FEATURE ON PRESSES AND COIL HANDLING

Latest press-hardening technology selected

Germany-based Gedia Automotive Group has been developing and manufacturing cold-formed body and chassis parts for the car industry for over 50 years. In order to meet growing demand for structural parts with low weight and high crashworthiness, the company decided to invest in the latest press-hardening technology from AP&T.

“Gedia wanted to find a partner that could offer market-leading production solutions as well as help develop the company’s press-hardening expertise,” says AP&T’s general manager in Germany, Michael Hunger. “Since the very start, we have worked together to achieve the high level of flexibility, availability and quality that Gedia and its customers want to attain.”
To date, AP&T has installed three complete press hardening lines at Gedia’s facilities in Germany and Poland. Among other things, the equipment includes the latest generation of AP&T’s Multi-Layer Furnace (MLF) and press-hardening tools. The lines are equipped with a sensor-based system that gives full control over the heating and cooling process, which is decisive in terms of ensuring each part obtains the exact properties and quality that are desired. Advanced process monitoring enables the high demands on quality imposed by car manufacturers and, for example, the CQI-9 standard to be met.
A high degree of flexibility and scalability are important to Gedia. AP&T’s MLF is said to enable optimised capacity utilisation. More layers can be used if production increases; if it decreases, heating can be limited to fewer levels, which also saves energy.
For further information www.aptgroup.com

£1m+ investment at Royal Mint

A UK-based supplier of press technology is playing a crucial role in the production of the new £1 coin.

Bruderer UK has installed a state-of-the-art machine into the Royal Mint’s Llantrisant facility, providing additional speed, capacity and flexibility. Capable of up to 825 strokes per minute, the BSTA 1600-117B2 is responsible for creating the hard cut blanks that form one of the first processes in the manufacture of the pound coin.
The machine has been specified with an 1170 mm press bed length and is capable of feeding material up to 500 mm wide by 12 mm thick – suitable for tooling relative to different types of currency production now and in the future. Bruderer’s BSTA 1600-117B2 also comes equipped with the latest B2 control system, meaning everything can be controlled from the HMI, including the setting of feeds and speeds, together with monitoring the stamping operation.
Mervyn Evans, engineering manager at the Royal Mint, says: “We are pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with Bruderer and I am delighted with the performance of the latest machine so far. It is delivering the speed and accuracy we need, and is a fundamental part of a production process that will eventually produce over 1.5 billion pound coins. The larger-than-normal tool bed also means that a range of materials for different denomination blanks can be processed. This is an ideal solution for our growing international client base.”
For further information www.bruderer.co.uk