WCA March 2020

Manufacturing Technology

Schuler press shapes parts for Italian sports cars

Meeting the needs of car manufacturers in record time: that is the motto of Lasim SpA, based in Lecce in southern Italy. Transfer plants with a press force of 800, 1,600 and 2,000 tons form up to 324,000 small and medium-sized parts per day. Lasim has now ordered a press from Schuler for the first time: a 2,000-ton machine with TwinServo technology. “We chose Schuler because of the technology and quality of the presses,” says Lasim managing director Giampiero Fedele. “We analysed the output and performance of the plant in advance, and Schuler offers clear advantages over the competition. The short delivery and commissioning times also spoke for the investment.”

❍ The Schuler press with TwinServo technology

In Schuler’s TwinServo systems, two separate and only electronically synchronised torque motors work in the press table. As a result, the machines not only build significantly lower, but the spring deflection is also reduced by 30 per cent, while both noise protection and energy efficiency are improved. The two decentralised drives are arranged so that die cushions and scrap shafts find enough space. In addition to two production sites in Lecce, one of which Lasim acquired from Fiat in 1992, there is a development centre in the Italian automotive capital of Turin. Mr Fedele also came from the north of the country, having moved to the southeastern tip of Puglia in 1980 to join the company as a 25-year-old. It was founded eight years earlier and today, with around 350 people, achieves a turnover of €85 million a year. The press for Lasim offers a tool clamping area of 6.25 to 2.50 metres and is automated with a transfer that, thanks to its active vibration damping, ensures safe transport of the parts produced. They include brackets for fenders, airbags or dashboards as well as cross braces and beams, some of which are welded onto 18 interconnected robot islands. In addition to the three transfer presses, the Lasim machine park has seven further individual presses and two press lines. An order from an Italian sports car manufacturer to produce a 60-part aluminum chassis made it clear that another transfer press was needed. Mr Fedele played it safe and, in terms of production speed, opted for the sports car under the presses – the TwinServo machine from Schuler. Schuler www.schulergroup.com

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