Decomecc, a specialist in customer-specifi c
blanking of aluminum strip, has been producing
shaped blanks on a Schuler laser blanking line
since the beginning of 2019. The Decomecc
system, the fi rst Schuler laser blanking line to be
installed, in 2013 in Dormagen, Germany, has been
signifi cantly optimised over a period of fi ve years,
in terms of output rate and blank quality.
At the end of 2018, the line moved from Dormagen
to Genk. It comprises a conveyor system, a laser
cell with three laser cutting heads and a robot for
stacking the parts
Laser blanking
cuts a fi ne profi le
Conventional press blanking lines will
continue to have their place, says
Schuler, speci cally for the mass
production of blanks with simple geometries.
But for the production of more complex and
changing shapes, it believes that the laser
blanking line, because of its exibility, is the
rst choice, especially for the production of
automotive outer skin blanks in steel and
aluminium (Class A).
Customers from Germany, the US, and
China have already invested in laser blanking
lines from Schuler. Two of the more recent
orders have been one from The People’s
Republic of China, for one of the largest
Chinese steel producers for a plant in Tianjin,
plus another for a customer in South Africa.
Both machines feature two laser heads.
South African automotive supplier VM
Automotive is expected to begin producing
blanks for the plant of a high-end German
automaker in South Africa (among other jobs)
on a laser blanking line 2.18 in the fall of
2020. The newly established blanking
operations will handle the full scope of
material logistics for the car manufacturer,
FORMING & PRESSING CUTTING A DASH WITH LASERS
thereby increasing the value it adds in South
Africa. By investing in the highly exible laser
blanking line, VM Automotive was able to
gain the upper hand over competitors that
use conventional blanking systems.
Additional logistics centres are planned for
other auto manufacturers in South Africa.
Back in 2014, one high-end German
automaker ordered its rst two laser blanking
lines for mass production, and the
equipment began producing two years later;
these were three laser-head models. “Our
customer no longer has any dies for these
blanks,” notes Martin Liebel, who manages
the Schuler site in Heßdorf, a town located in
the vicinity of Nuremberg. A highly exible
laser beam now performs the work formerly
handled by the dies. This laser beam makes
it possible to alter the blanking shape at the
push of a button, whereas altering a blanking
die can take several months – not to mention
the accompanying costs for storage and
maintenance. And when the equipping time
is factored in, the overall equipment
effectiveness (OEE) climbs to 80% for the
laser blanking line, compared to just 65% for
conventional press blanking lines.
With the system’s DynamicFlow
Technology, a laser blanking line is up to
70% more productive as a modern servo
blanking line with a press. “Output actually
signi cantly exceeded our expectations,”
says Liebel, adding that it had been possible
to regularly increase output by a few
percentage points with the help of a number
of smaller measures. A proven cleaning
process ensures that the system produces
high quality blanks that are also spotless –
an important requirement for critical body
shell parts. The same German carmaker
went on to order two additional high-tech
lines in 2017.
BREAD & BUTTER MACHINE
At roughly the same point in time, Schuler
began development work on a new concept
featuring two laser heads instead of the
three of the original designs. “We needed a
‘bread-and-butter’ machine that would also
deliver solid, acceptable performance for the
rest of the world,” Liebel says. The decision
proved to be the right one, as evidenced by
the orders last year for one laser blanking
line 2.18 each from China and South Africa.
“The systems are becoming more and more
dynamic, and the concept will win out in the
end,” Liebel asserts.
The use of lasers in blanking lines is growing in popularity, and
Schuler is a leading proponent of the technology. Andrew Allcock has
this update on the path that the technology has taken
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