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INSPIRED forTUBE

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Contents

16 CMM

From steel sheet to tube

14 ARTUBE

New Artube software

10 HARTWALL

Intelligent solutionsfor logistics

4 PUKY

Quality always pays

8 BLM GROUP USA

Growing with the market

20 SGM

Increasingly more tubein complex frames

INSPIRED FOR TUBE

Edited by:

Area Comunicazione BLM GROUPAntonio FareseEmanuela ColomboCristina Guzzettie-mail: pr@blm.it tel. +39 031 7070 200

Produced by:BLM GROUPVia Selvaregina 3022063 Cantù (CO) Italywww.blmgroup.com

NumberINSPIRED FOR TUBE Nr. 7 - 09/2007

Graphic Design:Studio Grafico PageVincenzo De RosaFabrizio Santini

Printed by:Intergrafica, Verona

Photography:AEFFEFabrizio SantiniBBR

Reproduction of all or part ofarticles or illustrations pub-lished in this edition cannotbe used without prior autho-risation.

INSPIRED FOR TUBE

Also available in pdf format on:

www.blmgroup.com

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OPINION

As part of the BLM GROUP’s strategic vision as a globalsupplier of tube fabrication equipment, BLM GROUP USA,its North American subsidiary, has announced the GrandOpening of larger facilities to serve its growing customerbase. Its new headquarters, equipment demonstration,and customer training facility opened for full operation on24 September 2007 in Wixom, Michigan.

Since opening for operation in 2001, BLM GROUP USAhas experienced significant growth in its territory. This suc-cess is attributed to the growing recognition of the highperformance and reliability of BLM and ADIGE tube fab-rication equipment, the company’s emphasis on respon-sive customer service, and an experienced service, sales,and senior management team.

The BLM GROUP USA’s overall philosophy is to help theircustomers to be successful. It does this by offering the in-vestments made by the BLM GROUP in the developmentof advanced tube fabrication equipment. These invest-ments are aimed at providing an “unfair competitive ad-vantage” in manufacturing productivity and quality to itscustomers. These new equipment developments also

provide additional degrees of design freedom to BLM GROUP USA’s customers giving themthe ability to apply a greater degree of innovation and flexibility needed to respond to everchanging global markets.

BLM GROUP USA’s new 32,000 sf facility represents an important investment in its com-mitment to customer support in North America. It offers tube fabricators and OEM manu-facturers the opportunity to conduct hands on evaluations of the latest BLM and ADIGE tubefabrication technology. The facility houses a broad array of tube forming and tube cuttingequipment capable of offering North American firms the opportunity to strengthen their com-petitive position in the global economy. The facility houses an expanded customer servicestaff and is now also able to offer expanded training programs for customer programmers,operators, and maintenance personnel.

Further expansion is planned in the 4th Quarter 2007, with the startup of a Tube FabricationTechnology and Customer Training Center to be located in the Los Angeles, California area.The center will provide technical support and service, training, applications demonstrations,and sales for tube forming and cutting equipment to existing and prospective new cus-tomers in the western regions of the US, Canada, and Mexico.

James P. RuttPresident and Chief Operating Officer

BLM GROUP USA Corporation

INVESTING IN INNOVATION AND GROWTH

James P. Rutt

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parents that they tried the bike out going downa flight of steps”; as Michael Bunte knows fromexperience with his three children.

Puky, with its 90 employees, checks all steps fromthe design phase, through to production (tubebending, drilling, deformation, welding and paint-ing), logistics, quality control and the severe finalcontrol tests. In fact, as qualitative standards, both componentsand Puky finished products not only meet the DINor EN standards for toys but further tests are car-ried out on special test devices. Only componentsthat pass the resistance tests are used for the as-sembly.

Safety for children“Quality always pays ”, emphasises Kuchen-becker, and the growing turnover over the last fewyears confirm this. Customers have again goneback to having a perception of greater productvalue. Moreover, greater quality, together with ex-changeable parts that can be ordered for manyyears, guarantee use of the article for as longas possible. These factors, too, are again sought-after by the customer.

“For next season, the company intends to launchmany new products on the market ” saysKuchenbecker. “This does not, however, meanthat Puky is simply following the latest trends. In fact, there are some products that will neverbe made because they fall short of meeting thequality criteria, and they are not really neces-sary to a child’s development. Let us never for-get our slogan: “Sicher Kind sein”, i.e. “Safetyfor children”.

