SHW Werkzeugmaschinenpowerspeed6 with Two Columns Saves 40% Machining Time

Press Report09SH13
Application:Liebherrwheel loaders(Bischofshofen)February 2014

SHW WerkzeugmaschinenPowerSpeed6 with two columns saves 40% machining time

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Double the power to fulfilmen’s dreams

(Bischofshofen/Aalen) For the production of its wheel loaders, LiebherrBischofshofen has chosen a modern, flexible manufacturing line with a high degree of automation. A new, wellequipped machining centre from SHW Werkzeugmaschinen supports this philosophy through the parallel machining of large workpieces. Using two simultaneously operating orthogonal milling heads,the basic components of the powerful wheel loader models can now be finish machined much faster than before. This benefits both product diversity and frees up space and capacity for further optimisation measures.

As you drive over the large bridge, you can already see the 220,000-square-metre factory. There they are, what men dream of: wheel loaders of all sizes, from five to 34 tonnes, with buckets that can load up to 14 m3 at a time. And immediately on the right isthe entrance area with huge mounds of sand, stone and earth where customers can try out the earth-moving equipment and makestandard comparative tests. Who wouldn’t want to get behind the wheel and start driving right away? Well another timeperhaps, because today is all about how the wheel loaders are manufactured, or more precisely about the machining of the front and rear steel components. Since commissioning of the new SHW PowerSpeed 6 withtwin columns in April 2013, productivity in this area has increased by up to 40%.Let’s take a closer look.

Flexible production line for a wide range of products

At the Liebherr factory, founded in 1960, wheel loaders have been built since 1985. Initially, cranes were built as well but since 1996 the production has focused exclusively on so-called flexible earthmoving equipment with the characteristic articulated steering and rear steering axle as well asoscillating frame articulation and centre-pivot axle. 1000 people work at the factory in Austria where 3500 to 4500 vehicles can be produced every year. What is special about Liebherris the wide variety of almost 20 different types of wheel loader, which can be tailored exactly to the customer’s requirements and application,“in principle, just as you would order a car or a commercial vehicle today, choosing exactly the options you require,” says George Ganitzer,Head of Production. Liebherr’sparticular expertise,when it comes to the products they manufacture,lies in the mechanical production operations such as robotic welding, painting, assembly, testing and even sheet-metal working. The new machining centre is part of the on-going optimisation of the production lines to increase flexibility.

To manufacture the front and rear subassemblies,Liebherr uses a flexible manufacturing line with zero-point clamping systems and a high degree of automation,in order to ensure the shortest possible production times. To achieve this, the Austrians have installedan SHW PowerSpeed6 machine with two travelling columns. Strictly speaking, these are two machines that communicate with each other,” points out Danny Basic, Head of Marketing at SHW WM. Thus the welded and prefabricated components can be machined in parallel in a single setup. “By simultaneous milling, drilling and finish boring of sheet metalup to 120 mm thick on both sides, now just one machine is needed where previously two were required,” says RaimundPromegger, an experienced foreman in the Liebherrproduction shop. Travelling at speeds of 30,000 mm/minalong the 12,000 mm long axes, the twin columns can quickly reach any position on the workpieces which may be up to 4500 mm long.

Vertically the headstock travels at up to 3100 mm in the Y-direction and horizontally up to 1500 mm in the Z-direction. At the heart of the SHW machine tools for over 50 years now is the compact and powerful universal milling head in orthogonal design. With the versatile milling head, over 216,000 positions on the workpiece can be reached quickly and accurately thanks to the 180° swivel range of the A-axis and 360° continuous rotation of the C-axis, asprovided on all models with head change system. The compact headswivels fully automatically to every desired position. “This provides exactly the flexibility we need,” says Ganitzer.

Machining in parallel saves about an hour

Workpieces weighingup to 30 tons can be machined on the CNC rotary table which is 2000 mm in diameter. While the front and rear components of the current vehicles do not weigh that much, leaving their options open for such potential components is an integral part of LiebherrBischofshofen’s flexibility strategy. In addition there is also an8000 x 2000 mm clamping plate. Each of the two halves of the wheel loader is mounted on a purpose-builtworkpiece carrier with a zero-point clamping systemso they can be moved from the set-uparea to the machining position. Each of the two columns,of welded-steel design and equipped with anti-friction compact guides and liquid-cooled feeddrives so they can accelerate and move quickly, has its own tool magazine with up to 150 tools. Likewise each column has a fully automated head change system (HCS) which, depending on the machining task in hand, selects the universal or the eccentric horizontal milling head.

