The parts production department at Silberhorn Maschinenbau grew and prospered. First, the Silberhorn Blechtechnik subsidiary was established, a bit later came a new facility. The sheet metal specialist offers processing by means of laser cutting, chamfering and other methods for both its parent company as well as for external customers.
„Thanks to the leveler, we have got more orders from two existing customers. We have also been able to gain a new customer as well. For them, we even supply a finished assembly.“
- Manfred Bayerl, Head of Sales at Silberhorn Blechtechnik
Laser cutting causes residual stresses to form in the sheet metal due to the heat. However, for further processing, the sheets must lay as flat as possible. Silberhorn Blechtechnik experiences strong quality fluctuations in the high-grade steel material they purchase, and often warpage occurring in the same material batch. This is tricky because the shop floor must ensure that a consistent quality is delivered.
The company also featured only one manual straightening press in the old facility. Thus, the successive processes were not so very reliable and precise.
The new facility also got outfitted with new machinery, including a FlatMaster® 88 leveler from ARKU. It helps to reduce residual stresses in the sheets.
With the new machine, flattening has become so much easier. Additionally, it offers consistent high-quality results and huge time-savings. Downstream processes are now even more productive and efficient.
And yet, Silberhorn Blechtechnik does not use the FlatMaster® 88 for all their workpieces. Basically, it is used for parts that require high precision in the subsequent processes, such as chamfering, laser welding or milling.
Only a few external customers do explicitly ask for leveled sheets. However, many of them require such high-quality blanks to safeguard optimal downstream processing conditions, thus making leveling an indispensable addition.