ARKU InfoMax 43 E v5 · 2014-06-13 · The other customer example is Belaz, a leader of manufacturer of open-cast mining vehicles. The company‘s mas-terpiece is the largest dump

Baden-Baden, Germany – The larger and the thicker the panels are, the more difficult it is to work with them. Especially when deformed blanks are “leveled“ with a sledgehammer du-ring assembly. It is always far easier to level these panels with ARKU‘s FlatMaster® parts leveler beforehand. Level blanks free of internal stresses can generally be fitted without any pro-

blems, ensuring faster and more pre-cise assembly. In recent months, two companies have chosen this simplified means of working with large-sized pa-nels: A supplier for the shipbuilding in-dustry called ND Coatings GmbH and company Belaz Holding, a manufactu-rer of dump trucks and special vehicles for the mining industry.

ND Coatings GmbH in Papenburg, Germany, delivers pre-finished and processed steel panels to the ship-building industry. The steel panels with lengths of up to 12 m, widths of up to 3.5 m and thicknesses between 3 and 60 mm are stored outdoors. When ordered by the shipyards, ND Coatings

sandblasts these panels, levels and primes them before the initial ma-nufacturing processes. The company has established a continuous proces-sing line in which all of the panels and profiles successively pass through a sandblasting system, a leveler and a rust-protection treatment system. The highlight: Only panels with a thick-ness between 3 and 7 mm are leveled

using the integrated FlatMaster® parts leveler. All of the other parts and pro-files pass through the leveler without being processed. To this end, the mo-dified FlatMaster® 120 opens up to an unusually large 305 mm. The opening

process is so fast that the profiles and those panels requiring leveling can pass through the line rapidly and in any order.With a working width of 3.5 m, this FlatMaster® reaches a total width of ap-proximately 8.5 m and a height of 4 m. A frame reinforced for rigidity primarily contributes to the total weight of 110 t. A more powerful drive system ensures

that the 13 leveling rollers each with a diameter of 120 mm reliably deliver the required leveling quality.

The blanks leveled at the new Belaz plant in the Belarusian city of Zhodzina

Large dimension levelingThe ARKU FlatMaster® levels large panels and thick blanks for shipbuilding and massive mining trucks

ARKU Maschinenbau GmbH � Siemensstraße 11 � 76532 Baden-Baden � Germany � T: + 49 72 21 / 50 09-0 � E-Mail: [email protected] � www.arku.de

No. 43 / 2014

InfoMAXThe experts for sheet metal and coil leveling

ARKU Maschinenbau GmbH · Siemensstrasse 11 · 76532 Baden-Baden · Germany · Phone: + 49 72 21 / 50 09-0 · Fax: + 49 72 21 / 50 09-11 · E-Mail: [email protected] · www.arku.com

Wirtschaftswoche (Business week), a well respected German business magazine, dedicated its edition from 7th April 2014 entirely to the topic of innovation. Among other topics, the magazine lists the “50 most innovati-ve middle-sized companies“ in Ger-many along with the secrets of their success (see also www.arku.com). “Innovations do not happen by chan-ce. They are a product of a firmly implemented and professional cul-ture of innovation“, states Sebastian Theopold, who carried out the stu-dy on behalf of Wirtschaftswoche. Innovations flourish in a culture in which every area of the company is involved.This is what we strive to achieve at ARKU. Achieving 11th place on the ranking list among so many great names made us very proud. You can expect further innovations from us in the course of this year – You will find out more at the Euro-Blech in Hannover, Germany.

Albert Reiss, ARKU CEO

Innovative middle-sized companies

The maintenance for the FlatMaster® 180 re-mains as easy and quick as for all other smaller sized FlatMaster® thanks to the fully automatic pull out system of the whole leveling unit.

Continued on page 2

ARKU gewinnt Außenwirtschaftspreis

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might not be as large as the panels leveled at ND Coatings. However, they are up to 43 mm thick. The other customer example is Belaz, a leader of manufacturer of open-cast mining vehicles. The company‘s mas-terpiece is the largest dump truck ever built; the “Belaz 75710“: 360 tons empty weight, 450 tons payload, 20.6 m long, 9.87 m wide and 8.16 m high. A number of panels fitted on the dump truck‘s chassis are 30 mm thick and 2 m wide. These along with round “disks“ will be leveled on an ARKU FlatMaster® 140/200 in the future. Belaz has ordered his fourth FlatMaster® which is also the largest one in his plant.

