Nidec Press & Automation (NPA) CEO David Winch has announced the acquisition of a German-based company specialising in high-speed metal-forming automation machinery and technology.

Systeme and Steuerungen (SYS) and its subsidiary Die Peripherie Anlagen (DPA) join the NPA group of companies in offering turnkey manufacturing solutions to its customers.
SYS-DPA products include high-speed servo feeds, related automation machinery and integrated controls with production management and monitoring software. In addition, SYS-DPA offers a full suite of customer service products, specialising in press remanufacturing.
“This acquisition will allow us to offer a wider array of products and services, increase our global presence, and boost the profits of customers by combining the experience and synergies of our group companies,” says Winch.
Founded in 1994, SYS-DPA is headquartered in Grafenau, Germany and employs 120 people. Current managing director Wolfgang Biewald and his leadership team will continue to lead the SYS-DPA team in Germany.
Additional NPA brands include Minster, specialising in mid-range tonnage mechanical and servo presses. Arisa manufactures some of the world’s largest servo and mechanical presses, and specialises in customised solutions with built-to-order transfer and material handling systems integrated with controls and software.
Additional OEM solutions from NPA include high-speed servo-feeding systems from Vamco and high-speed presses from Kyori.
For further information www.nidecpa.com

Atkin Automation, part of Group Rhodes, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary as the UK and Ireland distributor for Taiwanese company Shung-Dar Industrial Co.

The company started working in partnership with Shung-Dar in 2008, and for the past decade Atkin Automation has been a distributor for Shung-Dar’s growing range of coil stamping and processing equipment for carbon steel, stainless steel and aluminium processing plants. Today, the product portfolio includes automatic slitting lines, cut-to-length lines, combined lines and multi-blanking lines.
Geoff Barker, sales manager at Atkin Automation, says: “The relationship has been a success as our two businesses share the same values. Our mutual goal is to deliver high-quality products and services. We also focus on innovation and the use of technology, and ensure we take care of our skilled workforce.”
To mark the 10th anniversary of the successful distributorship, Shung Dar president Mr Yang, his son Jason and sales manager Shawn Yang (nephew), travelled to Wakefield, where the new Atkin premises is located. Speaking at the company after a presentation on Shung-Dar’s expanding product range, Yang said: “Over the past decade, both of our businesses have grown significantly and we have also developed our range to provide a complete smart press stamping line solution to steel and aluminium producers and stockholders.”
For further information www.grouprhodes.co.uk

In the automotive industry, lightweight construction is in greater demand than ever before.

However, car seats and their fastening elements must withstand the enormous forces exerted on vehicles involved in accidents. High-strength materials are used to ensure high resilience, but with a lower weight.
The machines of numerous automotive suppliers used up to now are often not designed for processing these materials. As a result, automotive supplier Adient has taken appropriate upgrade measures: the press lines at its Solingen works were recently extended with the addition of three strip-feeding lines featuring high-performance levellers from Schnutz GmbH. The new machines enable feeding and easy processing of the special materials with optimum flatness being achieved.
“Prior to awarding the contracts to Schnutz, Adient carried out extensive tests at various suppliers,” says Dr Lutz-Stefan Henrich, managing director of Schnutz GmbH. “The aim was to ascertain whether the machines were suitable for the complex and multi-stage forming of high-strength steel.”
At the technical centre in Siegen, Germany, Schnutz convinced the automotive supplier of the quality of its machines in joint levelling tests. For this reason, Adient decided to extend its machinery for processing high-strength materials with the addition of three strip feeding lines, including a high-performance leveller from Schnutz.
At the pressing plant of Adient, seat rails are manufactured on several lines.
“The high-strength material used requires special treatment in order to obtain the required flatness with optimal residual stress in the strip material,” says Henrich. “Only when the geometry of the leveller matches the particular product can the best results be achieved.”
That reason is why Schnutz uses simulation programs to analyse the working processes and plastic forming behaviour of the materials used in order to modify the machines to suit customer-specific requirements.
For further information www.schnutz.com

In the 2018 fiscal year, Schuler increased its order intake by 10% with successful sales in new markets and digitised applications.

However, ongoing pressure to make adjustment in Germany, international trade conflicts and special effects had a significant negative impact on the press manufacturer’s sales.
“We will consistently focus Schuler on new markets, digital business models and profitable core businesses,” says CEO Domenico Iacovelli. In mid-2019, Schuler and Porsche plan to start building their joint press plant, which has now finally been agreed. Operation is scheduled to start in 2021.
Schuler’s incoming orders rose to €1255bn in 2018 (previous year €1141bn). Despite the rather low order backlog at the end of 2017, group sales remained virtually unchanged at €1212bn (previous year €1220bn). The regions of Europe and China grew, while business in North America suffered significant losses.
CFO Norbert Broger says: “Last year was very challenging in terms of operation and strategy. This is why it was all the more important that we were able to reverse the negative trend in incoming orders and achieve an increase of 10% for the first time. We therefore entered the New Year with a decent order backlog of €926m. As a result, and thanks to the cost reduction measures already initiated, we are confident that we will be able to show medium-term earnings improvements.”
Irrespective of the positive order development, the pressure to adapt remains high, especially in Germany, says Iacovelli. “In 2018, we therefore began making Schuler more dynamic and bringing customer-driven innovations to market more quickly. The aim is to concentrate on the group’s profitable core business and increase profitability in the coming years. This includes the consistent segregation of loss-making business areas wherever necessary.”
For further information www.schulergroup.com

AP&T has produced a new generation control system that is designed to simplify the utilisation of presses, automation equipment and production lines. The upgrade entails a comprehensive overhaul of the LOGOS user interface, as well as functionality and hardware.

“Our ambition is to make operation as simple as possible for everyone who uses our machinery on a day-to-day basis,” says AP&T vice CTO Christer Bäckdahl. “Consequently, we have listened very carefully to the opinions of customers and operators, and worked to satisfy their wishes in our development work. At the same time, we have put a great deal of effort into ensuring that operators who are accustomed to our machinery will feel at home in the environment.”
One thing that many users have asked for is larger screens. Now, operators have access to 22” screens with full HD for stationary PCs and 7” screens for hand-held mobile panels. Both have widescreen format (16:9) and high resolution. The number of pixels is 2.5 times higher than previously, while the graphics, which present a clear AP&T identity, have been developed to give a good overview of the displayed information and to facilitate navigation. This feature applies to the alarm view, for example, which gives a quick overview of the machine’s status.
The functionality itself has also been improved, at least according to Lars Prysander, who has been the development project manager and one of the programmers for the new system version.
“One of the many examples is that previously two clicks were needed to switch between the various machines connected to the system,” he says. “However, we’ve now added an extra menu with shortcut keys, which means only a single click is needed to switch from one unit to another.”
For further information www.aptgroup.com