Automation on a small footprint

Jan Oortgiesen makes sure the automation equipment at his sheet metal operations matches current trends: “The batches are getting smaller and smaller. Typical are orders for 25 to 300 items,” says the owner of Goma B.V. in the Netherlands. But automation still pays off, since many jobs involve repeated operations in bending, punching and laser cutting. That makes a fully automated Stopa storage system the heart of manufacturing. It provides storage space for some 400 mild steel, aluminum and stainless steel sheets. more...

Steel instead of stalls

Some truck drivers have their doubts as they wind their way over country roads to Krämer Brennteile. The idyllic countryside surrounding the farm in the Black Forest is more reminiscent of a vacation area. But you would search   in vain for a hotel — or cattle, for that matter. Instead you will find a substantial manufactory for sheet metal processing. In addition to a flame cutting machine, a TruLaser 1030 has found space in the outbuildings. more...

Efficient sheet metal processing

There's a bright future for combined punching and laser cutting. Someone firmly convinced of this fact is Jörg Oberschmidt, owner of the company of the same name in the Westphalian town of Westerkappeln. To ensure adequate stiffness in spite of reduced thickness, beads have to be embossed into the sheet metal. At the same time, the costs per part must not rise. "This makes it quite clear that combined punching and laser cutting will be in demand in the future, in order to manufacture effectively. The combination of punching and laser cutting is more vital than ever before." more...

Ready for every eventuality

With the TruMatic 3000 the company known as “Metalle in Form Geräteteile GmbH” has taken up the challenges associated with combined punching and laser cutting technology – and hasn’t for a moment regretted that step.
“Buying a machine twice as expensive as its predecessor is certainly unsettling,” admits Hilmar F. John, General Manager at the Metalle in Form Geräteteile company in Karlsruhe. And despite all that he is thoroughly satisfied with his decision, made in 2009 and right in the middle of the crisis. more...

Precision machining for tubes in short production runs

With the installation of the newly-developed RotoLas chuck, the Keller GmbH can transition flexibly between working flat sheet and machining tubes on the new TruLaser 3030. “Being a small company means that we have to be very flexible,” says Harald Keller. Ever since 2003 he has captained the Keller Metallbau GmbH, located in the town of Endingen, and is the fourth generation to run the company, now employing a staff of thirty. Enduring ties to customers and suppliers are, to his mind, the foundation for a viable company. “We don’t want to get bigger, but rather to become more attractive and simply better,” is his watchword. That also means thinking outside the box and trying out new ideas. more...