Lübke Baumetal GmbH supplies a wide range of metal solutions for roofs and facades; everything from standard profiles to bespoke productions, nothing is too much for this company from Arnsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia. For Lübke, success rests on first-class products that come from a comprehensive consulting service combined with a fast distribution system.

The most complex step in the production of these precision pieces is the efficient bending of the profiles. That is why Lübke relies on not one, but three RAS folding machines: two GIGAbends and one XLTbend with up-down bending technology and a 45° upper beam. All of these machines are available in the UK from Press & Shear.

Lübke’s love affair with RAS began in 2007 when the company purchased the first GIGAbend bending machine with a working length of 3 m. Another machine of the same model arrived in 2012. At the beginning of 2021, a RAS XLTbend with a bending length of 4 m and a sheet steel capacity of 2.5 mm was added to the already robust folding line-up.

Production manager Jan Rengshausen says: “We can absolutely rely on these machines, both in terms of reliability and bending quality.”

The employee responsible for the up-down folding machine is Christian Hellweg. Using the Bendex software, he creates the bending processes for the drawn or imported profiles. The software automatically calculates different bending sequences and suggests the best variant to the machine operator. Whenever possible, Hellweg tries to apply the profiles from the stop-side.

Says Rengshausen: “We made a comparison with kick protection profiles and needed about 10 minutes for the classic bending of 10 parts. The same parts on the XLTbend were finished after 6.5 minutes: a decisive speed advantage of 35%.”
For further information www.pressandshear.com

LVD will focus on smart manufacturing by showcasing interconnected sheet metal fabrication processes at EuroBLECH 2022 (25-28 October, Hanover, Germany). On Stand F104 in Hall 12, visitors will see the LVD theme of ‘Shaping Flows’. On display will be a smart factory cell, as well as the latest laser cutting, bending, combination equipment, software and automation, demonstrating flexible solutions to enable a smarter production environment.

The cost-effective smart cell brings to life a smart factory driven by cost-efficient machinery comprised of the LVD YSD LaserONE laser cutting machine, a basic, no-frills fibre laser, LVD Dyna-Cell robotic bending cell for small- to medium-sized parts, and CADMAN software.

According to LVD, Dyna-Cell offers bending automation at a fraction of the cost of traditional robotic bending systems. Designed to keep cost per part low, LVD says that Dyna-Cell costs less than two stand-alone press brakes. It is easy to program the cell, fully offline, in 20 minutes or less, with 10 minutes of program preparation, 10 minutes of tool set-up and first part production.

Also on the stand will be LVD’s Ulti-Form robotic bending system, which handles small batch and long production runs with equal efficiency, delivering high productivity and consistent bending accuracy. Ulti-Form offers a fast ‘art to part’ process, reports the company. CADMAN-B software automatically calculates the optimal bend program and imports bending data to the robot software CADMAN-SIM – no robot teaching is required. SIM automatically calculates gripper positions, generating the fastest collision-free path for the robot, and relays the information back to B, enabling the operator to work with a single program.
For further information www.lvdgroup.com

IDTechEx forecasts that 3D printing’s continued innovation and meaningful adoption will lead the hardware and consumables market to surpass US$41bn by 2033. The new report from IDTechEx, ‘3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing 2023-2033: Technology and Market Outlook’, carefully segments the market by 80 different forecast lines across 17 different technology categories, four major material categories, and eight material sub-categories. These hardware and material forecasts analyse future installations, hardware unit sales, hardware revenue, materials mass demand and material revenue.
For further information www.IDTechEx.com/3DP

In the second quarter of 2022, order intake in the German machine tool industry rose by 24% compared with the same period last year. In this context, orders from Germany manufacturers increased by 27% and those from abroad by 23%. In the first half of 2022, orders increased by 34% overall. Domestic orders contributed to this with a 35% increase and foreign orders with a 33% increase. The VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) reports that Germany’s two lead export markets, China and the USA, remain strong.
For further information www.vdw.de