bender,” says Bello.