FN Steel

The production location of FN Steel in Alblasserdam supplies high-quality steel to the automotive, aviation and other industries. Steel wire in diameters of 5.5 mm to 30 mm is produced in the rolling mill. FN Steel specialises in supplying small quantities of high-quality steel.

The challenge
In the rolling mill, so-called “billets” are heated and then rolled out into wire of the required diameter. This rolling process deforms the ends of the wire, which would cause problems in the further production process. To avoid this, the ends of the wire are clipped off by a rotating cutter. This cutter must cut as accurately as possible to avoid as much loss of expensive material as possible. The complexity lies in the high and constantly varying speed of the wire, which can move at up to 18 metres per second!

In order to cut the wire in the right place, the wire is passed through a tube which normally guides the wire along the cutter and at the moment of cutting moves the wire over to the cutter and then retracts it again.

This is done by making use of a servo motor that activates the change and does so in combination with the right speed and position of the cutting blades.

Result
This complex order was successfully carried out in close collaboration with the client and Bosch Rexroth. Improved accuracy lowered the costs by reducing waste and disruption on the line, because the cutter always cuts at the perfect moment!

Facts

Customer

FN Steel

Scope

• Concept design
• Software design
• Software specification
• Software engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Panel construction
• Installation work
• Testing
• Commisioning

Systems

• Bosch Rexroth MLC
• Bosch Rexroth servomotor