As with all ARKU FlatMasters®, the hydraulic leveling gap control also reliably ensures high-quality leveling

results with the large parts levelers. The machines‘ hydraulic overload pro-tection counteracts the risk of over-loading which occurs when processing thick panels, in particular. The system stops the leveling process as soon as the permissible forces are exceeded. Because working with thick panels frequently involves contaminations such as filings and rust, the leveling roller quick-change system simplifies changing the rollers and cleaning the leveling unit.The new ARKU control system with its symbol-oriented operation and diver-se languages is ready for worldwide usage. Even when working with thick panels, the control system suggests leveling parameters which guide every operator to the right leveling results after entering only a few material spe-cifications.

Baden-Baden, Germany – Life Kine-tik Training has the goal to develop less-used areas of the brain by means of bodily movement. The weekly, 30-minute training is fun and offers unlimited potential for improvement along with a diverse range of new stimuli. After the exercises, the par-ticipants are more relaxed and less stressed because the training gives

them an opportunity to truly let go of their worries for a while. The trai-ning also allows the participants to enhance their multitasking abilities while also improving their perception skills. The training itself perfectly matches ARKU. Those who manufac-ture precision levelers need to car-ry out their work precisely and with focus. By systematically networking

every area of the brain the partici pants can draw on the brain‘s full capabilities; even and, above all, under stress. Successful soccer teams such as Borussia Dortmund and SC Freiburg have integrated Life Kinetik into their training routine. Would you like to find out more?

www.lifekinetik.de

Statement from Life Kinetik trainer Michael Kutzner:

“There is no better method to program your brain for full performance, espe-cially in stressful situations. Try it out and convince yourself!“

Rolf Dietrich, Head of Finance and Accounting:

“They are simple but varied exercises which the body can feel. I now do a number of them at home, as well, be-cause they are so effective.“

Ruth Gampp-Raquot, Custo-mer Service:

“For me, Life Kinetik is always a short break, time out from the stress at work. It is a lot of fun and afterward you sim-ply feel free and better“.

Dieter Kleppel, Head of Purchasing and IT:

“Life Kinetik is fun and never gets bo-ring! In addition, it is also beneficial because it improves your coordination and also helps to protect you against diseases such as Alzheimer‘s, by net-working both halves of the brain. This is a welcome change for me and one I enjoy!“

A parts leveler FlatMaster® 55 replaces a hydraulic workshop press at the com-pany ATOTECH in Feucht, Germany. The manufacturer of integrated production systems is part of the TOTAL Group and manufactures systems for electroplating. The servo-hydraulic FlatMaster® can level sheets from 0.5 to 12 mm in thickness and up to 1,600 mm width.

FlatMaster® 55 for ATOTECH Deutschland GmbH

“Life Kinetik“ brain trainingby Michael Kutzner

InfoMAX

ARKU-Ticker

ARKU strongly emphazises that quality control is performed throughout the entire production process, including the assembly phase.

ARKU employees enjoying one of the regular Life Kinetik sessions with their trainer Michael Kutzner

Continued of page 1

Küssaberg, Germany – If one asks hago‘s Managing Director, Daniel Hauser, about the most important characteristics of a business part-nership he immediately replies with: “A partnership lives from cooperation and commitment. Just like demanding customers rely on us, we have to be

able to rely on our partners, especially in areas where reliable processes are essential.“ For more than 20 years, ARKU has delivered levelers and press feeding lines to Feinwerktechnik hago in Küssaberg, near the Swiss border. The German complete service provider for high-quality sheet metal

solutions processes more than 35,000 t of sheet metal per year and produces 4,000 different articles. The company‘s key customers primarily consist of premium brand names from the auto-motive industry. High reliability and automa-tion make the difference

“The reliability of the systems has be-come a top priority for us“, explains Daniel Hauser, “This enables us to fulfill the strict delivery schedules.“ In addition, the systems‘ high level of au-tomation and short coil changing times serve to minimize the downtimes. The customers‘ jobs are becoming more and more unique, the batch sizes smaller. This requires flexible proces-sing within the same amounts of time previously provided for standard jobs. “ARKU is the ideal partner because the experts completely address our needs with every system and imple-ment these as a clever solution“, says Mr. Hauser enthusiastically. “As a cus-tomer it is great to be involved in the development process.“ Furthermore, the machine manufacturer has its

finger on the pulse of the market and understands its customers – keeping it informed about the changing needs.

