Zaugg AG Eggiwil has renewed its entire sheet metal processing in 2021. The solution comprising laser cutting, parts handling and bending was provided by Bystronic. For Zaugg, a manufacturer of systems for snow removal, this not only resulted in "usual" effects such as higher quality or processing efficiency, but above all it also enabled a new design principle and new market opportunities for the products.
Sweden is the EU's most important supplier of iron ore. The Kiruna, Svappavaara and Malmberget sites alone cover nine tenths of the EU market. Deliveries must be reliable. Even in winter, when the whole of Sweden is covered in a thick blanket of snow. Three ingenious snow-clearing locomotives built and supplied by Zaugg for clearing the tracks also ensure reliable traffic on the Luleå-Gällivare-Kiruna-Narvik ore railroad in northern Sweden.
Lots of snow, but also summer
Zaugg, based in Eggiwil, Switzerland, is a global leader in the development and manufacture of high-tech equipment for clearing snow from roads, railways, airports and snow grooming. ssungen. The product range includes snow ploughs and snow blowers as well as systems for clearing airports and tracks and for the construction and maintenance of super and half pipes.
"In Beijing, for example, our products are used to prepare halfpipes, in the Rocky Mountains to keep the trans-American railroad lines clear and in the Arctic to clear snow from the roads to cities or research stations",
explains Production Manager Simon Winkenbach. In addition to snow clearing equipment, the Eggiwil-based company's range also includes special equipment for municipal technology.
"We also provide engineering services, carry out contract work in the field of lasering and bending and operate as an agricultural machinery repair company in the rural Emmental valley."
Last but not least, Zaugg is increasingly using its expertise from the rail segment to advance into rail applications for the summer and is concentrating on special and custom-made products such as maintenance vehicles.
From make to stock to make to order
Manufacturing at the Eggiwil production site is characterized by a high level of vertical integration. Despite the fact that numerous different systems have to be manufactured, Zaugg is developing the associated processes more and more in the direction of make-to-order in order to meet the increasing delivery requirements of customers. After material procurement, the value chain begins with lasering and bending. This is an area to which Zaugg has also assigned machining. From here, all the individual parts then flow together in the welding sserei to form assemblies. Once these groups have been checked, they go to the blasting department and finally to the painting department. After coating, they are split into the various assembly areas: Electrical and roller conveyor assembly or vehicle attachment. Following assembly, in which product testing is directly involved, the final acceptance test is carried out.
This chain mainly processes sheet steel, which extends into the high-strength sector for components with a high wear profile. Special requests for equipment are also fulfilled with ceramic materials or plastic composites.
"We are also continuing to develop our expertise in aluminum processing in order to achieve weight advantages in railroad technology, for example,"
says Winkenbach.
The layout was the deciding factor
Today, the sheet metal used is processed in a sheet metal center consisting of an automated warehouse, two "BySmart Fiber" laser cutting machines, a "ByTrans Modular" laser automation system, as well as an "Xpert Pro 320" folding machine and a "ByBend Smart 160" from Bystronic. The collaboration between the two companies began in 2021 after Bystronic won out over the competition: the system layout of the solution was the only one that fitted the tight space conditions in Eggiwil.
In terms of layout, it's an ingenious solution. Bystronic was able to offer us exactly what we needed
The machines were arranged at ground level, while everything else, such as a control cabinet and a filter system, was placed one floor higher on a platform.
Until then, Zaugg had worked with two plasma cutting systems, of which one combined oxyfuel system was used for sheet thicknesses of 30 mm and above. Not only were both systems getting on in years and replacement financing was due, there were also deficits in quality. "Plasma is always slightly conical," Haldimann sums it up. "Internal contours were therefore a tricky issue. However, because many of our parts have these contours, we could only cut them to a limited extent or not at all. So we had to machine them, which was of course very time-consuming." In terms of the end product, Zaugg now wanted to invest in the most cost-effective technology. "Plasma is initially cheaper, but if you add the reworking, the laser also quickly becomes financially attractive." Especially as the operators of the plasma cutting systems previously had to clean each part using an angle grinder, which was associated with dirt and noise pollution. "We wanted to improve this as well as the handling of the sheets, which are still stored in chaotic stacks. In the past, the necessary repositioning and staging was carried out using an indoor crane, among other things," says Haldimann.
View from above: To ensure that the layout of the sheet metal processing fits into the limited space available at Zaugg, a platform was installed on which various peripheral devices were relocated. (Image: Olympia-Verlag)
Handling, cutting, edging
"Today, we use an automated sheet metal warehouse, which brings with it a whole new level of handling", emphasizes the deputy production manager. "
What else do we have to do with it? Nothing at all. We just have to select the right sheet."
Automatic loading and unloading is handled by ByT rans Modular. Handling the raw panels and cut parts is now just as easy as handling the panel remnants.
"We used to have remnant grids measuring 3 x 1.5 m. That took up space and was costly to dispose of. Today, the offcuts are deposited in troughs, from where they can be easily transported away." All sheet metal parts are now processed using the two fiber lasers. Two BySmart Fiber were purchased in order to be able to process the entire range of parts.
"Our systems are available with laser powers from 3 to 30 kW",
reports Product Communications Manager Stefan Züger from Bystronic. In line with local requirements, Zaugg works with 8 kW. The company is now concentrating on cutting smaller sheet thicknesses. While everything up to 150 mm used to be cut in-house, the range currently extends to 25 mm. The aim is to cut up to 30 mm in series in future, for which the parameters are currently being fine-tuned. Thicknesses over 30 mm, which account for 5 to 7 %, are now cut externally. An efficient procedure in the overall concept. The advantages of this concept include, first and foremost, the cutting quality, which eliminates a large portion of the reworking.
"At the same time, we are significantly faster with the fiber laser,"
Haldimann points out. "Whereas we used to cut 2 mm sheets at just under 4 m/min, we now achieve eight times that speed. Of course, this increase always depends on the part and the sheet thickness. But cutting is no longer the bottleneck in the value chain."
This also applies to bending, where Zaugg currently operates in the 1 to 15 mm thickness range with high processing quality.
Züger: "With a bending length of 3,100 mm, the ByBend Smart 160 works with a press force of 1,600 kN, while the Xpert Pro is designed for a bending length of 3,100 mm with 3,200 kN."
Today, bending is carried out in Eggiwil over a length of 3,100 mm with a "ByBend Smart 160" and 1,600 kN press force ... (Image: Olympia-Verlag)
... and an "Xpert Pro", which operates with a bending length of 3,100 mm and a press force of 3,200 kN, including robot automation for the tools. (Image: Olympia-Verlag)
Once everything is new
Quality, processing efficiency, ergonomics. Zaugg has a lot on its side with the new sheet metal center. However, the most important effect is still to come: the way in which it is designed. In future, products will increasingly be designed to be pluggable.
"We are modifying the design so that the parts can be cut more easily and assembled into modules",
explains Winkenbach. "This approach will have a massive impact on production time and costs. However, given our product diversity, it can only be implemented step by step."
"Designing with sheet metal" is how he describes the approach; tubular parts should be avoided. New machine models are already being designed according to these guidelines. And so the change in processing technology already entails a change in the product concept - with the Bystronic system set as a prerequisite.
"Our aim was and is to produce more cost-effectively, faster and more efficiently and to take two steps forward instead of one. To achieve this, we needed the complete solution that is now changing our entire company",
says the production manager. "Above all, we also need to get the employees on board. The overall solution itself provides us with the arguments." Also for the development towards summer.
