Achtung! Custom-Built Cut-to-Length Line Meets Stringent Specs
August 1, 2018Comments
As a supplier of light-metal parts, primarily for the auto industry and known for their consistent evenness, narrow tolerances and high surface quality, Martinrea Honsel GmbH (MH), with facilities in Germany, Spain, Brazil and Mexico, and headquarters in Meschede, Germany, relies heavily on its equipment suppliers. One such supplier is Burghardt + Schmidt GmbH (B+S), whom MH commissioned late last year to provide a customized cut-to-length line to satisfy its quality requirements. (For more on Martinrea Honsel and Burghardt + Schmidt, see sidebar.)
A new Burghardt + Schmidt cut-to-length line at Martinrea Honsel has a working width of 300 to 1250 mm, a cut length of 300 to 3500 mm, and handles strip thickness from 0.3 to 2.2 mm, with a maximum stacking height of 750 mm. The line satisfies tolerances for aluminum and aluminum alloy strips, sheets and plates defined in European standard DIN EN 485.
B+S did just that. The new line, with a Schnutz GmbH (a B+S subsidiary) high-capacity leveler, guarantees leveling quality according to German, European and international standards, and meets MH requirements. Moreover, according to B+S officials, the new system ensures 97-percent availability.
Thomas Rünker, project manager at MH Germany, says that the increased maintenance requirements of the previous system made it difficult to keep up with parts demand. “The range of products manufactured at our plant,” he says, “extends from coils and sheets to stamped blanks for trim parts in the automotive industry or sheet-formed parts to decorate automobile interiors, to name just a few.” Rünker says it had become necessary to maintain the old system frequently, making it impossible to guarantee system availability.
“We already had collaborated with B+S on several projects that demonstrated their technical competency,” says Rünker, describing reasoning for choosing to work with B+S for this new line.
Evenness a Must
A key requirement of MH Germany, where cold-rolled, wrought-aluminum alloys are cut to length, was that the new line provide consistently even strips for trouble-free processing downstream. An unwinder, used to remove the strips from the coil and feed them into a 23-roll leveler, ensures absolute evenness. MH Germany requires a working width of 300 to 1250 mm, as well as a cut length of 300 to 3500 mm and strip thickness between 0.3 and 2.2 mm. Moreover, the cut-to-length line, designed for as many as 40 cuts/min., needed to meet the length and form tolerances according to the DIN EN 485 European standard for aluminum and aluminum-alloy strips, sheets and plates. 
Schnutz fitted quick-change leveling cassettes to quicken inspection and replacement of the cassettes in the new line’s leveler. This shortened downtime and helped ensure improved machine availability.
“We manufacture those lines as a tailor-made solution in order to meet the conditions and specifications onsite,” explains Thomas Baral, managing director at B+S. “The system only needs slight technical modifications to handle steel and stainless steel, as well as other metals.”