Quality always pays

Puky produces children’s bicycles, tricycles and Go-Karts

guaranteeing uncompromised quality.

Talking about children’s bikes, tricycles and Go-Karts in Germany means talking about Puky. Infact, the company from Wülfrath, near Düsseldorfis the German leader in the production of chil-dren’s vehicles both in terms of the high-tech ap-plied in the production process, as well as theendless innovations and technical solutions ap-plied to each of its products. All this derives fromthe profound belief that the vehicles must adaptto the child and not vice versa. For this reason,Puky has been on the market since a distant 1949and continues to produce in Germany althoughthere has been great pressure as regards theirprices. Besides the home market, Puky exportsthroughout Europe, Japan and Australia with aturnover of 20 - 25 million Euros, of which a mere20% derives from exports.

Quality and safetyPuky executives, Rolf Kuchenbecker and RalfPuslat together with Michael Bunte, Technical ex-ecutive of the company strongly believe that pro-duction can continue in Germany regardless ofstrong competition. A fundamental factor is the commitment to guar-antee an uncompromised quality: “We should al-ways bear in mind that children’s toys will neverbe used as they should”, says Kuchenbecker. “Achild may all too often take a friend on board therear saddle or a parent may decide to sit on achild’s bike to revive his/her childhood memories.All these uses should be contemplated, whetherwe are looking at bikes, GoKarts or other Pukyproducts”. When a rack or frame brakes, obviously, parentswill never ask their children whether they haveused it properly and children will “hardly tell their

▲▲▲

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Michael Bunte,

Technical Director PUKY GMBH & CO. KG

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A 30 year long allianceAs mentioned in the beginning, one of the fun-damental elements of Puky’s philosophy of “qual-ity without compromise” is the use of technolog-ically avant-garde machines and concepts. To thisend, it is interesting to note that since the ‘70s,Puky has been using BLM machines, as can beseen by the CNC Dynamo-E-MR-200 tube bend-ing machine that was installed in view of a newproduction reorganisation, to produce tubes insilence and with an all-electric technology for usein bicycle, tricycle and Go-Kart frames. “BLM has always been the only producer of tubebending machines that are able to offer standardproducts as well as unique tailored solutions withunbeatable quality for the price ” explains RolfKuchenbecker. “Then a fundamental element isBLM’s competence in issues on bending technol-ogy. The BLM staff does not try to sell you a specialmachine at all costs. To the contrary, they focuson trying to find directions and solutions that canbe installed on standard machines with modifica-tions to the tools and programming software.

And BLM does not simply sell a machine to thenforget about it. Quite the contrary, its staff visitscustomers on a regular basis and shares the ex-periences gained on the machines. In this way,our operators have been able to develop pro-cessing programmes with extremely complexgeometries directly by themselves, succeedingin creating an in-house know-how in such a shorttime ”.

The customer service is directly followed by theGerman BLM branch in Unna. Among otherthings, the new machines can be diagnosed inremote mode, through the Internet, directly fromthe Italian headquarters and this service has beenmuch appreciated by Puky. Nevertheless, if it wereabsolutely necessary, in an emergency situation,a technician is available from Italy at all times.

Perfect cellsAlongside the uncompromised quality, the testlab, direct assembly and a vast range of inno-vative products, another important factor that con-

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tributes to the success of Puky is a factory or-ganised in production cells. “Each cell consists of one or two BLM tube bend-ing machines that are complete, if necessary, witha punching machine, press or other devices thathave developed and manufactured in-house toperform grooves, drill holes or other operations,and a welding station. Each tube bending ma-chine is equipped with a loader from where themachine takes the tube, bends it and places it ona chute or a conveyor belt. The operator then shiftit to other cells that complete the processing cy-cle ” explains Michael Bunte. “As opposed to the past, one operator is re-sponsible for the an entire component/productassembly (tubular frame). The advantage of thismethod is that the operator can immediatelyspot a problem on the processing line, such asa bent frame that does not access the weld-ing station. The error is immediately eliminated.In the past, a problem would only have beennoticed downstream the welding unit and per-haps after a few hundred pieces had alreadybeen welded incorrectly ”.

