December 2011

Solid traditions reaching far back, expertise and experience in mechanical engineering and continued development of innovative technologies have benefited AWS customers with high quality pipe forming and pipe manufacturing machines with trouble free usage for decades.   An expert team of long-term, technically accomplished team members is dedicated to the engineering, development and construction of custom machines to its customers’ specifications. AWS Schaefer continues to embrace new technologies and methods and welcomes your specifications for customized solutions.

Call us for more information on any of AWS Schaefer’s innovative technologies:

• Induction bending machines
• Pipe calibration machines
• T-fitting machines
• Pipe end expanding machines
• Pipe end milling machines
• Hydro forming machines
• Special purpose machines

Enjoy this ’YouTube’ presentation:  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd5WGLWNllA

To this day Schleifstein Maschinentechnik GmbH (SMT) has implemented a significant number of bumper presses, manipulators and flangers at customer sites all across North America over many years. With many of these machines being 20 years or older SMT together with GBS have proposed and implemented a significant number of press retrofits at our customers’ plant sites. After thorough inspection of your equipment we will submit a complete proposal to strip down the press to where the frame(s) remain. With frames repaired and repainted SMT will then add a new high efficiency hydraulic system, which includes new pipe installation and a new Siemens S7 control system with new wires and a control cabinet. Cylinders will be replaced adding absolute measuring systems. This new feature enables the addition of automatic set-up and playback to the system. The retrofitted press is now almost new and provides you with increased productivity running at more than twice the speed. Up-time increases due to faster set-up times and better production quality is achieved. Call us if a press retrofit is something you would like to consider!

Together with our long-term partner Schleifstein Maschinentechnik GmbH (SMT) we are fully committed to help our customers with the improvement of surface quality issues with our industry leading technologies.  SMT and GBS continue to provide surface treatment equipment with a specific focus on automotive ‘class A’ press shops.  Recently installed coil- and blank washers at Chrysler facilities in Mexico are generating highest levels of surface cleanliness in the industry.  Recent surface particle measurements at these facilities confirm that each and every blank entering the transfer press is super clean.  These super clean surfaces combined with SMT’s re-oiler (spray lubrication system) deliver the optimum conditions for consistent stamping quality yielding highest productivity.   Original Equipment Manufacturers and Tier One Suppliers in Europe, the Americas, and Asia today are using SMT washers or brush cleaners in combination with re-oilers.

In partnership with uwe braun GmbH we continue our mission to improve surface inspection reliability for automotive (surface) production from press shops to final vehicle inspection facilities.  uwe braun GmbH has set the industry’s standards for maximizing the detection of surface failures on stamped, primed and finish polish surfaces.  Expensive repairs later are avoided and the root cause of surface imperfections can be analyzed and eliminated.  uwe braun GmbH capabilities have been studied and implemented at Volkswagen facilities, where the companies inspection lighting systems are the designated ‘standard’ for Volkswagen facilities worldwide.   Ford 6 Sigma Team have analyzed and compared our systems with competitors and Ford in-house systems.   These comparative studies and their results came to prove significant surface quality improvements and generated large cost savings for our customers.

Are you working with tubes, castings, pressure lines, exhaust systems, pumps, radiators or cooling components?  H. Schreiner GmbH and GBS offer ideal leak test solutions.  Our recently introduced LPC 850 Leak Test Computer sets the latest standards in leak detection in the industry.  This latest technology will ensure highest quality in the production of automotive components.

Three-M Tool and Machine’s wind turbine facility specializes in the machining of large casting components for the wind turbine industries.  These components include windmill transmission housings, planetary carriers, torque arms and flanges.  Three M has extensive experience in the machining of such components for industry leaders such as Clipper, ZF, Moventas, and others.  This modern facility houses several large G&L boring mills and machining centers as well as the largest cubic volume Zeiss CMM (Coordinate Measuring Machine) installed in North America to support your quality requirements.  The Zeiss CMM (6 x 4 x 3m measuring cube) will provide you with a measuring protocol of a machined component, which confirms that specified machining dimensions have been achieved.

Together with our Technology Providers we are committed to highest quality standards!

There were tests performed by Ford to compare the results against the current surface inspection lighting.  A Ford 6-Sigma team was formed to accompany the test series.  Tests were performed using trial booths from 2 different suppliers and used 2 different inspection philosophies (horizontal versus vertical fixture orientation).  After several weeks of test runs the results only allowed one conclusion:   Test System 1 [uwe Braun GmbH] provided a significant improvement in the detection of surface defects. 

Diagnosis of the results (Graph in article) show that Test System 1 [Blue][Uwe Braun System] had better results than the current system, while Test System 2 results [different Vendor] were actually even worse than the current system.

Comment by the 6-Sigma team include:

• [System 1 provided] “Surface defect detection after polishing”  
• [There was] “Significantly visible improvement of defect detection and the connected repair work with System 1 (blue)(uwe braun)”

Note (uwe braun GmbH):  Subsequent to the tests as discussed the Ford Saarlouis plant replaced the prior surface inspection lighting with surface inspection lighting from uwe braun GmbH.   It appears that this particular application is for inspection of the roof.

Note (uwe Braun GmbH):  The translations under the pictures at the bottom of the article are:  ‘Vor dem Umbau’ (Before the Conversion), ‘Nach dem Umbau’ (After the Conversion).

Summary

Ford Saarlouis is VERY pleased with their decision.  A substantial number of Automotive Plants around the world are also pleased with their decision to use the world-leading Uwe Braun technology.  We look forward to providing superior defect inspection results to our potential new customers.

Visit Olimpia80 and GBS at Booth 542 at Fabtech 2011, Mc Cormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, November 14 – 17.

Fabtech is North America’s largest metal forming, fabricating, finishing and welding even.  For more information visit www.fabtechexpo.com.

As a leading supplier of short tube production and processing equipment TTEngineering located in beautiful Northern Italy continues to develop innovative technologies, which provides its customers with a major competitive edge in their markets. Some of these exciting developmental milestones make TTEngineering a true ‘system supplier’ to the Chimney and HVAC industry:

• First in the development of  a double roll-forming and laser welding line for tubes sharing a laser
• First in the development of a two-roller roll-former, which does not require tool change for different diameters
• A new line which produces different diameters, geometries and material tubes entirely without tool change!

Read more from the TTEngineering Newsletter.

This article highlights the use of uwe braun GmbH inspection lighting by automotive manufacturers such as VW, Bugatti, Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz.  Read about how automotive companies use the uwe braun GmbH inspection lighting for defect inspection of raw steel, unpainted stampings, body-in-white, painted surface inspection, buff-mark inspection, final inspection, and color-matching.  Patented ‘color-matching’ cabins provide vivid highlighting of any component part of a finished car deviating from the primary car color.  This process is especially helpful for color-matching of assembled component parts that may have been provided by 3rd-party suppliers, e.g. fuel covers, outside mirrors, bumpers, etc.