Flat and stress-free sheets Straightening for the energy sector

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Taiwan Machine Tool & Accessory Builders' Association (TMBA)

In order to ensure tight tolerances on the final product, Lucy Group now uses three part straightening machines from Kohler.

With over 100 years of industry experience, Lucy Electric is a leading provider of intelligent products and solutions for secondary power distribution. As a specialist in high-performance switchgear for utilities, industry and trade, the company enables safe and reliable energy distribution in households and businesses around the world.

Lucy Electric is based in the United Kingdom and has manufacturing facilities in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, India and Thailand. In order to deliver flat and low-tension sheets among others for electrical cabinets, Lucy Switchgear Arabia Ltd. Dammam Saudi Arabia, which belongs to the Lucy Group, has also opted for a separating straightening machine 45P.900 from Kohler. The first two peak performers from Kohler are located in Dubai.

1000 tons of material are processed each year by the 400 employees in the approximately 42,000 square meter production facility in Dubai to produce high-quality stainless steel switch cabinets. The Dubai-based company knows only too well that the laser-cut sheets must be straightened before further processing. The flatter and less tensioned the parts for the cabinet construction are, the better they can be welded and ultimately assembled.

So that everything runs smoothly

During laser cutting or other thermal cutting processes such as plasma cutting, stresses are released or even initially introduced. The sheets sometimes have visible unevenness. In addition, the material heats up during thermal separation. This leads to a temperature gradient within the material itself, which directly results in further stresses in the material.

"We manufacture high-quality stainless steel switch cabinets with complete wiring. To ensure that these meet the highest quality standards both technically and visually, efficient welding and precise assembly of the parts must be ensured," emphasizes Niranjan Sankar, Global Operations Excellence Manager at Lucy Dubai.

"The cut parts are under tension after laser cutting and warp. Parts that have not been straightened cause costly rework, increased scrap, and expensive process errors. Shortly after we purchased our laser welding machine, we bought our first part straightening machine from Kohler, because the existing flatness did not allow for a good welding result. After commissioning the first straightening machine, we were able to achieve excellent welding results," explains Niranjan Sankar.

Flat and stress-free sheets in just a few seconds

Process optimization, higher quality, and time savings - these are the benefits that Lucy can realize with Kohler's part straightening machines. The Peak Performer enables a higher quality of switch cabinets, which are made of stainless steel. With the 45P.900, parts can be straightened in just a few seconds. After just one pass, the straightened stainless steel sheets have the required flatness. The stresses are also significantly reduced.

"Straightened parts accelerate both the automatic and manual welding process because the welding gap is more constant due to the prior straightening of the material. The flatness is also maintained during the welding process. This reduces the alignment work and the end product is more accurate. Flatness and accuracy of the material also play an important role in assembly. Material that has been straightened beforehand can be assembled much faster and more precisely. With the Kohler part straightening machine, we can achieve a flatness tolerance of up to 0.1 mm/m, which is perfect for the subsequent work. We are very satisfied! Appropriate machine concept, fair price-performance ratio, optimal straightening results and comfortable operation - all of this convinced us," Niranjan Sankar concludes.

Comfortable to operate and easy to maintain

The human-machine interface is designed so simply and intuitively that operators quickly find the correct material-dependent setting via touch display. Quick access can also be made to previously saved settings for known parts, which greatly facilitates work. Last but not least, the part straightening machine scored points at Lucy with its ease of maintenance and energy efficiency. All part straightening machines work without hydraulics. The result: low maintenance, no leakages, insensitivity to temperature fluctuations, higher energy efficiency and thus improved environmental compatibility. After all, it's only logical that a company that deals with sustainable energy solutions would opt for particularly energy-efficient machines.