In pharmacy and biotechnology, cosmetics and food industries there are high standards for hygiene and safety. These apply, amongst other things, to the containers used for transport or storage. To produce these in the highest quality is thus a job for specialists such as Apaco AG in Grellingen, Switzerland. Until now the production of the dished ends, as connection elements for these cylindrical pressure vessels from stainless steel, was particularly arduous, as it required a high level of time-consuming manual labour. Messer Cutting Systems GmbH showed how this could be done faster and more precisely.
The Swiss company Apaco AG (www.apaco.ch) in Grellingen produces tanks, vessels and containers for heating and industrial processes. In these, for example, foodstuffs, chemicals and pure water are stored. The material of the tanks must display a corresponding resistance with a high standard of manufacturing, to be able to meet the demands of the branch. Peter Hänggi, Factory Manager at Apaco: "If caustic mixtures, acids or other chemicals are involved then we can accept no compromises in the quality of our products. That we are now able to become even better in this point is thanks to the common project with Messer. With it we have reduced our manual work to a minimum!"
Manual work is necessary above all in the customising of the shaped ends of pressure vessels made of high quality stainless steels, the so-called dished ends: "The usual practice is to lay out the dished ends in the production hall and to project the cut-outs needed for inlet and outlet lines onto them using complex techniques and then to trace these. They are then cut out using a hand torch with oxyfuel or plasma and then bevelled with an angle grinder. This does not just sound time consuming, it is also, sadly, not very accurate", explained the Project Manager Thorsten Wittek from Messer Eutectic Castolin Switzerland S.A. based in Dällikon, Switzerland.
From chance, hard work and good results
Thorsten Wittek reports how the cooperation arose: "Our customer, Apaco had occasional problems with their plasma cutting system, which was already 12 years old. When I asked what it was used for, it quickly became apparent how the problems could be resolved and how additional process automation could be developed. At this time they were cutting out the pre-marked holes in the dished ends, semi-manually so to speak. So we thought that a completely automated solution was certainly possible."
An Omnimat® L plasma cutting system with a Skew Rotator bevel head from Messer Cutting Systems was the basis for the solution. As the dished ends are domed, the stroke of the unit had to be increased from the standard 290 mm to 500 mm. Thorsten Wittek adds: "The freely moving Skew Rotator has been fitted with a special spindle in order for the finished parts are able to fit onto the machine at all. If a longer stroke is required in special cases then the cutting grids can be removed so that even dished ends 590 mm high can be processed with the most accurate contour and bevel cuts."
The decisive bevel thanks to software
An essential element for the successful automation of the work flow at Apaco is the OmniWin 2011 Software additional option "BoilerEnd". "With this program the dished ends are digitally represented with all details such as, for example, marking and cylindrical penetrations and the cut-outs are programmed accurate to the millimetre", explained Boris Spangenberg, Product Manager OmniWin & OmniBevel Software at Messer Cutting Systems. "And thanks to the good cooperation during this demanding project the software has been optimised still further. The basic program already existed but we could only develop the finesses which are important to the customer for the dished ends, during the course of the project. This was only possible because Apaco shared their expert knowledge with us and thus made significant contributions to the software development", stated Boris Spangenberg.
Plasma Modification for damage free marking
As a supplier of tanks for the chemical and food industries, Apaco has to maintain special production standards. Amongst other things, each container must be permanently marked for traceability. Previously the punched marks were made manually with a punch. Peter Hänggi: "With our clients every tank was inspected and checked closely for dimensional accuracy and the tiniest surface irregularities. Even the slightest surface damage on the inside did not pass the quality control and was thus rejected!"
To avoid this, and also to automate this laborious and error-prone process, plasma jet technology offered the solution. But even there, it was first necessary to mobilise know-how: as before the plasma torch sets off along its cut it first pauses briefly at its start point, which can cause serious damage to the sometimes quite thin sheets. Working with experts from Kjellberg Finsterwalde Plasma und Maschinen GmbH, the technicians of Messer searched for a suitable solution: "We modified the plasma system so that the arc was struck already during the approach motion so the torch no longer needed to dwell at the start point", added Manfred Radigk from Kjellberg.
That the space at the existing machine site at Apaco AG was very tight was just a minor issue for such a complex project: directly alongside the plasma cutting system, a press shapes the actual vessels. Torsten Wittek: "This meant we had to design a special bridge which shrunk from the original 4.600 mm to only 4.000 mm. This was not allowed to disrupt the actual operations at all."
Economy from Automation
Apaco can now process their dished ends more economically. "When the branch pipes were welded in by hand we had to use a large amount of welding filler material sometimes because of the inaccurate cut-outs. Now the software solution "BoilerEnd" calculates the dished end in advance and the Messer machine cuts the parts completely automatically, including the weld preparation bevels. Earlier we needed several hours to prepare a dished end. Today, with the new Messer machine it is a matter of just a few minutes!", enthused Franz Ruolt, operator in the Apaco factory.
