Meiller: Successful capacity expansion

An unexpectedly high number of new orders and the associated high capacity utilisation in production extended delivery times at Meiller Aufzugtüren from nine to ten weeks in 2018.

Consequently, the company has now expanded its capacity. Meiller began with the planning as early as the end of 2017. The goal was to cut delivery times back to the normal level and in addition create growth opportunities for the company.

It quickly became clear that the bottleneck was production on the automated Salvagnini punching-bending plant, which is simultaneously one of the core competences of Meiller. Therefore, the planning and procurement of another plant was undertaken.

Detailed project plan

Everyone pulled together: the partners, management and workforce immediately agreed to the major investment so that a new production line could already be ordered in April. In view of the situation at Meiller, Salvagnini already delivered the system at the end of November.

There was a detailed, comprehensive project plan for the construction and start-up of the system. But since plant technology is just as complex as the products of Meiller itself, start-up was no quick affair. As a result, the final acceptance was only possible at the end of February – however, just as planned from the start.

Plant with three main components

The new plant essentially consists of three main components: an MD storage tower, an S4Xe punching-cutting combination and a P4lean automated bending machine.

The automated MD storage tower permits the automatic and just-in-time coordination and transport of the sheet metal panels up to 4 m in length that are needed for the various processing steps.

The S4Xe punching-cutting combination has a multi-punching head, which can be fitted with up to 50 different tools. They can all work simultaneously thanks to their individual hydraulic drives. This is the fastest and most efficient 4 m punching machine on the market in combination with the angle shears, which cut parts out of the sheet metal panel without any sheet skeletons.

Maximum efficiency and precision

Meiller has acquired a state-of-the-art, purely electric bending machine in the form of the P4lean bending system for edge lengths up to 3.2 m part lengths, which simultaneously with the machining process fits its own tools, corrects the bending angles in real time and can also produce very narrow sheet metal profiles through an additional function - optimised and adjusted to lift door production.

These three components are connected to each other through the corresponding automation technologies, as a result of which ready-edged parts can be created from a sheet metal panel, which can be immediately provided for the final assembly process.

This high degree of automation, combined with the parametric programming, permits the production of lift door components in batch size 1 with maximum efficiency and precision.

Expansion of its market presence

Compared to the 13-old plant at Meiller, the new plant has other enormous advantages:
• 30 percent speed increase
• 66 percent lower electricity consumption
• no hydraulics in the bending machine
• automated angle correction during bending
• online OEE evaluation via dashboard
• automated programming via 3D data models
• part labelling system for paperless production

These advantages alone are proof of how much further Salvagnini’s technology has advanced in this time. Meiller intends to create the parameters for further growth and the expansion of its market presence with this investment – at its customary high standard of quality.

Klaus Schafranietz

www.meiller-aufzugtueren.de