Automation requires accurate and reliable sawing

If you walk across the production floor at Aluro CNC, you will see that automation is being used more and more. Not only to get more spindle hours on the counter, but mainly to cope with the shortage of technical staff. But automation demands more from the sawing machine. After all, the pieces must be delivered to size and perfectly parallel. A job well done for the Behringer HBE 411 that was delivered last year by Promatt.

Aluro CNC has been proving itself as the reference for manufacturing high quality mechanical parts for more than 35 years. It does this for clients active in aviation, machine construction, the medical sector, energy, automotive, electronics, telecommunications and the food industry. The company from Heist-op-den-Berg makes the difference by thinking along with its customers. 

"We sit down with the customer to see how we can improve his design to reduce costs. In 99% of cases, we arrive at effective improvements," says technical manager Pascal van de Sande. "But we also bet on clear proactive communication, so that the customer always knows where his pieces are in production." 

The production floor is characterized by modern machinery, a high degree of automation and the skill of the operators. "We leave the repetitive or ergonomically burdensome work to robots so that our people have their hands free to do what they do best: make complex workpieces." 

Synonymous with reliability and stability

A recent acquisition on the floor is the Behringer HBE 411. "Without a good sawing machine, we are nothing in production. With the increasing degree of automation, the importance of the sawing department has also only increased. After all, the slightest deficiencies in dimensioning can bring a robot to a halt." 

One of the saws that Aluro CNC had on hand was beginning to feel its age. "Because of its instability, it needed more and more frequent maintenance, but we also felt the cost of our band saws increasing. The less stable a saw machine runs, the less long the cutting tools last." So it was time for a change. That the eye fell on a Behringer in the process was no coincidence. "They are machines that are synonymous with reliability and solidity. You can already see it in the way they are built, from the heavier guides to the cast iron construction. Behringer's sawing machines exude stability."

Saw blade monitoring for unmanned production

Originally, Aluro CNC had a different Behringer in mind. Van de Sande: "It speaks for the quality and productivity of Behringer's machines that actually even the HBE 411, the smaller brother of the high-end HBM series, met our requirements perfectly. That's mainly because sawing here is only one part of production. The sawing machine is occupied only about 60% of the time. But it discharges its duties extremely reliably during that time. That's what counts." 

What was important to Aluro CNC, however, was that the machine could continue working undisturbed on weekends. "Monitoring the saw blade was therefore the most important option for us. As soon as the saw blade becomes too blunt and is no longer within preset tolerances, the machine automatically shuts down. After all, we can't afford to arrive on Monday and find crooked pieces. With this machine, that won't happen. I am 100% convinced that we made the right choice," says van de Sande.

Service as it should be

However, Aluro CNC did not take any chances. Several brands were weighed and weighed. "We also looked at the service. From several reference addresses we had heard very good comments about Promatt's services. Although we have not yet had any problems with the machine - it has been running here since autumn - you can already feel the competence of the employees. During installation and training, but we are always helped quickly when our operators run into problems in the control system. Everything runs as it should. I am glad we chose Behringer and Promatt," concludes van de Sande.