EuroWire May 2021

Focus On Germany, Austria & Switzerland

Frommower blades to rolling mills – a 75-year history

This year, Fuhr is celebrating its 75 th anniversary, having been originally established in 1946 by 33-year-old engineer Karl Fuhr to manufacture his self-sharpening mower blades. Among the challenges Mr Fuhr faced was how to develop, produce and sell a product that met market and customer needs and also steered the company in an economically healthy direction. During his research, he developed a patent for a “keyless lock with variable opening code”, and worked on developing a treadle roller, a chuck and an electric lighter without a cable, before achieving a breakthrough with a rolling mill. This laid the foundation for today’s company – a flat and profile cold rolling mill specialist that sells its products all over the world. Global business activities still present unexpected challenges, especially in the current situation. Container ships have been sailing less frequently to Asia or

with the PTD ensures that the wiping always takes place under the same conditions (force and contact surface) and that the results are objectively comparable. Matching, waterproof paper strips (PSW 1840) facilitate handling. Use of a microscope is recommended, to analyse the traces of abrasion. Another method for assessing the cleanliness of wires before and after cleaning is the “smoke test” for the visual determination of hydrocarbons. GEO’s STD (smoke test device) is used for the comparative measurement of hydrocarbon quantities on wire surfaces (with a testable wire diameter range of 0.5 to 3mm). For this purpose, a wire section is clamped between two contacts in the device and heated until it glows by applying a corresponding current strength. The resulting amount of smoke corresponds to the amount of hydrocarbons that were previously on the surface as pollution. The amount of smoke can be determined both visually and quantitatively using a sensor and data logger. America for over a year, which means that promised delivery dates are more difficult to keep. At the same time, procurement times are lengthening throughout the supply chain. Equipment that has already been shipped is unloaded at the customer’s site, but in some cases is not assembled and put into operation until months later. These problems also allow new oppor- tunities. Today’s communication methods make it possible to invite representatives around the world to a video conference to present a complete rolling mill, contact- free and live from the assembly hall. In India, a video camera is installed in a customer’s production hall, to remotely assemble and commission the delivered machine. The challenges of the next few years will be in the areas of environment, energy supply and mobility in particular: energies will be generated regeneratively, and electrified drives will replace their conventional predecessors.

Company founder Karl Fuhr

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Many products in the supply chains are being modernised, and it is not uncommon for precision-wound rec- tangular copper wires to be used. With its modular systems, Fuhr is already in a position to respond to the needs of its customers in these special industries and to develop solutions together with them.

Fuhr GmbH & Co KG www.fuhr-wire.com

Wire surface quality checks The wipe test is a frequently used method for testing the surface quality of wires before and after processing, such as wire cleaning. This involves the wiping of a wire section with mostly white paper, which is pressed against the running wire surface with the fingers or the back of the hand for a few seconds.

The STD measuring device is a ready-to-use system with an integrated data logger and USB interface. The software and drivers are supplied on USB stick or CD, and are installed on a PC (compatible with Windows 7 to 10) before the system is started up. The licence-free software can be used on multiple computers.

The test can be carried out quickly and easily, and usually allows a simple visual assessment of the cleaning result by means of a “before and after” comparison of the residues in the cloth caused by the wiping. However, ensuring that all parameters are the same, for an objectively comparable test, is not so simple. The cloth or paper used can vary in structure and in terms of abrasiveness. Even if the test is carried out by only one person, the finger pressure is not constant, and often stronger than necessary. To wipe off contamination, it is usually only necessary to gently touch the wire/profile surface with the paper. The PTD (paper test device) is a handy tool for performing “tissue tests”. Working

GEO-Reinigungstechnik GmbH www.geo-reinigungstechnik.de

GEO’s PTD paper test device

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May 2021