“To have changed the production method hasgiven extremely positive results: we have in-creased production by 25% and decreased theproduction area by 30%. This makes it possibleto have extra space for other cells, thereby in-creasing the direct production output and to car-ry out various jobs that were once outsourced ”.

As far as numbers are concerned, Puky pro-duces from 300,000 to 350,000 single piecesper year, per shift. When raw material becomesexpensive, it is important to have semi-finishedproducts with a constant quality at adequateprices. This is also applicable to tube. And thisis where the BLM tube bending machines comeinto the picture again thanks to the fact that theyare able to compensate for the tolerance oscil-lation in the raw material. After the experience with BLM, it goes withoutsaying that the Westphalian company will con-tinue to use Italian technology and produce un-compromised quality for the safety of its youngcustomers.

Source: www.bbr.de

PUKY GMBH & CO. KG

Fortunastraße 11

42489 Wülfrath

Tel: 02058/773-0

E-Mail: info@puky.de

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Growing with the market

BLM GROUP USA Announces NewNorth American Headquarters

Customer Support and Training Center

BLM GROUP USA is pleased to advise its cus-tomers in the US and CANADA of its investmentin larger facilities to support it’s growing numberof existing customers and prospective new cus-tomers of its broad line of tube fabricating equip-ment in North America

An area of 32,000 feet at thecustomer’s serviceThe company has moved into a new 32,000square foot state of the art building housing anexpanded customer service department, cus-tomer training facility, and spare parts inventory.The facility will also house an a broad range of thelatest tube fabrication equipment available to itscustomers as a demonstration laboratory to helpimprove the productivity and quality of tube fab-

rication processes using the latest generation ofCNC benders, end formers, cold saws, and laserbased tube cutting systems.

The Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Celebrationwill be held at its new facility at 29380 Beck Road,Wixom, MI 48393 on Monday, September 24,2007 at 10:00am. The event will be attended bycustomers, state and local elected officials, stateand local Economic Development Commissionrepresentatives, local suppliers, and representa-tives of the metal fabrication industry associationsincluding the Fabricators and Manufacturers As-sociation and the Society of Manufacturing Engi-neers. Also in attendance will be editors from themetal fabrication industry including THE FABRI-CATOR and TUBE & PIPE JOURNAL, as well aslocal newspapers from southeast Michigan.

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BLM GROUP USA CORP.

29380 Beck Road, Wixom, MI

48393, USA

Tel. : +1 (248)-560-0080

Fax.: +1 (248)-560-0083

Email: sales@blmgroupusa.com

The competitive advantageFollowing the ribbon cutting ceremony, the tech-nical staff of BLM GROUP USA will describe anddemonstrate its advanced tube fabricating equip-ment and software for the attendees. .

The presentations and demonstrations will be fol-lowed by discussions of how the products of theBLM GROUP are helping companies in Michiganimprove their competitive position in the face ofincreased global competition. Business owners

from three Michigan companies will meet with thestate and local economic development repre-sentatives and the press to describe how their in-vestment in advanced BLM and ADIGE tube fab-rication equipment has helped them improve theirbusiness and increase the employment in theircompanies using the new high efficiency fabri-cation capabilities of this technology.

The Grand Opening Ceremonies will be followedby a buffet lunch for all attendees

BLM GROUP USA’s Service Team (left to right): Kevin McCune, Jessy Felix, Victor Wooster, Cheryl Kimball,

Bret Ramer, Sean Wicks, Jeffry Cole, Mauro Corno, Kim Klan, Jim Crocker, Patrik Lorenzon

(not in the picture: Gerry Cochran, Rich King, Larry Peterson, Patti Kimball).

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Hartwall in Sipoo, Finland is a family business thatwas founded back in 1932 (it has now reachedthe third generation) and is a leader in the field oflogistics solutions for material handling. In 2006it achieved a turnover of 100 million Euros with500 employees and three production facilities:the one in Sipoo, one in England and one in Scot-land.At Hartwall, research in finding intelligent solu-tions for logistics shows how it is possible to spe-cialise in a product that appears to be quite sim-ple and mature in an extremely competitive field.

