Lasers Cutting Blanks for the Smart Press Shop
Schuler AG (Göppingen, Germany) and Porsche AG (Ostfildern, Germany) operate a fully-connected press shop that features a state-of-the-art blanking line.
Posted: August 23, 2021
Schuler and Porsche started operation of the press shop in Halle, Germany at the beginning of June but didn’t publicly announce that start until late July. The smart press shop features a servo press line with an output of up to 20 strokes per minute and a state-of-the-art blanking line: a Laser Blanking Line 2.18, equipped with two cutting heads for processing strip material with a width of up to 1,880 mm.
Blanking lines with lasers do not require expensive and heavy blanking dies, which is why they are particularly suitable for the production of new parts or small batch sizes with frequent product changes. The continuously moving coil material is processed into blanks at high cutting speeds. Thanks to tooling-free scrap separation, a high output is also achieved. Also, the line can transport sensitive materials, such as aluminum.
According to Schuler, the laser blanking line is the ideal solution for the smart press shop in Halle, which focuses on the production of aluminum outer skin parts in small batch sizes. By recording various measured values of the system as well as the coil material and by smart marking of the blank, the line that supplies the blanks for the servo press line forms the point of departure for a “track-and-trace” system.
