Nearly thirty years of reliability in folds

Bending is an important business for sheet metal suppliers who want to offer the full picture to clients. With its 100 employees, Devos Plaatbewerking can call itself one of the most important suppliers in the country with an impressive bending department that places up to 300,000 bends per week. For Devos Plaatbewerking, the choice of Amada bending technology is self-evident. Ever since 1990, the machines on the shop floor in Zwevezele have proven to be technologically top-notch and excel in reliability.

Amada also supplied two robotic folding cells at Devos Plaatbewerking.

When Gabriel De Vos started his one-man business in the 1970s, like so many West Flemish SMEs, it was in the service of agriculture. From Zwevezele, he supplied feed troughs made of Eternit for pig breeding. From the 1980s, however, the preference changed to stainless steel, which was supplied in sheets and thus called for sheet metal working machines. The extra capacity the machines had in store was available to other companies. The beginning of activity as a subcontractor. Due to the strong growth of subcontracting, Devos Plaatbewerking was founded about twenty years ago with son Lieven at the helm. Technical-commercial employee Herman Vangheluwe sees the company's in-house machine capacity as one of its strongest assets: "With more than 100 employees, we work day and night to meet our clients' needs, both in piecework and in larger series. Because we have a very large machine park at our disposal, we can produce the right product on the right machine each time for optimum efficiency. And, of course, we can respond quickly, even with large orders. This is how we make a difference for our customers."

Herman Vangheluwe, Kurt Decroix and Lieven Devos: "When we want to push our own boundaries, we benefit from a partner who can think along with us and technologically at the forefront."

Machines that convince
One of the important activities within Devos Plaatbewerking is bending work. An average of up to 300,000 bends are made per week. To bring these to a successful conclusion, Devos Plaatbewerking can count on machines from Amada since 1990. "When machines have to work 24 hours a day, even the best is only just good enough. This is why we absolutely wanted to work with a world player in bending technology in order to always keep up with the latest developments. That's where Amada comes in. Over the years, Amada's machines have proven themselves to be enormously reliable. The first one we ever bought, even under the Promecam flag at the time, was replaced and retired only a few years ago," Vangheluwe recalls. In total, Devos Plaatbewerking has already invested in 22 electro-hydraulic bending machines and four electric ones, different in type and design. In addition, two robotic bending cells have been installed, one for large work and one to process small pieces smoothly and efficiently. "Also in terms of automation, Amada is convincing," Vangheluwe says. "Automation is not so much important in this case to gain speed, but mainly to take over the less ergonomic and more repetitive work. Our operators can then take care of the more challenging pieces." Almost all of the machines purchased are still in operation today.

Because Devos Plaatbewerking has a very large machine park, it can produce the right product on the right machine every time for optimal efficiency.

True partners
Over the years, Devos Plaatbewerking and Amada have become true partners. "We have a huge diversity of machines here to make a multitude of different pieces. Amada has always advised us openly and that is appreciated. When it comes to a replacement investment, it's not always necessary, but when we are pushing our own limits want to push the envelope, we benefit from a partner who can think along and is technologically at the forefront. And when we have an urgent need, they go the extra mile themselves. So the cooperation is going particularly smoothly," Vangheluwe concludes.

The latest addition to the shop floor was this small, ergonomic model.

Text and image: Valérie Couplez
Featured image: Almost all of Amada's purchased folding benches are still in operation today.