TPT January 2016

Article

Schwarze-Robitec GmbH

Tube resource efficiency in shipbuilding and plant construction By Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Jürgen Korte, sales manager at Schwarze-Robitec

maximum diameter of 219.1 x 12.7mm – and that for a tube length of up to six metres. Despite its size, the system is unusually flexible in handling. With the help of the stacked tooling, up to 70 per cent of the set-up time of market-based systems can be saved. It is possible to process tubes of different materials, such as steel, copper-nickel-iron alloys and stainless steel on one tool. At the same time, thin-walled and thick-walled tubes with different diameters can be bent. With this clever tool concept, users have the most varied material standards and tube geometries under control. The set-up times between the different versions are minimal: a conversion of the system is not necessary. A further time- saving plus of the CNC 220 HD MW is that the different production data are stored in the control system and do not need to be re-entered if required. This concept has the potential to offer significant economic advantages said Mr Korte. The quick set-up times make sure that downtimes are short and utilisation of the machine remains high. “Schwarze-Robitec has already sold the machine type around 50 times to customers from the shipbuilding sector, the chemical industry and power plant construction,” reported Mr Korte. Time-saving details The production of complex three-dimensional tube systems becomes cost-intensive, particularly because numerous production steps are necessary. Often, each individual step involves optimisation potential with regard to time. Mr Korte said: “To manufacture three-dimensional tube systems, individual bent tube pieces are welded together and the weld seams then checked. The checking is such a time-intensive work step, which we have abolished with our automatic CNC machines of the HD series.” Thereby, the tube is clamped in the index head and positioned in space by means of the transport unit and index head. After the first bend, it is directly transported on and turned if necessary. This quickly creates three-dimensional tube systems without an excess of weld seams. The tubes can be delivered custom-fit to the building site. The use of

Introduction In shipbuilding and plant construction, miles and miles of pipelines made of the most varied materials and with variable diameters and nominal widths are processed. That is why high flexibility is in great demand with tube bending machines. “Time and cost savings are achieved, for example, when avoiding any welding of tubes,” explained Jürgen Korte, sales manager at the bending machine manufacturer Schwarze- Robitec GmbH. Multi-stack CNC tube bending machines have proven themselves in this context. They are equipped with stacked tooling, which is capable of bending tubes with different nominal widths on one system without any conversions. Due to the minimised set-up times, productivity increases massively. An advantage that international shipyards and plant construction firms have used for themselves over recent years. Schwarze-Robitec from Cologne has supplied the industry internationally with the multi-stack CNC tube cold bending machines in the most diverse design sizes. One of these systems is the CNC 220 HD MW of the heavy-duty series from Schwarze-Robitec. The tube and section cold bending machine, with 32 tons total weight, processes tubes with a Subjects such as sustainability and green technology have been discussed in the media for some years now, or are used as a popular plug for corporate announcements. Nevertheless, the reality is that the industry is still not fully sustainable, because companies use the majority of the gross production value for material. According to calculations by the German Federal Office of Statistics, that is an average 45 per cent. This results in a large savings potential with regard to both sustainability and company operating costs. In view of rising costs for raw materials and energy, one thing is sure: whoever wants to stay competitive, must use resources sensibly, streamline production processes and therewith increase efficiency. The human operator should also be taken into consideration in this context, because operator-friendly and secure production processes make a considerable contribution to the profitability of companies.

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J anuary 2016