Case Studies
Servo components deliver precision positioning for beam and plate processing machines
POSTED 05/28/2020 | By: WITTENSTEIN with Voortman
Among other things, Dutch company Voortman manufactures machines for beam and plate processing. For customers, it’s important that their products comply with the specified tolerances precisely. To guarantee this, Voortman’s designers must develop robust and highly reliable systems. It’s vital, for example, that workpieces can be positioned precisely in the machine. To this end, the machine tool manufacturer relies on low-backlash gearboxes from WITTENSTEIN. For instance, with their high repeat accuracy, they ensure that holes can always be punched into the workpieces at the intended locations.
In addition, our servo technology enables very lightweight and very heavy plates to be processed with the same drive motor. Positioning is consistently precise and is slowed down only slightly by very heavy plates.
»Thanks to WITTENSTEIN gearboxes, we are able to continuously specify positioning on the machine with great repeatability «
VOORTMAN – CNC MACHINES FOR STEEL PROCESSING
Voortman Steel Machinery from Rijssen in The Netherlands has been designing, developing and manufacturing machines for steel fabrication and plate processing for more than 45 years. In total, over 1000 systems from the globally recognized supplier have been installed. Voortman is continually developing its products in order to remain at the forefront of technological progress.
Comprehensive analysis ensures optimum component selection
At an early stage of the design process, Voortman takes into account all forces and loads that the machines have to stand up to during operation. Thorough analyses of the frame enable the company to select the right material types and thicknesses. The machine tool manufacturer also invests a lot of time in process control. The smoother the system runs, the better the forces are conducted through the frame. As a result, Voortman customers get a machine that works as well and for as long as possible.
OUR SOFTWARE SAVES TIME DURING THE PILOT STUDY
Right from the pilot study phase, Voortman’s designers incorporate our gearboxes in their planning.
They are used where very high loads and vibration levels with spikes occur. It’s crucial for proper operation of the machines that the components which are selected are reliable. And this is an area in which the machine tool manufacturer has had very positive experiences with our products.
Voortman uses cymex® 5 to calculate all drives – regardless of whether a gearbox is part of them or not. Our design software offers the developers a comprehensive assortment of filter options to help them find the perfect set of components. This saves Voortman a lot of time when dimensioning and designing the complete drive train.
»Experience has shown that WITTENSTEIN components more than meet our strict requirements. «
PERSONAL COMMUNICATION – INDISPENSABLE FOR VOORTMAN
Following the design calculations using cymex® 5, Voortman always calls our experts for a personal consultation. In this way, the company ensures that the best components possible have actually been selected and that no unpleasant surprises arise during operation on the customer’s premises.
Voortman greatly appreciates this intensive interaction with us – precisely because we do not automatically insist upon using the most expensive components or the absolute highest degree of accuracy, but rather weigh up exactly what is really required for the specific application.