Cutting a range of coils to width and length is often cumbersome and time consuming. Damage to coils, slow cycle times, inaccurate inventory management and operator safety are just a few problems faced.
The Krasser Centurio provides a complete solution for thin sheet applications, optimally combining both protective storage of coils and the precise and logistically efficient cutting of coiled sheet. Once the coil is loaded into the storage system, all movements of the material occur automatically without any physical labour. Storage and transport damage to material and edges is minimised. The automatic adjustment of slitting knifes with patented blade gap adjustment ensures precise strip widths and guarantees the best cut quality.
Coil loading and slitting processes run simultaneously while guarded by a safety fence. To change a coil from the furthest coil storage position takes only two minutes; this process includes straightening and weighing the coil. According to Sheet Metal Machinery, these features and benefits make the Centurio the safest and the fastest coil processing and slitting system worldwide.
Extendibility is absolutely the biggest advantage of the Centurio coil processing system. Depending on requirement and budget Sheet Metal Machinery is able to offer single or multi-row setups, up to five lines side by side. The flexibility in length and number of stations is nearly unlimited. Coils are weighted automatically and after every move in the storage the weight is saved again in the system. Order and reorder can be coordinated perfectly as you always know how much of your coil is left. You can load new coils into the storage system whilst the machine cuts your orders. This saves you even more time and is one of the biggest advantages of the system.
Speed is key
F&M Fabricators in Brisbane makes commercial roofing and rainwater products and works with steel, aluminium, zinc and copper. The company serves a large portion of south-east Queensland and part of New South Wales. At F&M, speed is key. The custom sheet metal fabricators market their fast turnaround time and advanced technology at every opportunity.
“We promise a lot of light gauge sheet metal jobs on delivery in 12 hours so it’s fairly high pressure,” said Marty Vosper, Supervisor at F&M.
According to Vosper, the Centurio was like an answer to a prayer. The machine went into F&M’s production line, with eight knives on the slitter and an eight-station coiling system. It replaced two aging slitters manufactured in Australia that could only take one-ton coils, whereas the Centurio can handle coils that are five tons. Vosper believes that the difference has been like night and day.
“We used to have to manually change the knives and manually change the coils,” he says. “With the Centurio, we put on a four-ton coil on Monday. On Tuesday, we’d stripped it down to nothing on this one-color job. Plus, we were doing several other smaller jobs in other colours, so there were a number of coil changes in there to meet deadlines.
“All together, there was about eight tons of work produced over less than two days. It’s really unbelievable. The output of work now for us is triple what we were doing before, easy.”
Vosper said the Centurio primarily feeds to three eight-metre Long Folders, and its speed assures that there is rarely any downtime waiting for material. Compared with the machines and workflow that it replaced, Vosper says: “It’s about ten times faster and the operator really doesn’t have to do any real physical work. The machine does it all.”
Moreover, it has helped F&M live up to its marketing promise.
“It has made us extremely competitive,” Vosper says. “No one can get custom product out as fast as us.”