Vaski Group, a Nordic sheet metal equipment manufacturer with headquarters in Finland, has signed a joint venture agreement with Leeport (Holdings) Ltd, based in Hong Kong. The partnership marks an important step in expanding Vaski’s capabilities and reach across China and Southeast Asia, two of the fastest-growing markets for sheet metal machinery.

By combining the strengths of both companies in advanced machinery and automation solutions, Vaski Group will be able to serve customers in the region with greater proximity, efficiency and innovation. The goal is to show the strong presence of Vaski products, with the joint-venture company distributing a full array of sheet metal processing equipment: entry level stand-alone machines, assigned production lines, and other special machinery.

The function of the joint-venture company includes sales and service support as well as product development and sourcing in this region. The quality products of Vaski Group, together with Leeport’s well established sales channels in China and Southeast Asia will bring the market new choices for sheet metal processing.

Vaski Group consists of the 10 year old Vaski brand, which has a reputation worldwide for flat bar (predominantly busbar) processing machinery and sheet metal coil processing machines; the 140 year old Ursviken, a major producer of large press brakes, presses and shears; and 50 year old Pivatic, which manufactures sheet metal coil and blank fed punching and bending systems.

Underlining Ursviken’s long history in press brakes is the world’s first press brake built in 1902 as well as the world’s largest single press brakes with a span as large as 22.4m.

More information www.leeport.com.hk

At DACH+HOLZ 2026 in Cologne on 24-27 February, RAS will present itself as a competent partner for roofers, sheet metal workers and façade builders, showcasing a compact and powerful machine portfolio for sheet metal processing in the trade sector.

Among the proven bending and forming solutions on show at DACH+HOLZ will be the company’s EasyFormer and, notably, the recently launched TURBO2plus Compact with new XXL bending beam.

According to RAS, the TURBO2plus Compact impresses with advanced bending technology. The new XXL bending beam offers an additional 5 mm clearance behind the bending line, while the 14 mm crown tool with adjustable crowning ensures consistent, high-quality bending results across the entire working length, ensuring suitability for both roof and wall applications.

Visitors to Stand 427 in Hall 8, will experience how user-friendly technology, high precision and robust design efficiently support daily work in workshops and production environments.

Taking centre stage, those attending DACH+HOLZ are set to discover that the established RAS TURBO2plus now has a compact successor. The new TURBO2plus Compact replaces the previous standard model. It offers the same technical performance in a significantly smaller footprint, making suitable for use by small businesses, sheet metal shops and space-constrained workshops.

Whether for roof and façade profiles, advertising panels or enclosures, RAS says the new machine takes bending to the next level. The intelligent Bendex software automatically programs parts, evaluates alternative bending strategies and visualises the entire bending sequence in 3D.

Thanks to its reduced overall height, the TURBO2plus Compact can be integrated flexibly into a wide range of production environments. It is especially suited to workshops that need to operate efficiently and powerfully despite limited space.

More information www.ras-online.de/en

Salvagnini Maschinenbau is celebrating the production of its 4000^th panel bender. The milestone, celebrated at the Ennsdorf, Austria plant, is for CMAlifts, an Italian manufacturer of elevators and lifting platforms.

Salvagnini says it is consolidating its leadership in panel bending technology with over 4000 installations in 80 countries, Europe’s largest plant entirely dedicated to panel bender manufacturing, over 600 technology specialists and more than 40 years of experience. Since 1977, when Guido Salvagnini designed and built the first P4, the panel bender has never stopped evolving: today it is a fully automatic solution for the modern smart factory.

Salvagnini Maschinenbau’s 4000^th panel bender is part of an industrial journey marked by significant milestones: number 1000 (installed in Germany, 2006), number 1500 (USA, 2011), number 2000 (Korea, 2016) and number 3000 (China, 2020).

Number 4000 is a Generation 4 P4-3220 with a maximum bending length of 3200 mm and a maximum bending height of 203 mm. The machine is configured with CUT, CLA, CLA/N, P, PSE and DPM options, broadening its application range. It will see integration into an FSL (flexible smart line), which also includes an S4 punching machine and multiple automation devices, at the new fully automated factory that CMAlifts is building in Corato, Italy.

“Being part of the Salvagnini Group’s history is a source of pride for the whole CMAlifts team,” says Giulio Caputo, CMAlifts Co-CEO. “This P4 reflects our culture of continuous growth and innovation. With the new P4 we will manufacture many panels fully automatically, even our most complex profiles, with consistent quality and shorter lead-times.”

More information www.salvagninigroup.com