The logistics roleThe current market is characterised by a seriesof important “parameters”, such as: high com-petitiveness; a considerably shorter life cycle;complexity of the products,; increasingly exact-ing lead-times required by the customer; reduc-tion in the profit margins; growth in the customersexpectations as regards the “service level” andthe corporate goal being to satisfy the customerand maintain customer loyalty. The achievement of this goal particularly affectsthe company’s marketing, innovation and Ser-vice/logistics divisions who are forced to meet theexacting requirements in terms of speed, avail-ability, regularity and flexibility. This is where high-ly innovative and reliable logistics solutions suchas the ones designed and implemented by Hart-wall, are of fundamental strategic importance tomodern industry.

Customer-oriented “In this scenario - says Jerker Hartwall, Gen-eral Manager of the company - you need to beable to provide targeted and reliable solutions

to our customers that range from shopping cen-tres and supermarkets, the food and beverageindustry, post offices, the automobile industryto the laundries. Extremely diverse sectors thatall have a common need and that is to trans-port their products in a safe way from the pro-duction or processing sites to the retail outlet orthe next step in their transformation ”.

“Hartwall’s “mission” is to find solutions thatallow the various users to reduce the amount of

space occupied, to use the same trolleys fortransporting and displaying goods at the pointof sale, to guarantee that the solution can beused again and again and can guarantee highlevels of cleanliness and hygiene, particularlywhen used in the food industry and reducingthe level of labour required for handling ”.

Hartwall, Finland, has chosen lasertube to improve efficiency

in the production of logistics trolleys

Intelligent solutionsfor logistics

▲▲▲

Jerker Hartwall,

Direttore Generale.

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The solutions that have been perfected by Hart-wall are wheeled dolly trolleys of various designand type studied to transport and house prod-ucts in a reliable and safe manner, such as milkand fruit juice cartons, beverages, fruit and veg-etables. Or to transport letters and packages orcar components and linen and even to transportand display flowers.

Competitive choices “To reach our level of specialisation - continuesHartwall – with a substantially simple and matureproduct, in a strongly competitive sector, we hadto understand the user’s needs ahead of time andinvest in production technologies that would helpus to be extremely reactive and efficient in ourproduction and supply ”.

The degree of specialisation shows how Hartwallhas become customer and market oriented. Inthe production field, the choice to be competitivehas taken a global sourcing direction in procur-

ing raw materials and production efficiency withthe purchase of four ADIGE lasertube cutting sys-tem. In fact, trolleys and dollies are essentiallymade from tubular structures that have been suit-ably worked and assembled. If one considers that over 1.5 million trolleys areproduced each year, the cost incidence of rawmaterials and processing is evident.

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K. HARTWALL OY AB

Kay Hartwallin tie 2

FIN-01150 Söderkulla

Finland

Tel. +358 9 413 18 33

Fax +358 9 272 1484

A single uninterrupted cycle“With four ADIGE lasertube cutting systems the ma-terial flow on the shop floor has been drastically sim-plified, passing directly from the tube bundles to bend-ing and welding ” says Hartwall. “The insert fittingshave been designed so that a single processing cy-cle is required without any interruption to pass overto various other machines, thereby guaranteeing re-duced cycle times. In this way, the 87 welding robotsused in the various production facilities are a contin-

uous flow from the production lines as well as con-stant quality. The production efficiency deriving fromall this allows Hartwall to guarantee short lead times,and to be close to the customer, particularly the Eng-lish, Danish, Scottish and Czech markets, besidesFinland of course, and outside Europe also in the Unit-ed States, South Africa and Russia. It is now clearwhat Hartwall means by his slogan “Intelligent logis-tics solutions ”; after having visited the company, it iseasier to understand and agree with.

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Much too often, when talking about laser cuttingmachines and systems, the software that pro-grams, controls and manages them is taken forgranted. That is, all specific functions that are de-veloped so that the machine can be integrated inthe production process are left aside. Whereas,they are often the key features when choosing asystem. In a market that is increasingly more uni-form and competitive as regards technology, it is,in fact, the software that makes the difference andqualifies the production systems more and more,including those for tube laser cutting.

To confirm its technological leadership in the sec-tor once again, ADIGE has recently fine tunedARTUBE, a new software designed ad hoc forlines of the Lasertube systems, developed specif-ically for processing tubes. And from observing the hundreds of applicationsused day after day, the world over and in the mostvaried of production sectors, ARTUBE was de-veloped, anticipating customer requirements andoffering new functionalities.

