AN XcITE AMonG häMMERlE MAChinES

An Xcite Among Hämmerle Machines Hans Zewe GmbH relies on Hämmerle pressbrakes. The company’s Production Manager Gerhard Zwing believes they are the best. This means that the company’s newly purchased Xcite has n eeded to prove its worth. But the Xcite is a success – because it is fast and astoundingly precise, because it has intuitive controls, And because it looks good. Text: Matthias Abplanalp, Photos: Benno Leinen

Focus Xcite

When the Xcite first arrived at Hans Zewe GmbH, last November, it initially stood idle: “In the beginning, I had the feeling that no one quite dared begin using the machine,” Gerhard Zwing says. The electric drive system; the new design – these took some getting used to. Eventually, Gerhard Zwing asked his operators: “What now? Shall we integrate the newcomer into our processes?”

It arrives as if on cue Until recently, the bending processes at Hans Zewe GmbH were handled by three Hämmerle pressbrakes. The oldest of these machines is still in the blue Hämmerle livery; the other two are Bystronic red. The machines are arranged in a neat row, in a vast production hall at the company’s site in Theley, a town in the western German state of Saarland. Gerhard Zwing is one of four Managing Directors at the company, as well as its Production Manager. He has been around Hämmerle pressbrakes for 25 years: “For the wide range that we process, nothing on the market beats Hämmerle machines,” he insists. He values the machines’ precision and their durability: “They run smoothly for years on end,” he says. So what prompted his sudden unfaithfulness with the Xcite? “Until now, we had to bend everything on the Hämmerle machines,” Gerhard Zwing explains. This included small bent parts with a single, 90-degree bend; even parts with a slightly higher angle tolerance. Unhappy with this situation, the company went in search of a pressbrake they could dedicate to processing small, simple bent parts: a machine that would free up time on the Hämmerle machines, allowing them to concentrate on orders that demanded the precision of 3-point bending. The Xcite fit the bill perfectly. Gerhard Zwing points out that for simple bent parts, the Xcite achieves very fast bending and positioning speeds; nevertheless, it is also very precise.

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Focus Xcite

Sheet metal workers on the fast track: Hans Zewe, company founder (left), Anuschka Zewe, second generation in the family business, along with Co-Director and Production Manager Gerhard Zwing.

“In the beginning, I had the feeling that no one quite dared begin using the machine.” Gerhard Zwing, Production Manager

It wins respect Gerhard Zwing had already decided to purchase the Xcite before the Euroblech exhibition. His B ystronic salesman Bernd Eid had told him about the machine; sent him photos; told him about all the things the machine could do. And Gerhard Zwing had no cause to doubt the salesman. The two men had known each other for a long time and Gerhard Zwing valued his opinions. According to the Production Manager, Bernd Eid was not the type to rave about something that, at the end of the day, would not work: “And of course, I know Bystronic,” he says. “I know that they produce quality.” For this reason, Gerhard Zwing decided to purchase the Xcite ahead of the Euroblech in Hanover – saving himself a journey to the trade exhibition.

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Following its appearance at the Euroblech, the former display model Xcite was transported directly the 500 kilometers to its new home at Hans Zewe GmbH, in Germany’s Saarland region. Gerhard Zwing and his bending team set up the machine next to the company’s three Hämmerle pressbrakes, before examining the Bystronic pressbrake more closely. None of them had even seen the Xcite in real life before, let alone experienced it in action. First of all, there was the new design: “Great,” is Gerhard Zwing’s judgment of the new Bystronic look. “The iPad is my absolute favorite.” He is referring, of course, to the ByVision Bending control package, which features a 22-inch touch screen. Machine Operator Edwin Henkel joins the discussion: “So far, everyone has liked the design,” he says. And what is his opinion of the Xcite’s performance? “My feeling is that it is faster than the Hämmerle machines,” the operator says. But feelings alone do not cut the mustard at Hans Zewe GmbH, where there are no half measures. The Machine Operator decided to take a more scientific approach: He pitted the Xcite directly against a Hämmerle 3P – with its 130 metric tons of pressing force. On both machines, he processed 100 1.5-millimeter steel parts, with five bends. The result: He was considerably faster on the Xcite.

BystronicWorld 1/2013

In 2007, Hans Zewe GmbH automated the majority of its laser cutting – with four Bystronic laser cutting machines, four ByTrans units and two storage towers.

This speed record has earned respect for the Xcite’s performance in comparison to the Hämmerle pressbrakes: Fast is good. But how was the quality of the bent parts? On the Xcite, the special layout of the machine frame developed by B ystronic – in conjunction with the electric drive system – ensures precision. This drive system is called Force Dynamic Drive, and it ensures that virtually no deflections occur in either the upper or lower beam: “I like the drive system,” Gerhard Zwing says. No wonder, since an absence of beam deflections means a high degree of repeat accuracy. Force Dynamic Drive has a further advantage: The drive belt is not hidden somewhere on the upper beam; rather, it is easily accessible. This in turn pleases Machine Operator Edwin Henkel: “The machine is very easy to maintain,” he enthuses.

