Interconnected Machines for 4.0 Production Process from A to Z

Interconnected Machines for 4.0 Production Process from A to Z

Located in a metallurgical district particularly renowned for its specialization in metal production and metal processing, gpb has been in the business for thirty years, putting skills, passion and technologies at service of many different customers. They did it with the help of a great machine fleet, which concerning sheet metal working includes a fiber laser cutting machine, press-brakes and a guillotine shear, all built and provided by warcom, and all interconnected in a 4.0 Environment.

Based in Gussago (Province of Brescia, Italy), GPB operates in the processing areas typical of Northern Italy metallurgical district: from light mechanical carpentry to sheet metal processing; from 3D design in Cad/Cam to metal processing; from mechanical processing to assembly operations and finishing.

An activity in which skills, passion, commitment and active support to the customer, are declined in a variety of services offered to different sectors. “We have, generally speaking, two ways of work - explains the owner Nicola Peroni - which are based on the needs of the customer who can turn to us with a project already well defined, or with a prototype or an idea to be developed from scratch. In both cases, our technical department is in charge of studying the order and generating the offer. And, if this is positively accepted, the executive process begins, aimed at optimizing time and methods in compliance with the requirements expected by the client”.

In the first case, GPB records the order in the management system with a single encoding, which identifies the offer, and then passes the information to the design office.

“Our designers - Peroni continues – will work on the project, establishing all the different pieces that will be a part of the final product. These data are then sent to a dedicated software that, in a totally automatic way, distributes the lists of work to the various machines, whether they need cutting, bending or anything else. The cutting procedure also involves the engraving of article code on the cut pieces. The semi-finished pieces then pass to the bending phase.

THE COMPANY IN A NUTSHELL

In over 30 years of activity, GPB has acquired plenty of orders, thanks to the variety of services which has always offered: realization of 3D prototypes, photorealistic renderings and design of components on request; mechanical carpentry work on sheet metal up to sizes of 1.500 x 4000 mm and thicknesses from 1 to 12 mm, by shearing, bending, punching; laser cut; processing of sections, construction of modular structures, electrical panels, industrial soundproof systems, containers and equipment for ecology sector. Traditional lathes and millers, radial and column drills, automatic cutters and tube bending machines allow GPB to offer a wide range of technologies for the construction of complex structures, while special lines allow them to provide assembly work and preassembly of parts, components and metal accessories. The articulated activity takes place in the 3,500 square meters of GPB facility in Gussago (Province of Brescia, Italy) and involves around 30 employees. To provide the best service possible to its customers, GPB created over the years important collaborations with external partners in the area, able to ensure quality, reliability and maximum precision in painting, galvanizing and other kind of treatments.

Here the operator enters the code on the machine, the 3D bending sequence appears on CNC, always automatically, and machine will be ready to start bending. Once the bending has been carried out, the sheet metal products are brought to the final assembly”. On the other hand, in case the customer only has a rough idea or the prototype of a project, the technical office is in charge of developing the design from scratch, making targeted proposals to optimize the technical characteristics, aesthetic properties and expected quality levels. Everything done in order to help subsequent industrialization. In addition to Cad/Cam modeling, the team is also involved in the realization of photorealistic renderings which allow the customers to better understand all the aspects of the final product.

A rigorous and efficient approach, based on a software implementation that allows the company to manage every order in all its phases, in a totally digitized way: from design, to production, to assembly, to final delivery. In this direction, the investments made in 4.0 key have been huge. Including the interconnection of the machines, which for the sheet metal working part include several systems supplied by Warcom: three hydraulic press-brakes, of which two Dinamica and one Evoluta series, an electric Logica and a Maxima guillotine shear.

“To these - adds Peroni - we added the fiber laser cutting system from Warcom, a W.Fiber 2040 with a 3 kW source, complete with automatic loading and unloading system”.

Productivity, precision and reliability in fiber laser cutting.

The new W.Fiber cutting machine represents one of the flagships of the solutions designed and created by Warcom, and aims to redefine the process carried out with fiber laser technology. We are talking about a machine with an electrowelded structure, more stable over time and precise even in large sizes, very versatile and capable of cutting metal with high performances, ensuring a maximum acceleration of 2G and a speed that can reach 170 m / min (interpolated X-Y axes).

It also guarantees quality results even on highly reflective materials and on thick sheets, maintaining low operating costs and reduced maintenance requirements. In the version with 3 kW laser source chosen by GPB, it is possible to cut on a work area up to 2.050 x 4,050 mm, mild steel sheets up to 15 mm thick, stainless steel up to 12 mm, aluminum up to 10 mm and brass and copper in thicknesses up to 5 mm. More generally, the W.Fiber series has different standard models going from 3.050 x 1550 mm to 2.550 x 10.050 mm, together with laser sources from 1 to 8kW, and thicknesses up to 30 mm. As in GPB facility, W.Fiber can be installed with the automatic loading and unloading system for sheet metal, together

MACHINE FLEET

To date, 6 Warcom machines are installed at GPB:

• 1 fiber laser cutting machine mod. W.Fiber 20-40 3kW complete with loading-unloading system

• 2 press-brakes series Dinamica 30.160

• 1 press-brake series Evoluta 30.160

• 1 electric press-brake series Logica 20.60

• 1 guillotine shear series Maxima 40.6/8

GPB employs three hydraulic press-bending machines, of which two Dinamica and an Evoluta series, a Logica electric press brake and a Maxima guillotine shear. with vertical warehouses. These systems allow to optimize the production process giving the possibility to work with a completely automatic unattended machine.

Flexibility in Customer service

In addition to sheet metal processing, GPB also has departments dedicated to machining works and to the assembly of final products. In the first case the company uses equipment including, among others, traditional lathes and milling machines, radial and column drills. As for the assembly works, GPB provides also plenty of different services, in a wide range of industrial applications, for example in the areas of extrusion and die-casting, in the metalworking sector or in the automotive sector. The company has specific lines for assembly and pre-assembly of components and parts, often adapted to the specific needs of the customers who thus find a highly personalized and tailor-made service based on production requirements. In this way, the outsourced assembly allows the customer to receive the goods quickly, with scrupulous and careful quality control.

“Through a dense network of collaborations and partnerships of trust built over more than three decades of activity in the sector - adds Peroni - we can offer on request all types of processing and treatments: such as painting and galvanizing. Light and medium-heavy carpentry works can thus find optimization in quality and performance through specific finishing treatments that increase their aesthetic properties, anti-corrosion and anti-rust characteristics, as well as protection from external agents or chemical substances”.

The added value of versatility and rapid set-ups

As already underlined, in GPB are now operating in additionto the fiber laser cutting plant, two Dinamica series pressbrakes, one Evoluta and one Logic plus a guillotineshear. Diversified machines, all bought from Warcom “Therelationship with Warcom – confirms and concludes Peroni- is now thirty years old. A supplier who has reliable andefficient solutions. And above all, we are talking aboutmachines of which we really appreciate the great versatilityand flexibility as well as very rapid set-up times. And this isin line with our requirements of very frequent and differentchanges”.

GPB also appreciates the support from Warcom, always rapid and efficient. This led over time in a renewal of trust, concretized in the purchase of the aforementioned machines.