01.10.2007

Schuler hydraulic presses set standards in Czech automotive industry

Precision and flexibility in car part manufacturing thanks to Schuler’s hydraulic press lines: products supplied by Schuler guarantee quality and speed for Czech car manufacturers and their suppliers.

On the steadily growing Czech market, Schuler hydraulic presses have been held in high regard since the early 90s for their flexibility, reliability and high machine availability. In combination with fast die-changing times, these are the ideal prerequisites for flexible manufacturing of a wide variety of parts for the automotive industry.
This year, Škoda Auto AG launched production on a Schuler double-action hydraulic lead-off press with a total press force of 2.100 t (slide: 1.300 t; blank holder: 800 t) and a bed area of 4.6 x 2.5 m². By using a patented Schuler ring valve, in combination with Schuler’s patented mechanical coupling of the slide, dynamic three-stage cylinder selection and new T-track sliding bolsters and by changing work organization, output on the line for the mass manufacturing of panels and structural parts was increased by ten percent. Since 1998, the press shop in Mladá Boleslav has been using a hydraulic high-speed tryout press with a force of 2.000 t and a bed area of 4.5 x 2.4 m², which can reach the working speeds of a mechanical production press with the aid of its installed piston-accumulator drive.

Since the beginning of this year, a further automated Schuler line featuring a hydraulic press has been helping the car body part supplier Dura Automotive in Blatná to reach higher productivity in the manufacturing of door sills and roof bows. The line has a press force of 250 t and a bed area of 2.5 x 1.3 m and meets a customer request for stroke limitation, which enables highly accurate setting of the press stroke to the height of the workpiece in combination with cutting shock dampers. The result was a dramatic increase in die service life.

The car part supplier Wagon Automotive in Bela pod Bezdezem has been relying on Schuler technology since 1998. For the production of structural car parts, the company launched production of a hydraulic high-speed transfer press in 2007 with Schuler blank feeder and electronic three-axis gripper transfer. With a force of 1.700 t and a bed area of 6.1 x 2.2 m², the line has an output of 13 to 16 parts per minute. For full and empty runs of the multiple-station dies, the press is fitted with force-neutral, full-stroke parallelism control which counters the high off-center loads while maintaining full press force over the entire working stroke.

Seven hydraulic presses have been running at structural part manufacturer Karsit in Jaroměř since 2003: a double-action lead-off press with a press force of 1.000 t and six follow-on presses with 3x 800 t and 3x 500 t of press force. The press frames at Karsit are designed for high off-center loads, while T-track sliding bolsters ensure fast die changes.

For the production of car seat rails at its Czech facility in Koprivnice, Brose also relies on its two Schuler high-speed transfer presses, each with a press force of 800 t. With consistently high output, the two presses provide exceptional productivity for hydraulic transfer presses of this size.

Further Czech-based companies using Schuler’s hydraulic presses include Zeveta Components a.s., SVA Holysov a.s., PWO Unitools CZ, Fritzmeier s.r.o. and HS Umformtechnik. Schuler has reacted to market needs with tailored solutions and first-class service, responding to the varying needs of its respective customers.

Schuler’s hydraulic presses enable flexible manufacturing of a wide range of parts, can be quickly adapted to changed production conditions and provide the highest levels of output and part quality thanks to short die-changing times. Schuler employees are proud of the success their high-quality products have achieved – also in Central and Eastern Europe.