The focus on quality at HATEC cannot be overlooked. The medium-sized company from lower Bavaria has not only passed a considerable number of certifications but it also has state-of-the-art machinery to get the job done right. The company is also characterized by its range of products and services: HATEC now offers more than just metalworking and has expanded its portfolio from metalworking to the assembly of entire sub assemblies. In sheet metal and tube processing, the medium-sized company offers laser cutting of blanks, milling if required and, last but not least, joining into assemblies. A machine park that the company always keeps up to date is indispensable. For example, HATEC only recently switched to fiber lasers. Customers from the commercial vehicle, agricultural machinery, logistics and medical technology sectors appreciate this.
Flatness and edge rounding are becoming more important
"Our customers are placing more and more emphasis on flatness and rounded edges for their blanks," reports Markus Heinrich, Technical Operations Manager at HATEC. This is due to the fact that the coatings adhere better to burr-free, rounded edges.
HATEC first made contact with ARKU Maschinenbau at a trade fair. "We were looking for a new leveling machine," recalls Heinrich. Although HATEC already had a roller leveler machine in use, it was too inaccurate and its output was too low. The sheets and sheet metal parts sometimes required several passes on the leveling machine until the required flatness was achieved. The maximum dimensions were also limited. The employees had to straighten larger parts on a hydraulic press. This meant a much greater expenditure of time.
Impresice trail runs at ARKU
While still at the trade fair, HATEC and ARKU agreed on the requirements for the new leveling machine. Heinrich and a colleague then traveled to Baden-Baden to carry out the leveling trials. In their luggage, they had exactly the parts that caused them the most headaches during leveling. "When we saw how they were perfectly flat after one run, we were really impressed," recalls the Technical Operations Manager. The robustness of the roller levelers and the comparatively low maintenance requirements also spoke in favor of ARKU. The decision was therefore quickly made in favor of a FlatMaster® 88. "This precision leveling machine is particularly suitable for flattening laser, punched and flame-cut parts," explains Christian Nau, sales representative at ARKU.
For several years, two operators worked on the ARKU leveling machine: one to load the system, one to unload and stack the parts. At the same time, two other operators worked on an old wet deburring machine. But the shortage of skilled workers is hitting everywhere, including HATEC. "It's a big challenge to find suitable staff, and it's likely to stay that way," reports Heinrich. That's why he and his team looked for ways to make processes more efficient - and came across ARKU again. The idea: if all sheet metal parts have to be deburred before leveling anyway, the FlatMaster® 88 can also be linked to an EdgeBreaker® 4000 deburring machine. Here too, the experts from HATEC took the opportunity to test the parts at ARKU and again, they were impressed by the results. Without hesitation, the lower Bavarians purchased an EdgeBreaker® 4000 because, unlike the old wet deburring machine, it works double-sided. "This saves the operators at least a second pass and the need to flip the parts over in between," explains Nau, and continues: "The machine's powerful grinding drum also reliably grinds off the stubborn burrs from the fiber laser. The second unit with the edge rounding brushes rounds the edges cleanly and uniformly." Heinrich sees another advantage compared to the old wet deburring machine: "A dry deburring machine is significantly easier to maintain."
Clever interlinking of machines reduces personnel
At HATEC, the EdgeBreaker® 4000 and the FlatMaster® 88 are directly interlinked via conveyor belts. Two operators are now sufficient: the first places the parts for the deburring machine, the second removes them from the leveling machine outlet and stacks them. In the meantime, all parts that are large enough run through the interlinking of the EdgeBreaker® 4000 and FlatMaster® 88. A minimum size of 200 millimetres is required for the double-sided deburring machine, "but that applies to 90 percent of our parts," says Heinrich. The material used is mainly mild steel, but stainless steel and aluminum are also used. "That's the case with every machine: You have to clean them thoroughly before changing the material," explains the Technical Operations Manager. At HATEC, production is then organized in such a way that as many aluminium or stainless steel parts as possible are deburred at once when changing materials. The employees can then save themselves one or two cleaning processes for the EdgeBreaker® 4000.The advantages of the ARKU machines have now clearly crystallized at HATEC. "We now have better quality. This leads to lower costs because we have less work to do with reworking," says Heinrich, expressing his complete satisfaction.
This is what the result should look like: Markus Heinrich (left), Technical Operations Manager at HATEC, Florea Ilies, Machine Operator at HATEC, and Christian Nau, ARKU Sales, inspect the processed parts.
