A historic milestone for Schwarze-Robitec: in December 2023, the tube bending specialist was able to celebrate 120 years of expertise in mechanical engineering. The company provides customised and high-performance tube bending solutions, ranging from individual machines to fully automated bending cells.

Founded in 1903 as Gebrüder Schwarze (Schwarze Brothers), Schwarze-Robitec has specialised in tube bending for more than nine decades. The company has been headquartered in Cologne from the very beginning and today presents itself as a technology partner for first-class tube bending solutions. Schwarze-Robitec tailors all bending machines to individual requirements and manufactures its tube benders in Germany.

The product portfolio of the tube bending specialist reflects the diversity of the industries it serves: from the high-performance series for the automotive and aerospace industries, through heavy-duty machines for plant construction, shipbuilding and the offshore industry, to the boiler and power series for the power plant sector.

In 1976, the company presented the world’s first CNC tube bending machine, followed by the first multi-radius bending machine in 1988. Fully electric machines arrived at the turn of the millennium, and in 2018 Schwarze-Robitec could offer the world’s largest full-electric multiple-radius tube bending machine.

Since 2020, Schwarze-Robitec has expanded its expertise into the rapidly growing sector of electromobility. Here, precision manufacturing is crucial: the busbars required for e-mobility require accurate bending while considering individual geometries and without damaging the insulation. The demand for fully automated bending processes is also rising. This concept involves integrating numerous upstream and downstream processes, such as assembly, end forming and measuring, into the tube bending cell. Incorporating additional systems for tube feeding and/or robots is also among the specific requirements for fully automatic tube processing. For further information www.schwarze-robitec.com

Stroj d.o.o. from Slovenia recently acquired a second Haco press brake via Fingal, Haco’s partner in the country. The company had already bought a Euromaster press brake but opted for expansion with the new HDSY 40600 press brake.

With over 70 years of experience in assembling, welding and processing complex steel components, Stroj delivers high-quality structures to leading manufacturers across Europe and beyond. The company exports nearly 90% of its production to western Europe.

A Stroj representative says: “We are very satisfied with the performance of our previous machine, which works accurately and reliably. That’s why it was logical to choose Haco again.”

Due to the acquisition of the HDSY 40600, Stroj has increased its production capacity, with the press brake capable of bending lengths up to 4 m and processing materials up to 18 mm thickness. The improved quality of work and precision, which the company already knew from Haco, were additional benefits of the investment.

Fingal has sold over 300 Haco machines in the Slovenian and Croatian markets. With its own sales and service team, Fingal also provides excellent service for Haco machines.

“We chose Haco because of the excellent quality of their machines, continuous development and good price-to-quality ratio, and especially because of the European origin of the machines,” explains Sergej Brandl of Fingal.

The sales and installation process went smoothly, according to both Stroj and Fingal, confirming their confidence in the sustainable collaboration with Haco.

For further information www.haco.com

LVD has added panel benders to its portfolio of flexible solutions for sheet metal processing. The new product line encompasses a range of models, including high-speed panel bending systems. LVD launched the new line at the Blechexpo exhibition towards the end of 2023, with the unveiling of the PB 21/12 automatic panel bending machine.

The new panel benders expand LVD’s scope as a solutions provider, offering users a broad array of metal fabricating products from a single source. Panel bending machines can process large and complex geometries quickly and efficiently in medium to high volumes. For certain applications, panel bending is faster and more efficient than traditional die bending.

LVD says it panel benders are engineered as cost-effective machines that it can customise to help users expand capacity and performance. The servo-driven design requires minimal service and is nearly maintenance-free. A universal set of folding blades permits processes a wide range of profiles and bends. Users can form most profiles using a single set of tooling. LVD says the panel benders boast an output capacity that is two to three times that of comparable systems.

Panel bending technology is suitable for producing large electrical cabinets, panels and cabinet components, shelving, clean rooms, steel furniture, architectural building panels, photovoltaic components, trailer side panels, lighting, and other industrial equipment panels featuring complex geometries with radius bends, short side lengths and narrow profiles.

LVD will initially offer three panel bender models: PB 21/12, PB 25/12 and PB 32/12 to handle panel sizes up to 3200 x 1250 mm.

For further information www.lvdgroup.com