At its Kuppenheim plant, Daimler has installed two laser-based blanking lines from Schuler AG (
www.schulergroup.com) for the serial production of ‘compact’ vehicles; moreover, these lines can be changed instantly to another ‘cutting style’ at the touch of a button.
The programming of the contours is undertaken off-line, with simulation of the cutting process ensuring that production is optimised.
Furthermore, the flexibility of the process eliminates the previous dependence on heavy dies and simplifies the introduction of new car models.
Three laser heads, working in tandem, cut contours in the system at a speed of more than 100m/min from a continuously fed steel or aluminium sheet directly from the coil.
The material moves through the system at speeds up to 60m/min, with the cut blanks being separated from the scrap strip and stacked continuously.
Furthermore, two Schuler press lines in the same factory form these pre-cut blanks into chassis parts, which are then assembled in the adjacent Mercedes-Benz Rastatt plant.
Normally, blanks are stamped by using blanking dies that can weigh more than 25 tonnes and cost up to 200,000 euros each — plus there is the cost of storage, repair and maintenance.
Moreover, conventional blanking lines require a lot of space and substantial foundations.
The decision to go for this new technology, which is marketed by Schuler under the name Dynamic Flow Technology (DFT), was heavily influenced by the fact that the laser systems are readily reprogrammable and do not need expensive foundations.