WHY BUY NEW IF YOU CAN UPGRADE?

The last 6 months have been tough on nearly every sector with latest figures confirming the UK is officially back in a recession. Now more than ever your bending machines need to produce accurate bends first time, on time but obsolete or inadequate controls can seriously hinder the ability of many older bending machines to do so.

Previously the only way to eliminate these issues required the significant capital expense of a new machine, something most businesses could do without in a recession but now thanks to technology advances from SweBend a simple technology upgrade could be all you need.

SweBend’s ‘Seven’ CNC control was developed specifically as a retrofit to the large number of bending machines already in the market that could benefit from a modern, easy-to-use, yet powerful control system. It’s suitable for all brands and types of rolling machine including old Roundo machines and can be retrofitted to even the most complex section bending machines with simultaneous multi axis control.

More than 60 SweBend CNC retrofits to plate and bending section machines have now been delivered to date. Clients are not only delighted that this upgrade has saved them significant capital outlay but they’re also consistently impressed at the proven increases of precision, speed and reliability this delivers for their production and with upgrades taking a maximum of just 3 days (including training) there’s minimum downtime too.

Shand Engineering in Immingham are one such case where parts and support for an ageing platform could not be guaranteed by the OEM. The rolling process for thick plate is at the start of their production line which quickly grinds to a halt for any stoppage of the rolling process so they turned to WJS Machine Tools for help.

This decision allowed them continued use of their existing Roundo machine for a fraction of the £120,000 cost of a replacement machine. Added to which with the ‘Seven’ CNC system based on industrial CNC hardware from Beckhoff, a world leading industrial control manufacturer with global support network, they were assured long term continued support and readily available spares.

The ‘Seven’ Silver package was selected and pre-engineered by SweBend which meant it took just 2 days for the retrofit to be completed including training and ensured minimal disruption to production.

Thanks to the intuitive control operators were able to quickly create programs with advanced bending techniques to provide optimum geometry of the leading and trailing edges in a single pass. This has increased accuracy and repeatability which in turn has reduced their secondary processing time and eliminated the need for rework due to inconsistency significantly improving cost efficiency on their production line.

• Suitable for ANY rolling machine
• Eliminates guess work from your rolling
• Provides ultimate control over the entire rolling process with IRMA (In Line Measurement Adapter) to easily accommodate minor material variations.
• Designs any possible shape or creates precise production planning by estimating the cycle time and calculating valuable data in your preferred time-scale.
• Complete upgrade/control change in 3 days maximum

Shand Engineering Limited was incorporated in 1972 and was renowned for the fabrication of small scale hose fittings and connections. As the business evolved and expanded over the years, the company entered into the marine hose industry supplying many well-established oil companies, to aid with their offshore oil transfer.

Shand Engineering limited are part of the Sturrock and Robson Group.

For over 40 years, Shand have been designing and manufacturing specialist hose end connections. Tried and tested within a range of harsh environments, these fittings efficiently transfer critical fluids. With complete in-house manufacturing, Shand are able to produce bespoke in-hose fittings to suit your individual requirements.