The company from Schopfheim regards itself as a complete provider. The range of services extends from support with production-oriented optimization of the final product to be manufactured, to customized design of the machine, the mechanical engineering including machining of the required components, and design and manufacturing of the roll forming tools, up to turnkey handover and commissioning at the customer’s site.

An optimum roll forming machine is not an off-the-shelf product,

emphasizes Ralf Schinzig, Head of Manufacturing Planning and NC Programming at Dreistern. “Our machines are extremely precise and individually tailored to the desired application and the user’s specific product to achieve the highest quality. And each system requires a large number of components, which are frequently similar but then often differ considerably from each other in the details.”

The Dreistern experts have been working on the practical use of digitalization and automation for the roll forming process for several years. In connection with precise mechanical engineering, this opens up numerous options for a manufacturing process that is efficient, and thus also stable, with a high level of user friendliness.

In addition to mastering forming processes and developing assistance systems, the objectives of digitalizing the roll forming machines include high flexibility in the face of decreasing batch sizes and a comprehensive quality assurance (now with automatic correction on the machine in individual cases) and maximum system availability.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is also becoming increasingly important in this context for supporting users – as a long-term objective for the future, as well as for automated correction and control processes.

The demands that the workpieces made of the CAM system had less to do with geometric sophistication: “Free-form surfaces, for example, are rarely required in our mechanical engineering,” reports the Head of Manufacturing Planning and NC Programming.

The geometric design of our machine parts tends to be fairly straightforward. Instead, we must be able to handle a wide range of variants for the numerous parts of our machines, each of which is precisely tailored to the specific application. Our machining covers the entire spectrum, from 20 x 20 mm small parts to 8 m long welded structures

One major challenge is also the numerous different bores with varying fits and custom threads. “These are parts that often only differ in their bore patterns,” Schinzig explains, “or that are installed symmetrically in our machines and therefore require left-hand and right-hand threads to prevent the connections from accidentally coming loose. And as if that weren’t enough, we also manufacture machines with inch-based thread sizes for our customers in various international markets. It’s hard to believe how many different bore variants a single design can contain – despite extensive standardization. This variety is also a challenge for programmers – actually a monotonous routine task, but one with no room for error.”

The employees received training, and the Dreistern team set to work creating NCSets and libraries together with the experts. “At the outset, this requires a tremendous effort,” admits the Head of Manufacturing Planning and NC Programming. “The tool libraries, in particular, are very comprehensive – they store not only the geometric data of the tools, but also the optimum cutting data for the various materials. Considering the diversity we deal with, that’s a real challenge.” The clamping devices were also fully documented in a library, and a Tebis team precisely remeasured all machines that use Tebis programs.”
The great advantage is that all relevant manufacturing knowledge is now directly represented in Tebis through the NCSets and the libraries – so we can be sure that what we see in our simulations using the actual data will match reality,” emphasizes Schinzig.

Simply put: Since we’ve been using Tebis, we’ve been collision-free. The precise measurement of the machines, which a team of experts from Tebis did for us, is extremely important – the details matter. For example, the cooling lubricant tubes for the external coolant supply are not always arranged as depicted in the manufacturer’s data model. If you want to be on the safe side, there’s no alternative to exact measurement of your machines.

The programmers also appreciated that they were not forced to use one standardized way of working.

The Tebis experts closely examined how we work, showed us what could be optimized, and then mapped our workflow into Tebis

says the Head of Manufacturing Planning and NC Programming. He is also enthusiastic about the ability to measure during the process: “If a welded part happens to be longer than specified in the plan, Tebis can detect this and correct it during machining,” he explains. “The control system of our old machine didn’t support measurement cycles – Tebis was able to offer us a solution that allows us to align workpieces quickly and easily.”
The collaboration with the experts at Tebis is very much based on partnership in other respects as well: “They listen to our requests and needs,” emphasizes Schinzig. “For example, when we needed functions for trochoidal turning that weren’t already available in Tebis, the Tebis experts listened to us very carefully. These functions were then integrated in the next release in a way that was update-proof and available to everyone. By the way, another important factor for realizing our full potential is ongoing training for our employees. That’s why Tebis training courses are regularly included in our schedule. All in all: Our relationship with Tebis is a genuine partnership. It’s hard to overstate how valuable that’s been.”