Thus,very well equipped,the two heads can get to work. Finished contours are milled and the provided openings finish bored to H7tolerances. Reaming and thread tapping follow.On the front component, for example, pivotal mountings for cylinders, steering bearings and lifting gear require machining. On the rear component, mountings are required for auxiliary equipment such as engine bearings, hydraulics, cooling and transmission. By machining both sides of a component in parallel, it is possible to finish all the operationsrequired on one machine in a single setup after just one-and-a-half hours. Ganitzer is delighted with the increased productivity:“It used to take about two-and-a-half hours and machining of the components was divided between two machines.”

DynamicDrive® for fast and accurate machining

This is made possible among other things by the DynamicDrive® system,developed and patented by SHW Werkzeugmaschinen, which makes it possible to cover large travel distances with projecting milling heads at high speeds without significant loss of rigidity or precision.This clever solution ensures that,when the headstockis being moved, the machining axis always remains parallel to the machining table and thus to the surface of the workpiece being machined. “DynamicDrive® compensates in real-time for any gravitational pull downwards on the headstock as well as for any deflection upwards of the milling head, due to the resistance of the workpiece during machining,” says Martin Rathgeb, Technical Head of SHW WM. Thus differing weight ratios, due to the different weights of the milling heads, can be balanced out. The trick here is the division of the headstock slide into two parts which are then connected to each other via a radial bearing mounted on a hydro-pneumatic oil film, permitting them to rotate. Furthermore the whole carriage “hangs”on a hydraulic counterweight so asto be able to adjust it with great precision. The data required for this is received from its ownreal-time measuring and control system, thus permitting dynamic correction based on the actual conditions.

Exploiting the power of the software

The powerful Siemens 840D SL control system offers great scope to the experts in Bischofshofen. “We like to get everything we can out of the control system to optimise the process,”Ganitzer says in conclusion. So that the dreams of the men outside the production shop at the “big sandpit” can still to be fulfilled in the future.

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((SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH – company information))

A young company with a long tradition

SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of machine tools for the machining of large components. On the machining centres with their long travel axes, components are machined for mechanical engineering, die-making and plant construction, turbine and tooling manufacture as well as for the aerospace industry, where despite their hugesize, components still require a high degree of precision.

What started in 1999 as a young, innovative company in Aalen-Wasseralfingen, on closer inspection turns out to be a company with a long industrial tradition going back to 1365. Steady growth and loyalty to its Swabian roots have led to the 200 highly qualified, quality conscious employees achieving an annual turnover of 63million euros. Presence in 45 countries ensures close proximity to customers worldwide.

((Info SHW WM – energy efficiency))

Up to 80% process power generated on site, winner of theNORTEC Award 2012

In2012 SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbHreceived the NORTEC Award for "Sustainability in Industrial Production". The prize was awarded by the industry newspaper 'Production' in collaboration with the Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH. The award went to the travelling column milling machine PowerForce 8. This is the largest machine the company has ever built which weighs 200 tons and uses up to 27% less power than comparable milling machines.It represents the systematic implementation of "sustainability in industrial production" in all facets of the development, design and equipment of a large machine tool.

Sustainability at SHW WM not only applied to its productsbut is lived out in practice. The responsible use of energy is reflected in the company's energy management system. The company has its own combined heating and power plant, its own photovoltaic system and an energy-efficient smart building. Thus 80% of the process power required at Aalen-Wasseralfingen is self-generated on site.

((Liebherr– company information))

Internationally successful family business

The Liebherrfamily business was founded in 1949 by Hans Liebherr. The immediate success of his first mobile, easy-to-assemble and affordable tower crane was the foundation of the company. Today Liebherr is not only one of the largest construction equipment manufacturers in the world but is also recognised in many other fields as a supplier of technically innovative, user-oriented products and services. In the meantime,the company has grown to become a group of companies with around 38,000 employees in more than 130 companies on every continent. In 2012 sales totalled over nine billion euros.

The decentralised Liebherr Group is divided into manageable, independently run business units and includes ten product divisions. The holding company of the Group is Liebherr-International AG in Bulle, Switzerland, whose shareholders are exclusively members of the Liebherr family. In the second generation, the Liebherrfamily business is run jointly by siblings Dr.h.c.IsoldeLiebherr and Dr.h.c. WilliLiebherr. In the factory founded in 1960, Liebherr-WerkBischofshofen GmbHhas been manufacturing wheel loaders since 1985.

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SHW Werkzeugmaschinen picturegallery: Liebherr wheelloaders
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