TPi March 2020

Products & developments

FCF: proving a worthwhile investment Engineering and tube mill manufacturer, SEUTHE has revealed that its customer data and feedback shows they are happy that an investment in Flexible Cold Forming (FCF) technology has a pay-back within the first three years based on the sum of all improvements, additional yield in production and material savings. “SEUTHE FCF technology gently shapes the profiles. We build our FCF lines a longer length than conventional tube mills since this improves the quality of the forming process and prevents extreme stretching at the strip edges,” said the company.

We increase production and reduce downtime,” the statement added. Depending on dimensions and gauge, approximately three per cent material is saved in the FCF forming section, so there is a much better raw material utilisation or material efficiency. In addition to the FCF technology, there are further advantages with the use of new cut-off systems. Reduction of saw blade costs due to longer service lives and therefore less downtime are main contributors. Optimised cycle times combined with higher production speeds improve the overall results. Improvements in length accuracy and tolerances, which have been reduced in recent years, are also said to help customers to save material when producing finished lengths. SEUTHE www.seuthe.com

With FCF tube welding lines, only square and rectangular tubes and profiles are produced without changing rolls in the forming section. “Considerations for environment and climate change are increasingly being incorporated into our technologies. We have been re-using braking energy for more than 25 years and feeding it back into the grid reduces energy costs. The use of modern motors with high efficiency classes and also the way that SEUTHE uses more single drives and avoids large group drives with one motor offers essential benefits.

FCF is in demand in the US market where both metric and imperial dimensions are sold and dimensions can be infinitely adjusted.

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March 2020 TUBE PRODUCTS INTERNATIONAL