Shanghai General Motors puts faith in new press lines from Schuler Group

At the moment, SGM¡¯s facility in Shenyang does not have its own press shop: parts have to be brought in from a group facility in the north-eastern city of Yantai, 600 kilometers away.

SGM¡¯s choice of Schuler was indeed closely connected with two special characteristics offered by the lines: their high level of availability and process reliability. The two identical press lines will feature a draw press with 20,000 kN of press force and three follow-on presses with 10,000 kN of force each. Both press lines will be equipped with automation systems which can transport even large body panels between presses, as well as handling part discharge, part repositioning, and part placement into the subsequent forming station. The fact that the lines produce at a rate of 14 strokes per minute, however, only hints at their true output performance. As Frank Viola explains: ¡°The decisive factor is the high average productivity of the system as a whole. We can guarantee a permanent output of around 14 parts ¨C or 28 two-out parts ¨C per minute, and not just during brief peak periods.¡± At the same time, both press lines can be quickly and flexibly set up for different parts several times per shift. Following a fully automatic die change, it takes less than three minutes for the lines to start producing again. This is especially important for SGM, as the company produces mainly lean batch sizes. With such a fast and flexible system, the company can optimize valuable production time and thus save costs.

SGM knows from its own experience that the technology used by the press lines will guarantee permanent operational availability. Schuler already installed a similar line at SGM¡¯s Yantai facility in 2008. ¡°The technology has proved highly successful. This obviously played a major role in the company¡¯s current investment decision,¡± confirms Frank Viola. What¡¯s also important in this context is that SGM¡¯s production planners have not included a backup solution for the press lines at the new Shenyang press shop. This means that any permanent downtime of the lines cannot be quickly compensated for at other sites. ¡°This can be seen as an indirect statement of faith which SGM has declared in Schuler¡¯s press technology,¡± says Viola.

Obviously, SGM will also benefit from the proximity of Schuler¡¯s facilities in China ¨C even before production begins. Major parts of the two press lines will be finally assembled at the Schuler Group¡¯s Chinese facility in Dalian. Key components such as the press bed and crown will be supplied from Germany, while the uprights will be manufactured at Schuler¡¯s facility in Shanghai. This means that the design and final assembly of the lines can be discussed in detail in China and closely coordinated with the various planning stages for the new press shop. ¡°We guarantee a high degree of delivery reliability. Moreover, this also means that our Chinese colleagues in Dalian know the design details inside out. And this, of course, is the ideal starting point for our service engineers ¨C whenever SGM should need them,¡± explains Frank Viola.