Automated processing of pipes? TecPro makes it possible! Thanks to the combination of an automated TruLaser Tube 7000 fiber and a TruLaser Cell 8030 from Trumpf, as well as a tube bending machine from Trumpf partner transfluid®, the company now has a real ace up its sleeve: Even complex tube processing tasks can be carried out automatically, efficiently, precisely and cost-effectively.
© Trumpf
Anyone who asks Holger Malzkorn, Managing Director of TecPro Metall GmbH, what characteristics set the company apart will receive a clear answer: “Flexibility, efficiency, thinking in terms of solutions and our expertise, which enables us to optimize products together with our customers.” A few months ago, it became clear that he was not exaggerating. A customer from the automotive supply industry requests a cross tube for a trailer coupling. TecPro would have to cut, contour and bend the tube.
Further contours must be added in the arch area. All of this, of course, with high demands on component accuracy – and of course at a good price. 50,000 parts per year are planned for the start, and further orders could follow. This cannot be done with the existing machines at pipe processing specialist TecPro either, but Dominik Jordan, Sales Manager at TecPro GmbH, and his team are open to new approaches. “An automated solution was needed to manufacture the component cost-effectively and with minimal manual effort,” he recalls, adding: “This is the only way to reduce cycle times, even with existing personnel.”
Better together
TecPro Metall GmbH, based in Neuss, North Rhine-Westphalia, is part of the Neuenhauser Group, a group of companies that includes metalworking companies. The advantage: customers benefit from the respective specialist know-how of the individual companies and from the synergies created by the company network. TecPro supplies components and complete assemblies and systems to the automotive and commercial vehicle industry as well as the mechanical and plant engineering sector. The focus is on tube processing. “Like the entire Neuenhauser Group, we also rely exclusively on machines from Trumpf. That’s why the contacts from Ditzingen were also our first port of call for the tube process chain project,” explains Malzkorn.
© Trumpf
Everything from a single source
For Raphael Heinzelmann, TruLaser Tube Product Manager at Trumpf, TecPro’s requirement is nothing new: “Automated processes are increasingly in demand in tube processing. With our systems, we offer our customers optimum conditions for this. What we were missing for a continuous, automated tube process chain at TecPro was a tube bending machine, which we don’t have in Trumpf’s portfolio.” The Trumpf experts are closing the gap through a strategic partnership with Transfluid-Maschinenbau GmbH, the specialist for tube bending and processing machines. “Together, we are able to offer an automated pipe process chain that meets our quality requirements,” says Heinzelmann.
The solution at TecPro consists of the perfectly coordinated interaction between the TruLaser Tube 7000 fiber automated laser tube cutting machine and a TruLaser Cell 8030 3D laser system from Trumpf. “The third machine in the group is an all-electric CNC mandrel bending machine from our partner Transfluid,” says Heinzelmann. The process chain is automated by a robot.
Cutting, bending, lasering
TecPro has had many years of good experience with laser tube cutting machines from Trumpf. In addition to a TruLaser Tube 5000 fiber, the TruLaser Tube 7000 fiber is already part of the TecPro machine park. “However, the requested component also required a machine that is capable of inserting contours into bending areas,” explains Dominik Jordan. After Trumpf test-produced some of the TecPro components on a TruLaser Cell 8030, it is clear that this 3D laser system will be part of the automated network. “The TruLaser Cell 8030 is already designed for automated production and impressed us with its precise processing quality and process reliability,” says Jordan. “TecPro opted for the CNC mandrel bending machine from Transfluid to bend the pipes,” explains Heinzelmann.
The tube process chain now ensures a smooth process in the production of the cross tube for the trailer coupling: The TruLaser Tube 7000 fiber cuts the tubes to size and applies contours. The pipes are then transported to the Transfluid pipe bending machine and automatically loaded by the robot. After bending, the robot takes the components to the TruLaser Cell 8030. This is where the final processing takes place. The 3D laser system cuts out contours that cannot be inserted before bending because they would otherwise warp.
Great individually, unbeatable as a team
“Each machine in itself offers us advantages that will also give us a quality and cost advantage in future projects,” says Dominik Jordan happily. The TruLaser Tube 7000 fiber impresses TecPro above all with its process reliability. TecPro employees praise the TruLaser Cell 8030 for its self-explanatory and time-saving programming. “Once the uploading of fixtures and components has been completed, the programming is practically a matter of course,” says Dominik Jordan. The bending machine from Transfluid not only reliably meets the required tolerances, it can also be set up quickly and easily using the tool changing system. “It also copes well with heavy components,” adds Jordan.
As a team, the machines and automation are the perfect solution for the production of the requested component, confirm both TecPro and the automotive supplier. All project participants are also very satisfied with the cooperative partnership. “Our contacts at Trumpf and Transfluid worked closely together on this project. That was convenient for us, because we felt we got the advice, the machines and the commissioning from a single source,” summarizes Holger Malzkorn.
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