The further development of the OmniMat® was also a premiere for Messer Cutting Systems. Thorsten Wittek to this: "The processing of dished ends is a completely new market segment for us. With the experience we have gained form the successful project with Apaco we are now ideally prepared for enquiries from that branch - with Know-how, Software and System technology!"
The Swiss company Apaco AG (www.apaco.ch) in Grellingen produces tanks, vessels and containers for heating and industrial processes. In these, for example, foodstuffs, chemicals and pure water are stored. The material of the tanks must display a corresponding resistance with a high standard of manufacturing, to be able to meet the demands of the branch. Peter Hänggi, Factory Manager at Apaco: "If caustic mixtures, acids or other chemicals are involved then we can accept no compromises in the quality of our products. That we are now able to become even better in this point is thanks to the common project with Messer. With it we have reduced our manual work to a minimum!"
Manual work is necessary above all in the customising of the shaped ends of pressure vessels made of high quality stainless steels, the so-called dished ends: "The usual practice is to lay out the dished ends in the production hall and to project the cut-outs needed for inlet and outlet lines onto them using complex techniques and then to trace these. They are then cut out using a hand torch with oxyfuel or plasma and then bevelled with an angle grinder. This does not just sound time consuming, it is also, sadly, not very accurate", explained the Project Manager Thorsten Wittek from Messer Eutectic Castolin Switzerland S.A. based in Dällikon, Switzerland.
From chance, hard work and good results
Thorsten Wittek reports how the cooperation arose: "Our customer, Apaco had occasional problems with their plasma cutting system, which was already 12 years old. When I asked what it was used for, it quickly became apparent how the problems could be resolved and how additional process automation could be developed. At this time they were cutting out the pre-marked holes in the dished ends, semi-manually so to speak. So we thought that a completely automated solution was certainly possible."
An Omnimat® L plasma cutting system with a Skew Rotator bevel head from Messer Cutting Systems was the basis for the solution. As the dished ends are domed, the stroke of the unit had to be increased from the standard 290 mm to 500 mm. Thorsten Wittek adds: "The freely moving Skew Rotator has been fitted with a special spindle in order for the finished parts are able to fit onto the machine at all. If a longer stroke is required in special cases then the cutting grids can be removed so that even dished ends 590 mm high can be processed with the most accurate contour and bevel cuts."
The decisive bevel thanks to software
An essential element for the successful automation of the work flow at Apaco is the OmniWin 2011 Software additional option "BoilerEnd". "With this program the dished ends are digitally represented with all details such as, for example, marking and cylindrical penetrations and the cut-outs are programmed accurate to the millimetre", explained Boris Spangenberg, Product Manager OmniWin & OmniBevel Software at Messer Cutting Systems. "And thanks to the good cooperation during this demanding project the software has been optimised still further. The basic program already existed but we could only develop the finesses which are important to the customer for the dished ends, during the course of the project. This was only possible because Apaco shared their expert knowledge with us and thus made significant contributions to the software development", stated Boris Spangenberg.
Plasma Modification for damage free marking
As a supplier of tanks for the chemical and food industries, Apaco has to maintain special production standards. Amongst other things, each container must be permanently marked for traceability. Previously the punched marks were made manually with a punch. Peter Hänggi: "With our clients every tank was inspected and checked closely for dimensional accuracy and the tiniest surface irregularities. Even the slightest surface damage on the inside did not pass the quality control and was thus rejected!"
To avoid this, and also to automate this laborious and error-prone process, plasma jet technology offered the solution. But even there, it was first necessary to mobilise know-how: as before the plasma torch sets off along its cut it first pauses briefly at its start point, which can cause serious damage to the sometimes quite thin sheets. Working with experts from Kjellberg Finsterwalde Plasma und Maschinen GmbH, the technicians of Messer searched for a suitable solution: "We modified the plasma system so that the arc was struck already during the approach motion so the torch no longer needed to dwell at the start point", added Manfred Radigk from Kjellberg.
That the space at the existing machine site at Apaco AG was very tight was just a minor issue for such a complex project: directly alongside the plasma cutting system, a press shapes the actual vessels. Torsten Wittek: "This meant we had to design a special bridge which shrunk from the original 4.600 mm to only 4.000 mm. This was not allowed to disrupt the actual operations at all."
Economy from Automation
Apaco can now process their dished ends more economically. "When the branch pipes were welded in by hand we had to use a large amount of welding filler material sometimes because of the inaccurate cut-outs. Now the software solution "BoilerEnd" calculates the dished end in advance and the Messer machine cuts the parts completely automatically, including the weld preparation bevels. Earlier we needed several hours to prepare a dished end. Today, with the new Messer machine it is a matter of just a few minutes!", enthused Franz Ruolt, operator in the Apaco factory.
The further development of the OmniMat® was also a premiere for Messer Cutting Systems. Thorsten Wittek to this: "The processing of dished ends is a completely new market segment for us. With the experience we have gained form the successful project with Apaco we are now ideally prepared for enquiries from that branch - with Know-how, Software and System technology!"
