Daimler AG has ordered two laser blanking lines from press manufacturer Schuler AG (
www.schulergroup.com) for its Mercedes Benz facility in Kuppenheim (near Baden-Baden).
These lines will cut blanks (from coil-fed sheet metal) to be formed into car body parts.
The use of fibre lasers for the cutting process means that no dies are required, so product change-overs can be made with almost no set-up time, simply by loading the new cutting program.
Stephan Mergner, managing director of Schuler, says: “Another important factor for the customer was that these lines do not require elaborate press foundations — in contrast to blanking presses with dies.” The lines are due to be installed in November this year, and the production launch is scheduled for autumn next year.
At the heart of each line is a cell with three fibre lasers that will operate simultaneously. To ensure maximum output, the blanks will be cut from a moving sheet of metal. The Stop2Drop stacking unit will be very gentle on the finished blanks, which will be used to produce body parts for the latest Daimler models — on a press line also supplied by Schuler.
Meanwhile, Schuler has acquired a majority shareholding in China’s Yangzhou Metal Forming Machine Tool Co Ltd (Yadon) to strengthen its position in the world’s most important market for machine tools. CEO Stefan Klebert says: “China is our fastest-growing market — and the world’s largest market for presses.
“By acquiring a stake in Yadon, we will gain access to a large group of Chinese customers that we have not previously served.”