01/16/2014

One for two

Schuler’s biggest-ever servo transfer press puts two lines into the shade at automotive supplier Craemer

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Lifting gear is used to gradually add each component of the new servo press.

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Thanks to Schuler’s ServoDirect Technology, the line significantly enhances the competitiveness of the automotive supplier.

Eleven meters above ground, fifteen meters long, eight meters wide and almost 1,000 metric tons in weight: automotive supplier Craemer of Herzebrock-Clarholz, Germany, recently launched production on the largest servo transfer press Schuler has ever built. The specialist for metal forming, plastics processing and tool making is using the line with its 8-meter long and 2.5-meter deep press bed for the manufacturing of structural parts, especially car seat shells.

The press bed needs to be so large as the parts are transported through several stations during the forming process. In the past, Craemer had to use two presses in line which were linked by a total of three automation systems. The fact that the same process is now handled by just one machine significantly enhances the overall reliability of the line – especially as parts no longer have to be passed from one press to the next.

Within the new line, parts are transported by a tri-axis high-performance transfer system supplied by Schuler Automation with an equally impressive span of over ten meters. Its extremely low vibration ensures fast and highly reliable part transfer. A prerequisite for this reliability is the integrated Active Vibration Dampening (AVD) system developed by Schuler Automation. Each of the motors delivers over 500 kW of power to generate a total press force of 25,000 kN.

“Market leadership also secured for the future”

“This highly productive acquisition will enable us to secure our market leadership also for future projects,” summarizes Managing Director for Production and Technology at Paul Craemer GmbH, Siegbert Geldner. “We are confident that this investment will soon pay off for us.”

In view of the impressive scale of the servo press, it is little wonder that it took nine days to transport from Schuler’s plant in Erfurt to the customer’s base in East Westphalia – via ship, two special cranes and three trucks with 16-axle trailers. The ship sailed from the inland harbor of Aken in Saxony-Anhalt via the Elbe, the Mittelland Canal and the Dortmund-Ems Canal to the harbor of Münster-Hiltrup.

Once at the Craemer facility, the press bed was first lowered into the six-meter deep cellar of the specially constructed hall. This was followed by the three-and-a-half-meter high slide and four-meter high crown, before all three components were fixed in place by four tie rods. It took Schuler’s experts around four months to complete the construction. The huge press is already the fifth line with ServoDirect Technology used by the Craemer Group.