Schuler delivers TwinServo machine to V-ZUG AG

Schuler delivers TwinServo machine to V-ZUG AG

From the manufacturing process to die technology and value streams: As part of a comprehensive consulting contract, Schuler analyzed the press shop of V-ZUG AG in detail. The recommendation to increase productivity was the investment in a 1,000 metric ton press with TwinServo technology. At the end of 2017, V-ZUG AG ordered the system that Schuler has now delivered.

Roland Häfliger, Project Manager at V-ZUG AG, describes the TST presses as a “milestone in terms of quality and performance”: “They are precisely programmable, flexible and efficient. Thanks to the servo drive, we reduce energy consumption and can produce resource-efficiently.” With the investment, V-ZUG AG expects to remain “marketable and competitive”.

Presses with TwinServo technology are driven by two separate torque motors in the press bed. The electronically synchronized drives are arranged in such a way that there is still plenty of room for the scrap chutes. The extremely high tilt resistance, combined with the reduction in deflection, leads to an improvement in the quality of the parts, reduces stresses on the die, and shortens the die tryout times.

So far, all sheet metal parts for the products of V-ZUG AG – such as washing machines, dryers, ovens, steamer and dishwashers – have been produced on hydraulic presses. The declared goal now is to gradually transfer the production to the servo press: “The coil line is designed in such a way that the machine can process all kinds of sheet,” explains Häfliger, “from galvanized sheet steel to the mirror-smooth chrome steel surface.”

Thanks to Schuler's advice, the change of the dies with a weight of up to 32 metric tons and a size of six by two meters, which automatically move from the warehouse to the press, is reduced to less than 15 minutes: “Our employees are trained to handle every move”, says the project manager. “That allows us to produce even the smallest lot sizes.”

V-ZUG AG attaches particular importance to the fact that the machines – in which approximately ten kilometers of cable are laid – are prepared for the requirements of Industry 4.0. For this reason, Schuler not only used state-of-the-art bus systems and decentralized installation techniques, but also IO-Link-capable sensors. This means that the setting data of the sensors are programmed in the control and can therefore be exchanged without having to be readjusted by the service personnel. The start of production is scheduled for the end of September 2019.

Source and photo: Schuler