A comprehensive range for every press size

Stamping and punching companies now have to adapt to the market requi-rements more than ever before. That is why manufacturing sheet metal parts in every shape and size is day-to-day business at hago – These ar-ticles range from the size of a paper-clip to body parts for buses. The large range of punching lines reflects this diversity. The production facilities are equipped with servo-presses, trans-fer presses and fine blanking presses from 60 – 1,250 t. “It is good to have a partner who can completely cover all of our needs“, sums up Daniel Hauser. “ARKU offers us a complete range of solutions for all press sizes with its press feeding lines and levelers.“ That is why it was a natural decision to bring the company from Baden-Baden on board also in 2014 in order to equip hago with three new lines as part of its expansion course.

Improved leveling performance thanks to intuitive controlsA new control system guides ARKU FlatMaster® operators to the optimal leveling parameters

Long-standing partnership with added valuehago trusts ARKU for more than 20 years

InfoMAX

In our new movie customers from various branches tell you why they bought levelers from ARKU and what bene-fits they obtained from them. Scan the QR code or visit www.youtube.de/ARKURichttechnik for more information.

Why customers buy levelers by ARKU

ARKU offers a wide range of refurbished machines as an alternative to a new machine. On www.arku.com/used_equipment you can find all current offers. When buying a refurbis-hed machine you will save an average of four months delivery time and still receive reliable quality. You can find further information about ”refurbished machines“ and components of levelers on our expert forum www.levelingrollers.com.

Large selection of refurbished equipment

Baden-Baden, Germany – It is of-ten impossible to manufacture high-precision sheet metal parts until the blanks are leveled and free of internal tension. The FlatMaster® parts leve-ler fulfils these prerequisites in an additional work step. The new control system for the ARKU FlatMaster® now ensures that this costs the operators as little effort as possible.All of the leveler‘s functions can be ac-tivated via the 15.6 inch touch screen. Many of the control elements, such as the use of recognizable symbols, are familiar from smartphones and intuitively understandable. The smart control system also assists the opera-tors. Once the material thickness and a few other material specifications have been entered, the control system sug-gests settings for the leveling parame-ters. Thanks to this assistance, even inexperienced users rapidly achieve viable leveling results after roughly one and a half hours of training. André

Fertinger, responsible for the pressu-re reservoir production at Metall- und Stahlbau Dietrich in Dietersheim, Ger-many, confirms this. Even after using the FlatMaster® for six months, they still largely rely on these suggested

settings. Other users such as Andreas Rausch, responsible for the press bra-kes at Fahrzeugbau GmbH Geisa, have gone on to optimize the leveling para-meters for every one of their compo-nents. He saves the specified values

on the control system using the article number and can access them at any time to set up the machine in a matter of seconds. The new control system supports all of the FlatMaster® leveling strategies from reverse operation to two way leveling and series leveling. A plau-sibility check prevents incorrect ent-ries and simultaneously provides an explanation of the implausible values. The digital explanations are part of a comprehensive concept to provide the complete operating instructions along with a diverse range of help and assistance functions digitally via the control system itself. In addition, even-tual fault messages are also saved and can be compiled and printed directly as a leveling log for successful leve-ling processes. Everything is easy to use, as André Fertinger sums up: “At ARKU they have actually succeeded in limiting the input into the control sys-tem to the essentials.“

Operating instructions and help for faults can be accessed directly, eliminating time spent se-arching through instruction manuals.

