Automated profling

IN THE WORLD OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION, A LOT OF WORK, INCLUDING HAND MARKING, CUTTING, AND GRINDING, IS MANUALLY EXECUTED TO PREPARE MATERIALS FOR FITTING AND WELDING. THIS TAKES LOTS OF TIME AND EFFORT. SSC STEEL SHAPE CUTTERS (SSC), A NEW COMPANY FOUNDED IN FEBRUARY OF THIS YEAR, OFFERS A HELPING HAND WITH AUTOMATED PROFILING.

ALL PHOTOS COURTESY OF SSC STEEL SHAPE CUTTERS.

We talk with Managing Director of SSC, Peter Staat. “The founders of SSC, which both have a two-decade long background in ofshore constructon, notced a lack of availability of automated profling for the larger steel tubes, beams, and hollow sectons. They saw this as a golden opportunity. For example, tools and equipment needed for the constructon of ofshore wind turbines are growing in size, requiring larger steel pipes and beams. Automated profling is the perfect soluton here.” The ofshore wind market is currently on a high with increasing delivery tmes, and according to Mr Staat this is absolutely unacceptable for ofshore wind contractors. “With our automated 3D profling, we help constructon companies to meet the ofshore industry’s desire for extremely short delivery tmes.”

“For the constructon of ofshore wind turbines,” he says, “a lot of steel-made tools are used such as grillages, pre-piling templates, upending tools, et cetera. They are ofen dedicatedly constructed for a specifc project, meaning that new tools must be constructed for each ofshore windfarm. When I started my job at SSC, I was surprised by the fact that contractors in the ofshore industry are very demanding when it comes to delivery tmes. Everything needs to be supplied quickly and without any delays, as tme is money. Manual preparaton takes a lot of tme, especially when high quality and accuracy is required. Using automated machining enables high processing speeds, combined with high accuracy, and more or less without the need of further fnishing.”

The young company invested in two machines from HGG, a well-known Dutch manufacturer of CNC cutng machines. “Our two machines are really state of the art”, Mr Staat explains. “They are computercontrolled with a huge range, superb accuracy, and great efciency. One machine, the SPC2500, is for oxyfuel and plasma

cutng. It can profle pipes with diameters ranging up to 2,500mm, at a maximum weight of 30t. The oxyfuel cutng functonality is highly suitable for ofshore structures, among other things because of its high accuracy and a maximum tlt angle of 70°. The second machine, the RPC1200, is a robot cell plasma cuter for profling beams and hollow sectons with a width of up to 1,200mm and plates with a width of up to 1,200mm and a maximum length of 3,000mm. The cutng is carried out with utmost precision with our machines. Further fnishing or machining of weld preparaton will no longer be required, so material will be ready for constructon immediately afer cutng.”

Machines for automated profling have already been around for years, and the queston arises why a lot of this type of work is stll performed manually. “It is ofen a mater of tme and money. For many constructon companies, these types of machines are too expensive, and they already have people on hand that can get the job done manually. Time is also important. When, for example, it takes a supplier of profled steel pipes six weeks to deliver, a constructor will decide to have it manually arranged by their own people”, Mr Staat elaborates. “Luckily, we can deliver fast, so tme is no hindrance for using our services. On the other hand, manually work also takes tme, not in the least because of the necessary fnishing afer the profling. When workpieces become taller, it will be more difcult to manually profle the steel. And what should not be forgoten is that steel structures are ofen designed based on the restrictons caused by traditonal manual cutng. Using our automated profling techniques enables more complex designs, which helps to fnd the best constructon for a tool. Of course, our strength lies not only in the fast and accurate machines that can work with any type of digital drawings (AutoCAD, TEKLA, SolidWorks, and so on). We are a small and fexible company that always tries to fnd the best soluton for our customers. If required, we can source the >>

base materials, from stock or from producton, as we have excellent contacts with all reputable stockholders and steel manufacturers. We can furthermore arrange the transport of materials.”

SSC is located in Dordrecht on a 9,000m2 site, of which some 4,000m2 is used as covered producton and storage area. “We have chosen this locaton because of the space and the availability of suitable overhead cranes”, Mr Staat elaborates. “Also, Dordrecht is close to the Roterdam port area, and the city has excellent connectons via motorways and inland waterways, so for us this locaton was really one in a million.” Mr Staat looks towards the future with confdence. He explains, “Since the start of the company, we have notced ample interest from the market, as many companies see the advantages of our working methods. Apart from the Netherlands, we see high potental for our services in Western Europe, especially around the North Sea. As our next step, we are considering investng in a third machine for the profling of smaller workpieces. We will then be able to meet demand from our customers in a broader range of dimensions in a fast and competent way.”