5 cases in which a leveler has reduced production costs

A leveler generates process cost savings of up to 40 percent. Danne Holding GmbH proves just how effective these machines are. The corporate group from Augustdorf near Detmold in Germany has specialized in fabricating and processing metals since 1973. Its customers include companies in the machinery and commercial vehicle industries, where shaped parts have to fulfill demanding flatness standards. In the past, Danne often had to invest in manual rework. Material stresses repeatedly caused flat panels to suddenly behave like rubber bands and spring out of shape.

Danne has invested in a leveler with the aim of reducing their rework times. “The machine not only levels flame-cut and laser-cut parts between 5 and 15 millimeters thick with high precision but also reduces material stresses,” says Josef Spieker, Technical Manager at Danne Holding. Reducing the stresses in the material saves the company time during downstream processes. “We can efficiently fabricate even complex parts without additional rework. Downstream processes such as bending and welding now involve significantly less adjustment and rework.” Another advantage is that the quality control takes place on the roller conveyor itself. Employees no longer have to lift the parts onto a measuring table first. As a whole, this has provided process cost savings of up to 40 percent.

Levelers also increase productivity at Goldhofer – a company from Memmingen in Germany which manufactures heavy-duty vehicles, trailers, recovery systems as well as aircraft and cargo tractors. Its customers include construction companies, freight carriers and aircraft handling companies. Goldhofer utilizes fine grain structural steels up to 35 millimeters thick along with thin sheet metal to save weight. However, the thinner the sheets, the more important leveling becomes. To achieve consistent results, Goldhofer invested in a leveler with servo-hydraulic leveling gap control. The machine processes blanks up to two meters wide. The system operates in three shifts and every year around 120,000 parts run through the roller leveler. “With the precision leveler, we achieve flat parts with minimal internal stress”, says Ephraim Arzt, Parts Production Manager at Goldhofer. The machine’s hydraulic system works without any problems and is virtually maintenance free – despite operating around the clock.

KMW Mansfeld GmbH has also invested in precision levelers to reduce production costs and increase product quality. Founded in 1909, the company from Hettstedt near Halle in Germany manufactures copper pre-products and semi-finished products along with copper alloys for industrial use and plant construction. These products include sheets, panels, tubes, rods and profiles. KMW manufactures the products using casting, drawing and roller processes. In the past, the company was confronted with the problem of highly uneven copper panels after the rolling process.

This prompted KMW to expand its array of machines to include a hydraulic precision leveler that levels parts between 2 and 60 millimeters thick in the time of only a few seconds. This results in virtually stress-free sheets and plates and largely eliminates the need for stress relief cuts and heat treatment. “We obtain virtually stress-free sheets, often without heat treatment,” says the Production Manager, Uwe Hirsemann. “The process is very simple: level once, cut, sell.”

Investing in a precision leveler quickly pays for itself. The machine accelerates the leveling process, freeing up capacity for other jobs. Sturm Blechverarbeitung GmbH demonstrates how it is done. The company from the Bavarian town of Salching in Germany specializes in sheet metal fabrication – from the initial sample to the series parts made of steel, stainless steel, aluminum and also special materials. In the past, the individual production steps were not effectively coordinated. This led to coversheets being delivered to the welding shop without proper preparation. As a consequence, the welders had to straighten the bulbous and warped sheets with a flame before they could actually fit them into the clamping device and carry out the welding.

The employees were immensely relieved when the company purchased a precision leveler. The hydraulic machine levels between 2 and 23 millimeter thick metal sheets within just a few seconds. The advantage: the throughput times in the welding shop have improved significantly because rework is no longer necessary. In addition, Sturm Blechverarbeitung GmbH also benefits from the short cleaning times. This is because the precision leveler features a quick-change system that allows the leveling rollers to be cleaned with little effort.

The Doppelmayr/Garaventa Group is one of the quality and market leaders in ropeway construction. The company relies on a hydraulic precision leveler to fabricate stress-free blanks. The machine has an opening width of 2,000 millimeters, making it the ideal solution for processing large sheets with a thickness of between 2 and 23 millimeters (0.08 and 0.9 inch). It also ensures virtually stress-free punched, laser-cut and oxyfuel-cut parts, thus reducing rework in the downstream processes. Doppelmayr assembles the level sheet metal blanks into primary components such as reversing stations and roller batteries. “Our customers want high comfort, safety and an appealing exterior”, says Walter Eberle, Production Planner at Doppelmayr. “With the FlatMaster from ARKU, we can best meet the high demand for safe and aesthetic ropeway constructions.”

Doppelmayr processes around 10,000 tons of sheet metal per year. “Sheet metal can be shaped very well and gives us a lot of freedom when designing the systems”, says Eberle. “In addition, it can also be leveled very well in comparison to other materials. This vastly simplifies subsequent processes such as welding or bending.”