Success Story

Four Heckert machining centres for burner housing production at Weishaupt

At first glance, the new production system at Weishaupt's main plant jars somewhat: The four Heckert machining centres seem somehow smaller and more compact. At the request of the customer, Starrag built the machines 750 mm into the ground in order to simplify the ergonomics and handling through ground-level accessibility, which increases productivity. This lower-level installation is just one example of the many details that can be optimised. 

The skilled art of good industrial planning is evident not only in the construction of new plants (Greenfield), but above all in the modernisation of an existing plant (Brownfield). This task is made all the more difficult when the transition must take place with no downtime for ongoing operations. In 2015, this was exactly the mammoth task facing Max Weishaupt GmbH, based in Schwendi, Upper Swabia (south of Ulm): The task at hand was to upgrade the existing plant from 1992 with its five machining centres. The new production technology needed to be capable of machining the housing of the new WKmono 80 large burner; the old systems were not able to handle a burner of this size. 


Visiting Heckert reference customers

Instead of simply replacing individual components of the old plant, Weishaupt decided to design a completely new plant to machine components for industrial burners of all sizes. Before deciding on the Heckert product range from Swiss company Starrag, Weishaupt also considered reference customers from Southern Germany such as Fendt, Vögele and Liebherr, who all specialise in comparable production tasks with similar machining centres. 

In order to prevent production downtime, the conversion was carried out in two stages: The first stage, which took until 2016, involved constructing the first plant with a Heckert HEC 1600 and a Heckert HEC 1000. The second plant followed between 2016 and 2017, with two Heckert HEC 1000s. The new production system can machine components up to a maximum weight of 4 t, a maximum diameter of 2,800 mm and a maximum height of 2,200 mm (on the Heckert HEC 1600). A total of more than 100 storage areas—from which two large pallet systems supply the four machining centres with components and fixtures - serve as buffers for machining the approximately 450 different components (batch sizes 1 to 250) in two-shift operation. Thanks to this generously proportioned handling and storage system, around 90 clamping devices are available at all times. Each production system has three set-up points, which are adjustable in height between 50 mm and 650 mm. This ensures that the new plant, delivers a high degree of flexibility and is extremely ergonomic. As each machining centre has 240 tool slots, each tool is available for machining at any time and can be immediately inserted into the spindle - from the 5-mm deep-hole drill to the milling cutter with carbide indexable insert. 

The Heckert large-scale machining centres were the answer to smooth interchangeability of pallets and fixtures for the two differently sized machining centres. They allow Weishaupt to switch easily from one machine to another. Starrag was able to make interchangeability a reality.


10%

more productive

The new production system at Weishaupt can machine components up to a weight of 4 t, a maximum diameter of 2,800 mm and a maximum height of 2,200 mm.

Burners for heating and process energy worldwide


Precision is the be all and end all when it comes to producing Weishaupt's burner components, which are generally made from high-quality aluminium die-casting using two clamping operations and six-sided complete machining. The optimised supply of coolant plays a decisive role by ensuring a consistent temperature even at high speeds of up to 7,500 rpm and significantly improving the removal of chips. The use of coolant has already proved its worth with the WKmono 80 housing, for example, for which Weishaupt is for the first time using a very long milling tool for shaping (interpolation) of the reverse of a surface. These industrial burners are used in heating plants and in industrial processing plants all over the world, for example.

weisshaupt

Weishaupt was helped with the introduction of the new shaping technique by the tool manufacturer and by Heckert technologists, who created the NC code for this machining. In addition, the Starrag site in Chemnitz helped Weishaupt with the transition from the old production process to the new. The use of a new controller (Siemens 840D sl) meant that the approximately 600 NC programs could not simply be transferred without modifications. With support from Chemnitz, a post-processor was first created to adapt the old NC programs to the new machining centres. The time required to convert the components from the old plant to the new, right up to the start of production, was significantly reduced thanks to this support. Heckert also assisted in the adaptation of the fixtures to the new machine/pallet interface. 

So taking all the specifics of the order for Weishaupt into account, Starrag has put in a strong performance: The four new Heckert centres are around 10% faster than the five previous machines and, thanks to power regeneration from motor braking operations, they are also significantly more energy efficient. And, in keeping with the claim "Engineering precisely what you value", this is exactly one of the goals that Starrag customers can achieve. 

Gallery

Max Weishaupt GmbH

Profile

The Weishaupt Group, which has around 3,400 employees, is a market leader for burners, heating and condensing boiler systems, heat pumps, solar technology and building automation.

Max Weishaupt GmbH in Schwendi is a core component of the Group and is home to a dedicated research and development institute.
Established in 1932, it has been a holding company since 2009: Three companies are combined under a single roof, and operate in the fields of energy technology, energy recovery and energy management.


www.weishaupt.de

I have been informed that I can withdraw my consent to the processing of my personal data at any time. Withdrawal shall not affect the legality of any data processing already carried out before withdrawing my consent. By providing my consent, I confirm that I am aged 16 years or older. I hereby consent to the processing of my data. I give my consent voluntarily. I know that this declaration of consent will be saved.