CNC Control for Rolling Machines
CNC Control for Rolling Machines
Today, CNC controlled machines can be found in almost all industries, from small-scale metalwork shops to big manufacturing companies. There is barely any phase of the manufacturing process that is not affected by automated CNC machines. Faccin SPA, a manufacturer of plate rolling equipment, foresaw back in the early 1980’s the need of the metal forming industry to have CNC-controlled rolling machines. Article by Faccin SPA.
After a continuous research and development, the first generation of Faccin-CNC bending rolls reached the metal forming manufacturers and for more than 30 years Faccin has been offering them all the benefits of the most advanced and powerful numerical control developed for bending rolls: the PGS-ULTRA.
The first benefit offered by Faccin’s CNC PGS-Ultra is improved automation for its plate rolls. The operator involvement linked to producing workpieces can be greatly reduced or eliminated. Therefore a CNC-controlled plate roll can run unattended during most of its rolling cycle, freeing the operator to do other tasks. This gives the CNC-controlled machine user other benefits like reduced operator fatigue, less mistakes triggered by human error and a steady and foreseeable rolling time and quality for each piece.
Since the rolling machine will be running under program control, the skill level required of the operator will also be reduced, decreasing the dependability risk of the manufacturing company on a single highly skilled operator.
The CNC PGS-Ultra, built with industrial SIEMENS hardware and a perfected user-friendly graphic interface, is so simple to use that even an inexperienced operator can program the rolling machine to produce simple circular shapes of different diameters and lengths or more complex pieces like polycentric tanks, spirals for ventilators, plates of variable lengths, and many more.
Accurate Rolled Pieces
The second major benefit of the CNC-controlled plate-rolling technology is consistent and accurate rolled pieces. Today’s CNC-controlled machines manufactured by Faccin can claim unbelievable precision and repeatability of rolled pieces. This means that once a program is verified, no matter the quantity, identical rolled pieces can be effortlessly produced with precision and consistency.
A third benefit offered by the CNC-controlled plate rolling machines is flexibility. Since these machines are run from a very “easy-to-use” program, running a different workpiece is as easy as selecting it from a different shape option on the screen. Special and unique options are available in the standard configuration like the possibility to build programs for rolling variable thickness programs, calculation of the plate developed length, cycle time, etc. Once a program has been verified and executed for a production run, it can be easily recalled the next time the workpiece is to be run. This leads to yet another benefit, fast change-over.
Motion Control Feature
Finally yet importantly, a wide range of machine accessories like feeding table, plate centering, lateral and top supports, clamping devices, can be controlled with the CNC PGS-Ultra through an easy-to-use motion control feature that manages 15 programmable directions (axes) allowing the operator to configure all the accessories required in the manufacturing process of high quality rolled plates.
Since programs can be easily loaded on the CNC PGS-Ultra, a very short setup time is required and therefore plate-rolling machines become very easy to set up and run which is imperative with today’s just-in-time production requirements.
Manufacturing companies face today huge challenges, intensified pressure and the need to reduce production time, improve flexibility and increase quality with energy reduction. Faccin is ready for Industry 4.0 thanks to its Smart Package 4.0 that offers features like Systems Diagnosis, Teleservice, Management Control, Drawing Imports, Rolling and Production Lot Statistics and Flexible Network Solutions between others, helping the manufacturers of today, face the challenges of tomorrow.
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