It is economical The electric drive provides the operator with an additional advantage: “It makes for a quiet machine,” Edwin Henkel reports. Because the motor only runs while the operator is actually bending. When the machine is on standby, only the ByVision Bending’s 22-inch screen draws electricity. “The Xcite consumes less power than a power drill,” Edwin Henkel jokes. The low power consumption is in line with Hans Zewe GmbH’s concept: The company’s latest production hall


is geared towards energy efficiency, Production Manager Gerhard Zwing explains. “The hall has a lighting control. When it is bright enough outside, the lighting inside is switched off.” This hall was built in 2012. With its 7,800 square meters, it is larger than a soccer field, and it is the third new building in less than ten years – Hans Zewe GmbH is on the fast track (see box page 25). The company is a typical job shop, without its own products. Or as Gerhard Zwing puts it: “You never know what tomorrow will bring.” Many of their customers are agricultural and construction machinery manufacturers who require body parts for tractors or combined harvesters. “Our machinery is not geared towards the extremely large lot sizes that are required by the automobile industry that characterizes the Saarland region today,” Gerhard Zwing says. But an annual requirement of 50,000 parts is quite manageable. “However, we also produce individual parts.” And which orders from this vast range suit the new Xcite pressbrake? Finding this out is one of the tasks of Anuschka Zewe, daughter of the company founder and owner Hans Zewe. After graduating with a diploma in business administration, she joined the family enterprise as the second generation of the family and is currently analyzing the company’s sheet metal production processes: Is each part allocated to the correct machines? Are, for example, the

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Machine Operator Edwin Henkel carried out a speed test on the Xcite: He produced 100 1.5-milli meter steel parts, each with five bends. He was substantially quicker when he used the Xcite than he was when using the Hämmerle.

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Focus Xcite

“Operating ByVision Bending is intuitive. You only need one or two days and you are completely broken in.” Edwin Henkel, Machine Operator

bending team and the welding shop working together optimally? “We try to fine-tune the pro cesses,” she emphasizes. This also applies to laser cutting, where the majority of the production pro cesses is automated. Fortunately for Bystronic. Because in 2007, when Hans Zewe GmbH wished to equip its laser cutting machines with storage towers and elements for automated material han dling, Gerhard Zwing learned something: “With systems like these, it is not the laser cutting ma chine that is the decisive factor but the handling around it.” And with regard to this type of han dling, Bystronic outpaced its competitors, he adds. Gerhard Zwing’s specification had been as follows: “We have an area of 25 by 25 meters and there we would like to place two automated machines. We call for proposals.” The Bystronic machines had al ready been ordered while the competitors were still making their tenders, Gerhard Zwing says: “And from Bystronic, we even received three pro posals with the message: Pick the one you like most.” This is the reason why now a Byspeed, a Bystar, two BySpeed Pro, four ByTrans units and two Bystronic storage towers are set up in Theley.

It finds its place With bending, there is a different story: From the outset, Hans Zewe GmbH relied on Hämmerle machines. And thus became a Bystronic customer in 1997 when Bystronic took over the pressbrake division from Hämmerle AG. The fact that they have remained a customer is not only due to the high quality of Hämmerle pressbrakes, but also to Bystronic’s service. “Bystronic has always managed to keep our Hämmerle machines running,” Ger hard Zwing says. For five years, Hans Zewe GmbH owned only a single pressbrake. At times, the ma chine operated continually for six to eight weeks at a time – day and night, also on weekends. And if there was a problem, Bystronic always reacted quickly, Gerhard Zwing says. “In the end, this is


what tipped the scales in favor of Bystronic when we extended our machine pool with additional pressbrakes.” The operators at Hans Zewe GmbH are slowly but surely getting used to the latest acquisition in this machine pool, the Xcite. After all, not only the drive, but also the control package is a novelty: For the Xcite, the ByVision control package, which Bystronic has been using on its laser and waterjet cutting machines for years, has been completely redesigned and extended for pressbrakes. Ma chine Operator Edwin Henkel speaks in praise of the clearly structured display on the 22-inch touch screen: “The operation is intuitive. You only need one or two days and you are completely broken in.” Because he programs all the parts directly on the machine, he has also already become very well acquainted with the profile editor that is integrated in ByVision Bending. “If I program a part incorrectly and the machine is not able to bend it, the control package emits a warning, telling me: Something is wrong here,” Edwin Henkel says. Of course, in the end the operator is responsible that the parts are bent properly – his know-how is essential. But it can do no harm to have a machine control pack age that responds intelligently. Thanks to all its advantages, the Xcite – “the small one,” as it is referred to at Hans Zewe GmbH – is well on the way to finding a place next to the three Hämmerle pressbrakes. Currently the machine is not yet running at full capacity, Edwin Henkel says. “But every day, something new is added.” After all, it is already running two shifts.

Hans Zewe GmbH Stahlhandel “Only those who go their own way will not be overtaken.” This slogan is written in large print at Hans Zewe GmbH Stahlhandel in Theley. Anyone who studies the company history will come to another conclusion: Those who do not want to be overtaken, should move onto the fast track themselves. The history is relatively short: In 1983 Hans Zewe founded a one-man company. He sold rolled steel and tubes, for example to the mining companies in the Saarland – a region that, at the time, was characterized by coal mining. In the mid-1990s the entrepreneur realized that customers preferred their steel to be delivered pre-cut to the desired length. Thus, he realigned his company from pure steel trading, to a business that also offered cutting, bending and welding. In 2004 the company built its first production hall for sheet metal processing. In 2007 the second one followed, which was nearly twice as large and geared towards processing heavy material: metal sheets up to 160 millimeters thick and 15 meters long. The range of services increased, the company grew and grew, from approximately 60 employees in 2007 to 130 employees at the beginning of 2013. The third production hall for sheet metal processing, which was opened in 2012, is again slightly larger than the second one. Altogether, this means the production area now totals more than 23,000 square meters. Today, steel trading and job shop manufacturing are about balanced, each accounting for 50 percent of the company’s turnover.

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