Harald Kohl (ARKU Sales, left) and hago CEO Daniel Hauser

Hranice, Czech Republic – Sophisticated processes and state-of-the-art ma-nufacturing systems characterize the production at SSI Schäfer in the Czech town of Hranice. A FlatMaster® 88 parts leveler from ARKU is one of the site’s key machines. To guarantee smooth production processes almost every panel passes through the roller

leveler after punching or laser cutting. This ensures that the parts are free of internal stress and perfectly leveled.

In order to pre-produce its shelf access machines without indicating any cus-tomer , SSI Schäfer has introduced a modular system and invested massively in sheet metal production. Since then, a FlatMaster® 88 has graced the spar-klingly clean halls in Hranice. Leveled and stress-free panels are absolutely essential for this type of production.The reason: The raw material itself ac-quires internal stresses in the course of the manufacturing process. Laser cutting or punching releases these stresses, deforming the panels. The FlatMaster® eliminates these internal stresses, leveling the panels again. The subsequent operations require highly precise panels and thus profit from the leveling – the individual panels are joi-ned using a special technique consis-ting of manual joining with only a small number of welding points and subse-

quent welding with a welding robot.SSI Schäfer primarily levels panels made of normal construction steel with a thickness of 5, 6, 8 and 10 mm. If necessary, the FlatMaster® can also process 20 mm thick panels. The length and width of the panels leveled gene-rally lie within 4 m long and 2 m wide because the punching and laser cut-

ting machines in Hranice are designed to handle these sizes. However, the FlatMaster® 88 still has length to spare given that the roller conveyors are each 6 m long and can easily level these panels.The difficult amortization calculation for a parts leveler is not an issue for SSI Schäfer. “Concrete figures about savings through parts leveling are very difficult to calculate. However, the primary issue for us is the improve-ment to the process and the bene-fits for the further processing steps. In view of this, we cannot and do not want to forego parts leveling“, explains Robert Selzer, the Managing Director of SSI Schäfer s.r.o. in Hranice.

SSI Schäfer s.r.o.Továrni 325 CZ - 75301 Hranicewww.ssi-schaefer.cz

Smooth production process

ARKU trainees lent a valuable hel-ping hand at the St. Bartholomäus Kindergarten in Haueneberstein, Germany, voluntarily and during the weekend. The aim was to remodel the children‘s playground and pre-pare it for the coming summer. The young ARKU employees replaced

the pump well, created a new water-way and cleaned up the entire site. The site caravan was also cleared out and cleaned up. Heike Hirth, the head of the day-care center, thanked

the trainees for their hard work and is already looking forward to when the children have the chance to enjoy the playground again. In spring the trainees will also re-furbish the roof of the site caravan so that the children always have a dry place to stay. The site caravan

serves as a base for the children in summer for a project in the forest.The ARKU trainees support simi-lar social projects during their free time once a year.

Russian can also be heard occasio-nally at ARKU‘s offices – especially when discussing details about ma-chine deliveries with customers from Eastern Europe. This is where Alex-ander Mai‘s organizational talent comes into play. Born in the city of Irkutsk near the beautiful Lake Bai-kal in Siberia, he works at ARKU as a product manager, handling order processing for the FlatMaster® parts

levelers. The mechanical engineer joined ARKU in 2007 and had his first success stories in the engineering department. As a product manager, he now monitors the schedules for the production of the FlatMaster® and is responsible for the punctual delivery and commissioning throug-hout the entire world. He works closely with the customers and re-solves all of the details involved in processing the orders. Organizing the assembly and delivery of large parts levelers within a very short period of time constantly presents Mr. Mai with new challenges. He has handled these with flying colors. Mr. Mai prefers to spend his free time with his family and enjoys sport. In his private and professional life he also enjoys travelling around the world to be as close as possib-le to our customers. Please do not hesitate to invite him to your corner of the world : [email protected]

Trainees reshape a children‘s playground

Personality Alexander Mai

Masthead / Publisher: ARKU Maschinenbau GmbH Responsible: Albert Reiss, CEO Coordination: Cornelia Hawkins Layout: Marschner+Kühn GmbH & Co. KG, Rommel & Company Print: Naberdruck

InfoMAX

Perfectly leveled parts are essential at SSI Schäfer

A typical part of a shelf accessing system