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June 05, 2017 11:00 PM

Reduce waste to increase efficiency

Simon Robinson
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    Reducing waste, and cutting foam blocks more efficiently lies at the heart of two new machinery and software integrations from Albrecht Baumer.

     

    German cutting machinery company, Albrecht Baumer has developed Baumer Nest, a piece of software which, the firm said, integrates with its existing networked machinery to enable companies to improve production efficiency. It has also introduced a larger, more efficient cutting machine.

    In a conventional factory, the foam cutting patterns are decided at the start of the day and inputted to the cutting machines, Baumer software engineer, Volker Czymeck, explained. He added: “If this is done by an operator who has 20 years’ experience, he may come to the same result as our nesting programme. Less experienced operators may concentrate on speed of cutting rather than the total efficiency of the process,” he added.

    Czymeck went on “our Nest system means we are no longer dependent on the ability of the worker.”

    The system can enable companies without highly trained and experienced staff to save time and gives “the possibility to mix different customer orders or aggregate individual customers orders in the most efficient way in a short period of time,” he said.

    Czymeck said that it might take 20 minutes at the start of a shift to set up a cutter for a large number of blocks, and a further five minutes to import those settings for a days’ worth of orders.

    He continued that the Baumer Nest process removes the need for manual intervention because it interrogates the owner’s ERP and CNC systems at the start of the day and develops its own nesting system which is designed to extract as many cut components as possible.

    Additionally, because the system integrates into a company’s ERP system, Czymeck said, the process will call for a new uncut block from the store as it nears the end of its current cutting cycle. This can save several minutes per block compared with manual cutting systems, he added.

    The Nest system is designed to operate using Windows 10, and there is no limitation on the number of pieces which can be programmed, according to Baumer literature. It uses winCAP 3.0 text files and POS with the order data. This is used to sort the parts to be cut according to their depth and the type of the foam.

    Czymeck said that there are five modes of operation, however during nesting the tool takes account of two parameters – stacking height or minimum waste – to develop its cutting programme. Baumer’s literature said that if “stacking height is taken into account during nesting, the production throughput time is improved enormously.”

    Finally, the jobs are nested in the order in which they are sent from the ERP system, so they are produced in the order in which the factory expects them. In a further development it is possible to add a print system to enable the cut parts to be traced for later processing, Czymeck added.

    The complexity of mattress production and cutting makes it difficult to give an absolute figure for the increase in efficiency obtained by process, Czymeck added. However, his firm’s publicity material suggests that there can be a difference of up to 10% compared with manual methods.

    In a separate development, Baumer has introduced a new 3,400 mm cutting system designated OFS-HE3 which can handle up to four foam blocks at the same time, significantly increasing efficiency, the company said.

    The OFS-HE3

    The machine features a circulating knife for cutting cushions and mattresses and is the “fastest and most efficient horizontal contour cutting machine solution that handles 3,400 mm (134 inch) block width,” Baumer said.

    The firm added that the new size makes the machine suited for companies that produce large quantities of the same mattress types, or for mattress cutters who offer the entire range of mattress widths.

    Increasing the working width significantly improves machine efficiency, Baumer said. The firm added that it is possible to produce mattresses with a width of 800 mm in four blocks at the same time. Alternatively, mattresses with a width of 1600 mm in two blocks can be produced at the same time, Baumer said.

    The new cutting system features a second centre support which stabilises the knife and ensures precise cutting results. Additionally, the new machine features a fully automatic device which holds the blocks in place, Baumer added.

    Baumer said that the new OFS-HE3 machine is suitable for bulk production of mattresses made of PU flexible or visco foam and its use would give flexibility in the production of a wide variety of mattress widths.

    Additionally, Baumer continued the machine can increase production efficiency, since up to 4 mattresses can be produced at the same time. It is very quick and it has the “highest possible dynamics,” the company said. This is because the table and cutting unit drives are separate.

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