Projects and prototypes in less timeARTUBE helps to design, plan and manage theproduction of tubular pieces on laser cutting ma-chines. The main advantages compared to theprevious generation are even easier use and moreample libraries with preset processing that canalso be customised. In this way, users can mate-rialise the idea into the finished product in just afew minutes without requiring specific skills or ex-

pert personnel. This means a vertical reduction in designing andprototyping times, thereby reducing the time tomarket new products to the minimum indispen-sable; a benefit that adds up to significant sav-ings, with the advantage of added value.

Important additional functions are:- The possibility of importing files in step, iges

and xt format, of modifying them and allowingCAM processing, without having to design thepiece from scratch again;

- The management of special or particularly com-plex sections so that even unusual tubes can

ARTUBE software for Lasertube systems developed

by ADIGE on the basis of its applicative experience

New Artube software

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the functions, the automatic end forming, of allthe intersections of various components, is wor-thy of mention, likewise the management of cou-pling methods and automatic development ofparametric fittings. These are all functions thathelp the programmer to concentrate on the func-tional technical choices and not in the technicalaspects of programming each frame component.CIM: a specially designed software for remoteproduction management to process customer or-ders (by priority, due date and quantity), to effectnesting in order to optimise production, to havea control over the entire in-line production meanswith production balances and historical file.

ADIGE SPA

Via per Barco, 11

38056 Levico Terme (TN) Italy

tel. +39 0461 729000

fax +39 0461 701410

E-mail: vendite@adige.it

be cut; - Automatic application of op-

timum cutting parameters toguarantee high yield at all times andhigh production efficiency

- The automatic generation of cuttingstrategies to optimise the cutting route andassociated cycle time;

- To create cutting programs for open profiles aswell and not only tubes.

An even more completepackageThe focus placed by ADIGE on the importanceof software has been confirmed by the fact thattwo other main solutions can be added to AR-TUBE to complete the tube processing package. ASSEMLER: CAD/CAM parametric and 3D soft-ware to design complex tubular structures andframes using very little data to start with. Among

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When back in 1994, Luigi Ghirardi, owner of CMMTecnologie Metallurgiche Avanzate from Medolein the Province of Mantova decided to make aleap in quality by entering in the laser world, healready had clear ideas of what he was doing.

“I had been processing steel sheet for over twen-ty years when I started to perceive the limits and“dangers” that we would have come across as asub-supplier if we hadn’t pursued quality and pro-ductivity. So we directed the company’s activitytowards the laser world, but here too, I understoodthe need to open out to new sectors other thanthose I was already serving. Therefore we need-ed a machine that could perform the primaryscope of laser cutting flat sheets but, which at thesame time, would allow opening out to new pos-sibilities, such as those predicted in cutting tu-bular structures. And this is why one of the firstlaser cutting machines installed in CMM had atube cutting option.

Two different approachesThis initial experience was determinant and en-lightening for CMM as it allowed the companyto understand the great potential of the tube andbar cutting market; a completely different sectorto that of steel sheet, which was more restric-tive, but more varied. This is why CMM is still di-vided into two divisions: “Steel sheet processing”,with three laser systems and “Tube processing”,with seven fully automatic laser machines, threeof which are for “3D working”. This division is also a physical one as the twodivisions operate in two distinct buildings con-sidering that the two activities require different ap-proaches: as to processing steel sheet it is use-ful to have alternative machines to expand theprocessing range and the space required to stackthe material is relatively small; whereas to processtube, the laser can perform most of the process-es, whereas it is indispensable to have large ar-eas for both raw tubes as well as cut tubes.

CMM, Italy, has developed its own laser activity

from steel sheet to tube processing

From steel sheet to tube

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Over half a million tons Since 2006 CMM has become an integral andqualifying part of the Manni HP group whose in-dustrial activities are in the steel field and in thepre-worked component business.With an aggregate turnover of more than 500million Euros (2006) and over 800 employees,the Manni HP takes a leading position on theItalian market for pre-worked components insteel for the construction and mechanical sec-tors and the insulating metal panel sector. All in

all, the Group produces over halfa million tons of semi-finished and fin-

ished steel products. The numbers thatexplain how the Manni Group alone has been

protagonist with supplies to various steelworksof one third of the semi-finished steel productsused for the Nuovo Polo Fieristico (The NewTradefair Centre) in Milan, the largest in Europe.

