To meet projected growth in the second generation of its innovative press brake tooling, Rolla-V has invested in a DMG MORI NHX 5000.
Over 10 years ago, Rolla-V, based in Halesowen, West Midlands, patented its original design. By incorporating rollers in its dies it makes it possible to bend very small flanges near the edge of a component, eliminate distortion of holes near the bend line and produce a mark free finish on the component. Originally, this was seen as a niche product but, with the advent of the second generation Rolla-V, it has rapidly become a mainstream choice for fabricating companies, as each die can cover a wide range of thicknesses up to 30mm, reducing setting operations and tool inventory, and is available with tangs to suit all makes of press brake.
Previously the company produced the Rolla-V and special tooling on pre-owned vertical machining centres but, with 75% export and projected growth which is expected to double turnover by 2016, this method of manufacture was unsustainable. Chris Lawlor, General Manager at Rolla-V, says, “We have already invested a new Blohm grinding machine, so the next stage was to increase the productivity of the machining operations.” Working with DMG MORI, Rolla-V selected the NHX 5000 horizontal machining centre with twin pallets. By using tombstone fixtures, the company will be able to load up to eight parts on each fixture and hence cut 16 parts every night with unattended operation. Chris Lawlor adds, “With vertical machining, we get a build-up of swarf and associated problems with broken tools. Horizontal machining will solve both of these problems. Additionally, we have Renishaw probes for in process checking of the part geometry and tool breakage detection to avoid any problems during out of hours working. To cope with some of the larger fixtures, we have also had the table uprated to 700kg to allow us to make more parts as demand grows.”