EROWA Report - TIMM STAHLFORMENBAU GmbH

REPORT - TIMM STAHLFORMENBAU GMBH

Always more than expected As part of process optimization, Timm Stahlformenbau focused on achieving higher accuracy, producing verifiable measurement reports and further reducing setup times.

Supported by Erowa‘s specialists, the company based in Wülfrath in Germany has repeatedly hit the bull‘s eye.

Long-term partnership The two companies have maintained a friendly relationship for decades. Managing Director Mirco Timm remembers, “The first encounter was certainly more than 30 years ago. My father already relied on Erowa for his first tooling system.”

The specialist from North Rhine-Westphalia has been offering tool and mold making „made in Germany“ at the highest level for almost 40 years. With interlinked processes and networked production, the modern company always counts on the latest technologies. In the future, the company will also offer to manufacture the parts in addition to samples (see info box).

For the project described here, Mirco Timm made the inquiry himself in spring 2015. “As part of our automation plans, we bought a new EDM sinking machine,” he explains. The subsequent project was implemented in close cooperation with Michael Horstmann, Technical Consultant and Sales Manager, and Felix Meyer, Project Manager, both working for Erowa System Technologien GmbH in Cadolzburg, Germany. “It was always clear that Erowa clamping elements would be used again. In addition, we wanted to procure a measuring machine to allow us to present reliably documented processes to customers,” explains Mirco Timm.

With headquarters in Büron, Switzerland, Erowa is known worldwide for its tooling systems and comprehensive expertise in process automation consulting. Erowa was founded in 1970: the name is made up of the terms “Erosion”, “Werkzeugbau” (German for “toolmaking”), and “Automation”, describing the company‘s technical competence in these areas. The company offers a consistent and complete range of products, from clamping systems and automation solutions to control software for the entire metal machining process.

EROWA ITS electrode holder – EROWA ITS tooling systems provide a seamless interface between machine and electrode or workpiece throughout the production process.

For the measuring machine, an Erowa PreSet 3D CNC was selected. “After installing the measuring machine, however, it quickly became obvious that further steps made sense,” adds Michael Horstmann. At the end of 2015, considerations regarding line automation became more specific, and were implemented 2016.

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REPORT - TIMM STAHLFORMENBAU GMBH

The focus was on further improving accuracy while at the same time increasing machine utilization, generating measurement reports and minimizing setup times. One of the tasks was to expand the existing UPC and ITS systems. Since their first introduction, these tooling systems have been supplemented by various pallets and electrode holders.

The UPC (Universal Power Chuck) tooling system for metal-cutting production is universally usable, precise and solid: even with workpiece sizes up to 500 mm x 500 mm x 500 mm, it achieves an accuracy of 2 µm. The ITS chuck is a versatile clamping element for erosion and metal-cutting production, using a technique that is as simple as it is ingenious. It keeps both tools and workpieces stable, with unrivaled precision and repeating accuracy.

Achievements from practice “I only see advantages in the cooperation,” says Mirco Timm.

“The reduced setup times while simultaneously increasing both flexibility and productivity speak for themselves.” Managing Director Mirco Timm is refreshingly open to the question of whether the achievements can be put into numbers: “Advantages are always somewhat difficult to quantify. I can say this much, though: In the past we had 3000 to 4000 spindle hours per year on two machines. Now, with automation, we achieve 5200 spindle hours on just one machine, despite a two-week repair period – and there still capacity for more. We sold one of the milling machines. It should be clear to everyone that we have achieved a significant benefit.”

“Measuring makes the process much more reliable,” says Mirco Timm, adding another success factor. Today, with some safety barriers added, we work almost 100% collision-free.

“Last but not least, flexibility has increased significantly,” adds Michael Horstmann, “partly because the user can load the Erowa workpiece/tool magazine in a chaotic pattern.”

The EROWA UPC palletizing system provides precise and reliable repeating accuracy of 0.002 mm.

0.002 mm.

The EROWA PreSet 3D CNC measuring station checks the components quickly and reliably.

Werkbild EROWA AG

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REPORT - TIMM STAHLFORMENBAU GMBH

Everything in top form Timm Stahlformenbau gradually entered the automation business some three years ago. Today, this area takes pride of place in the factory workshops. The purchase of the new EDM sinking machine was followed by the installation of a measuring station.

Now a robot is at the center of the process: it picks up components from the milling machine, loads the measuring machine, collects the pallet with the components from there and loads the magazine.

“The positive results include greater flexibility and productivity as well as shorter setup times. In addition, process reliability has increased substantially,” sums up Managing Director Mirco Timm. As a modern system “lives”, permanent additions and optimizations make sense. Based on the positive experience, the company is already planning to automate the existing DMG milling machine for higher utilization and to expand the automation line with an additional HSC (High Speed Cutting) milling machine.

Copyright © 2018 - Dag Heidecker (AGT Verlag) und EROWA AG

Precision clamping elements and the flexible automation line increased productivity and process reliability while significantly reducing setup times.

Timm Stahlformenbau GmbH Mirco Timm / Geschäftsleitung Fortunastr. 18 42489 Wülfrath, Germany Tel. +49 2058 91512-12 E-Mail: m.timm@timm-formenbau.de Internet: www.timm-formenbau.de

EROWA AG CH-6233 Büron Switzerland Tel: ++41 (0)41 935 11 11 info@erowa.com www.erowa.com

Molds and components from a single source “Last year, more and more customers approached us to see if we could produce samples,” says Mirco Timm, giving an insight into the company‘s current rapid development.

In this process, prototypes are produced for testing: Do the parts from the present mold fit already or do they still need to be reworked? As a rule, this makes life much easier for the customer. In February 2018, Timm Stahlformenbau moved into a production workshop with three times the floor space. In mid-June, another company was acquired to meet this challenge (now Timm Kunststoff GmbH). “I already told my father that I wanted to go into manufacturing when I was still in elementary school,“ Timm remembers with a smile. Now his life‘s dream has come true as the second mainstay for the dynamic managing director from North Rhine-Westphalia. With real advantages for his customers: building molds, testing, designing everything ready for production, and then manufacturing the parts – all from a single source.

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