The core of the business project of the ManniHP Group is the constant research for excel-lence in serving the customer; its mission is to“create value in a satisfactory measure for thecustomer”. For this reason, each unit of theGroup from Verona makes up a real “servicecentre”, that is an operator who is able to in-teract with the customer in a complex activityof co-makership, offering a contribution in theproject, production information and improvingthe loyalty level of the customers that are typi-

▲▲▲

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cal of those who only commercialise steel prod-ucts.To this end, CMM backed by its original know-how and long experience, plays the importantrole of service centre for laser cutting of tubes,bars and profiles, therefore processing morethan 50% of the tubular material of the Group.

Medium/large-sized tubeCMM was the first Italian company in its sec-tor to constantly invest over the years in a con-sistent and significant manner thus becomingthe first in Europe to have the greatest numberof laser tube plants installed.“We have dedicated a 5,000 m2 building for this

sector – says Ghirardi –where seven laser tube plants

have been installed to processtubes, pipes and profiles with a

maximum diameter of 508 mm and14 m length.

Among these are the four ADIGE LASER-TUBE 712D machines for tubes up to 80 mm

in diameter and lengths of 6.5 or 8.5 m, an ADI-GE COMBO system used to process squareand rectangular profiles with sections exceed-ing 80 mm and lengths of 12 m and, most of all,the last machine is an ADIGE JUMBO systemused to cut tubes with a diameter of up to 508mm, squares measuring 400 x 400 mm and rec-tangular profiles measuring 500 x 300 mm withlengths up to 14 m”.It is evident how the corporate belief has turnedto processing medium/large tubes and it couldnot be otherwise, considering the close rela-tionship with the Manni HP Group.

35% of good reasonsBesides laser cutting, CMM offers assistance dur-ing the design phase, to implement 2D structuresby exploiting the enormous potentials offered by

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A winning combination Last, but not least, it is to be said that the experi-ence gained by CMM in processing tubes is con-tinuously influencing the steel sheet sector, wherethe company’s role is evolving from that of simplycarrying out work according to drawings, to tech-nological problem-solving. “Laser processing of steel sheet and tube, al-though they are structurally different, is never-theless a winning combination, where the know-how of one help to develop the other and viceversa” concludes Mr. Ghirardi. “Undoubtedly,the “tube” world is still young, as there are stillbarriers that block the use of the laser and ir-regularities in the tolerance of materials thatcome from tube-making facilities.

As already mentioned, as far as the first point isconcerned, we are trying to deal with this with ourexperience. On the other hand, as regards thesecond, there is still a long way to go and a lotto be done to promote the enormous opportuni-ties and competitive advantages of tubular struc-tures. We feel that these barriers will decrease asthe use of the laser increases in processing tubesand bars, like it did with steel sheet”.

CMM SRL

Via Marchionale 72

46046 Medole (MN) Italy

Tel. +39 0373 898150

fax. +39 0373 868335

www.cmmlaser.it

the laser. “We realised that this type of service isbecoming increasingly necessary – continuesGhirardi – to meet the demands of customers whoare not fully aware of the many possibilities of-fered by this technology. The result of this strat-egy is the contribution from the “Tube process-ing” division to the company’s turnover, which isin continuous growth and now exceeds 35%.

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SGM located in Fermignano, Perugia is a com-pany specialised in the production of frames witha strong vocation particularly for motorbike frames,metal furnishings and fitness or free time equip-ment.“I started making frames back in 1969 at MotoBenelli - says Giacinti NOME, owner of SGM - andI haven’t stopped since. I acquired skills and anenviable experience in the manufacture of mo-torbike frames to the point that in 1980 I decidedto make a quality leap and set up my own busi-ness. So we started to manufacture frames andcomponents for big names such as Bimota, MotoGuzzi and Cagiva, because that’s the only mar-ket we were best acquainted with. As soon as wegot the opportunity we successfully expanded

the activity towards related sectors from the de-mand point of view, such as the metal furnish-ing industry, bicycles and fitness equipment. Forexample Tecnogym, a company that is spe-cialised in fitness equipment is our key account”.

Comparing three generationsTo work closely with the problems of manufac-turing motorbikes, with exacting technologicaland quality requirements has allowed SGM togain skills in the laser tube cutting field, which stillremain the company’s “trademark”.

