All-inclusive package for end machining

Sawn round steel bars with lengths of nine millimetres are just as much a part of GABO STAHL's portfolio as round steel bars with a length of six metres. There is a large customer base, and the products are used for a wide range of applications – from use in electrical and hydraulic parts production to large bolts for wind turbines. GABO STAHL is not only a steel trader, but also a steel processor. The company based in Essingen near Aalen was looking for the right system to machine the ends of all round steel bars with a diameter of 30 to 100 mm and a length of 300 to 2000 mm. As GABO STAHL CEO Thorsten Maier points out: “We like to supply our customers with the primary material ready for use and undertake as much preparatory work as possible.”

At GABO STAHL, these products are not usually manufactured in large series. Business is mainly dominated by small series. “Our production equipment has to be able to work just as flexibly as we do”, explains Maier. The problem with this is that “Although we perform machining tasks for our customers, we don’t have any trained machinists working for us.” Therefore, in addition to the requirement for flexibility in terms of different dimensions and steel grades, there is also a need for the simplest possible operation.

MAPAL and Mössner worked together closely for around eight weeks on the system that is now installed at GABO STAHL. Marc Wagner, Technical Consultant at MAPAL, recalls: “The tool for facing, chamfering and centre drilling different types of steel and diameters was a major challenge.” The various steel grades were the main source of development work. The engineering steels and tempering steels to be machined are usually specified by GABO STAHL's customers in terms of chemical composition and mechanical values. 

“We get everyone round the table, work things out, think creatively and find joint solutions”, Fuchs describes the development process. “Once the right tool has been found and designed, we build the rest of the machine around it.” After all, the tool is at the centre of the system.

„Für uns ist die Anlage von Mössner ein großer Gewinn“, sagt Thorsten Maier. Denn vor dem Produktionsstart mit der neuen Maschine wurden all die Bearbeitungen manuell erledigt. So spart GABO STAHL nicht nur massiv Zeit bei der Bearbeitung ein, sondern stellt mit der Anlage auch die gleichbleibend hohe Qualität der bearbeiteten Enden sicher. Und: „Die Anlage übernimmt zusätzlich das Sägen, Vermessen, Kennzeichnen, Entmagnetisieren und Verpacken der Werkstücke“, sagt Maier. Ein Rundum-Sorglospaket also, das Mössner und MAPAL geliefert haben. Auch die Mitarbeiter, die täglich mit der Anlage arbeiten, zeigen sich von der einfachen Bedienung und der Möglichkeit, schnell und unkompliziert auf neue Bauteile umzustellen, begeistert.

Der reibungslose Verlauf dieses gemeinsamen Projekts bei GABO STAHL kommt nicht von ungefähr. „Wir arbeiten nicht nur hier in Baden-Württemberg, sondern weltweit erfolgreich mit Mössner zusammen“, sagt Marc Wagner. Beispielsweise in Mexiko, wo viele Automobilhersteller und -zulieferer Werke betreiben und auf die kombinierten Lösungen der beiden Unternehmen setzen.