Added Value through Maintenance

If a high-tech processing machine comes to a standstill as a result of a malfunction, it quickly gets expensive. In particular when customer production deadlines cannot be met as a result and if there are contractual penalties. That’s precisely why many companies rate maintenance no longer as tiresome costs instead as a central factor of success.
The bending specialist Schwarze-Robitec meets this need of increased investment safety with a comprehensive service concept. After all, the company’s high-quality tube bending machines are designed for run times of more than 20 years in continuous operation. So that the machines operate reliably throughout their whole lifecycle, Jürgen Korte, Plant Manager at Schwarze-Robitec advises conducting a regular machine check-up which comprises maintenance, inspection and service measures. “A tube bending machine should be serviced at the latest approx. every 5,000 working hours,” says Korte. “Otherwise the risk of undesirable surprises will rise exponentially.” Checked are, among other things, the mechanical states and precise positioning of guides, bearings and spindles as well as cables, pumps, valve functions, switching devices and software.

If it is a hydraulic system, there is also a check for tightness and leakage safety. Possible are also software updates, comprehensive weak point analyses, staff training and other customer-individual measures.

Experts‘ know-how in demand

“As bending machines are always custom-built, maintenance should really be carried out by the manufacturer” emphasizes Korte. “Generalized providers of industrial services often do not have profound experience in bending technology nor the necessary knowledge of the user industries and their manufacturing processes.” Precisely this specialized know-how is indispensable – in particular when the machines have already been in operation for some years and need to be made fit for increased or changed demands. Schwarze-Robitec offers integrated process analyses as well as complete machine overhauls and modernizations, which substitute a new purchase in many cases. On that subject Plant Manager Korte:
“Users should not make false economies, instead they should think about the optimal utilization of the service life of their machines and the options for optimizing the system availability.”

Info Box

Advantages at a glance

• Reduced risk of malfunctions and failures

• Utilization of the full machine capacity

• Extended machine life cycle

• Constant quality through consistent mechanical efficiency

• Lower costs, e.g. less lubricant costs

• Possibly reduced energy consumption

• Possibly improved occupational and environmental protection

• Possibly optimization of production runs (e.g. through installation of a new, faster control)

Version: April 2015

Volume: 2,981 characters (including spaces, without info box)

Photos: 1

General photo caption

Schwarze-Robitec offers users a comprehensive After Sales Service.

Schwarze-Robitec GmbH – the Company

The company, founded in 1903, is one of the leading international experts in the sector of tube bending machines. Since 2011 the company has been run by the Managing Directors Bert Zorn and Hartmut Stöhr. At its headquarters in Cologne, the specialist for automatic cold bending machines currently employs 130 staff. The company is represented worldwide via long-term partner enterprises. Schwarze-Robitec already manufactured the world‘s first CNC-controlled tube bending machine back in 1977. To date, more than 2,400 machines have been sold – some of them have been used in production unrestrictedly for far more than 35 years. The Schwarze-Robitec product range includes, in addition to tube bending machines and bending tools, tube perforating machines, measuring stations, as well as solutions in the area of special machinery construction. The reference list of the tube bending expert includes, without exception, all renowned leading manufacturers from the automotive industry, energy sector as well as shipbuilding. Above and beyond that, the company solutions are employed in the aerospace sector as well as many other industries. Detailed information about Schwarze-Robitec can be found in the Internet at
www.schwarze-robitec.com.