“The applications requested and the need tomake increasingly complex and articulatedframes with sophisticated intersections and as-

The technological heart of SGM in Fermignano, Italy, is the laser tube

cutting system for the production of complex quality frames.

Increasingly more tubein complex frames

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semblies – continues Giacinti – pushed us intothe laser tube world. First of all we purchasedan ADIGE LT651, which was shortly followed bya LT652 and an ADILAS 2 system where wecombined flat steel sheet cutting. The most re-cent purchase was made last year, when we in-stalled a new generation LT712D, which, com-pared to the previous models that are stillabsolutely valid and reliable, belong to a “com-pletely different world”. As I have all three gen-

erations of ADIGE laser tube machines, I canquite openly say that the LT 712D is far superi-or to the previous models from a performancepoint of view; and the numbers achieved provethis fact: to cut one component we leaped froman output of 34 pieces/hour with the “LT 652” to106 pieces/hour with the “LT 712D”, becausethere are practically no downtimes; the machinepasses over from one process to another in onlya few tenths of a second”.

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Focused on tubeToday SGM manufactures top quality stainlesssteel, iron, aluminium and high-resistance steelframes with diameters ranging from 10 to 225 mm.“Besides the output increase - explains Giacinti– the other fundamental advantage that we havefound with the laser tube system is the high cut-ting quality and repeatability, which facilitates thenext assembly phase”.

All this makes SGM the ideal partner for thosewho have to manufacture frames and perceivethe potentials and advantages in designing arti-cles, whatever they may be with frames made di-rectly from tube; this is how we reason. We had

to change our mentality to focus on tube; the ma-chines give us the possibility of doing this, but itwas up to us to know how to exploit them and onthis note, the most difficult thing is to change thecustomer’s mentality as all too often they still de-sign in the conventional way, without thinking ofthe enormous advantages they would have if theywere to design their products right from the be-ginning with the use of tube”.

“Tecnogym was the first to follow us ” says Gi-acinti. “We have a consolidated relationship withthem up to the point that designing new articlesis positively influenced by the laser tube system.In fact, the possibility of laser cutting any type ofsection allows their designers to study and im-plement articles with complex structures andframes, fully exploiting the potentials of the lasertube systems. We then receive the final projects,which we simply examine from a feasibility view-point and, if necessary, optimise it”. SGM is ISO9002 certified and therefore design is not in-house.

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ly consists of cutting and bending tubes with pe-culiar profiles; the most popular tube used for theirframes is the 120 x 60 mm elliptical section, whichI can assure you is not easy to work with, espe-cially when it has to be bent. We manage to dothis work with two old BLM tube bending ma-chines, which as far as reliability is concerned,still work as if they were new; the quality of thebend is good and that’s what counts for us”.

A unique referenceBy tradition, Tecnogym turns to those who areable to provide a complete product without theneed for other sub-suppliers. SGM, therefore,avails itself of the collaboration of a satellite com-pany that takes care of frame assembly and weld-ing and supplies a practically finished top quali-ty product.“With Tecnogym - explains Giacinti - work main-

SGM SRL

Via T. Edison 3/5

61033 Fermignano (PU) Italy

Tel. +39 0722 330848

fax. +39 0722 330316

www.sgmsrl.com

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TUBE BENDERSTUBE END FORMERS CUTTING DEBURRING AND WASHINGCUTTING AND END MACHININGLASERTUBE CUTTING SYSTEMSLASER CUTTING FOR SHEET AND SHEET&TUBE COMBINEDMATERIALS HANDLING SYSTEMS3D MEASURING AND INSPECTIONPRODUCTION CELLS NON CONTACT MEASUREMENT SYSTEMSPROCESS CONTROL SOFTWARE

Via Selvaregina, 3022063 Cantù (CO) Italytel. +39 031 7070200fax +39 031 715911e-mail: export@blm.it

Via per Barco, 1138056 Levico Terme (TN) Italytel. +39 0461 729000fax +39 0461 701410e-mail: export@adige.it

Via dei Campi, 438050 Novaledo (TN) Italytel. +39 0461 720007fax +39 0461 720214e-mail: adigesys@adigesys.it

Also available in pdf format on:

www.blmgroup.com

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