Hydraulic and mechanical presses
This makes the gigantic Asian market espe- New products and forming
Form and finish
cially interesting for AP&T since much of its technologies
current production is manual. The company AP&T recently introduced a new generation
has locations in both Japan and China. It of press automation as well as its ODEN
is also establishing a stronger presence in multi-purpose press, the first of a renewed
Poland by setting up its own sales and serv- product programme for hydraulic presses.
ice company for the domestic market. ODEN is available in five basic variants with
One efficient method for simplifying pro- press forces of between 1,000 and 3,150kN
duction logistics is to manufacture parts in and is designed for drawing, embossing,
fewer production steps. pressing and hydroforming.
“More and more of our customers are
requesting solutions that can create fin-
ished parts in as few presses as possible,”
Anderson explained.
Material issues
Generating a finished part from the press
and skipping welding operations is now
possible thanks to developments in forming
techniques e.g. hydroforming, heat forming
and deep drawing.
“Developing material and forming tech-
niques happens quickly,” Anderson told
ISMR. “A good example is the new gen-
eration of deep drawing systems, where we
were able to markedly increase the speed
using new materials that provide faster
stretching and shorter cycle times.”
Even rising commodity prices have pro-
Right:
vided new opportunities for AP&T and its
The ODEN
customers. The importance of saving mate- multi-purpose
rial and minimizing the amount of scrap
press, the first
is increasing, along with material costs.
of a renewed
product
Saving material, from a weight standpoint,
programme
is also important.
for hydraulic
“Our customers in the automotive indus-
presses
try are making great efforts to create energy-
efficient vehicles which require lighter It has also collated over thirty years of expe-
components in new materials,” Anderson rience in hydroforming operations, and has a
explained. “As a partner, we can create special hydroforming development centre in
advantages by selecting the correct forming Lagan, Sweden.
method.” “It’s not just about forming a part correctly,
He sees sharp growth in all areas that are but also forming it at the correct speed, thereby
connected with saving energy. optimising the entire production process,” it
“It involves everything from automo- told ISMR. “Hydroforming has great potential
tive components with low weight to heat in terms of niche production.”
exchangers and fuel cells,” he added. “There Using this type of forming, a flat sheet metal
is enormous potential and we are already blank can be formed into complex parts,
far ahead.” with a high finish, in a single pressing. AP&T
International Sheet Metal Review March/April 2007 25
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68