Solutions
The new compact material buffer from TRUMPF is the optimal automation solution when space is tight. “The material buffer works with our TruLaser 1030 fiber. It's so fast that without the automation we would require downtime, as we would have trouble supplying it with material," says André Barten. The four storage areas of the material buffers are optimally suited to the production processes at Mebak. “We fill the two middle storage areas with the standard sheets that we need most often. We store material for daily orders at the bottom and the finished parts go at the top because they are best sorted from there,” explains Ronny Freitag. The material buffer is controlled via the production plan. The operations manager simply specifies the order execution sequence and the material buffer is loaded accordingly. "Depending on the scope and type of job, the TruLaser 1030 fiber then runs unmanned for up to six hours," says Freitag. "This has the advantage that our employees can operate two machines at the same time." If there is extra time in between, finished parts can be easily sorted off the additional pallet or new material can be prepared on another additional pallet for the material buffer - parallel to production and with complete flexibility.
Implementation
When Ronny Freitag and André Barten decided to buy the TruLaser 1030 fiber with material buffer, everything happened very quickly, Freitag explains: "TRUMPF supported us from the start. The dismantling of the existing machines, the delivery and start-up of the new solution – everything took place within a very short time.” An operator course for two employees enabled productive work with the system right from the start. "That alone convinced us that with this complete package and with TRUMPF as a partner, we were on the right track," says Ronny Freitag happily.
