Kamir, an expert in the fields of laser cutting, bending, welding and turning, has steadily expanded its business model since it was founded in 2000. The company's main strategic goal is to further develop and implement modern technologies to increase competitiveness and production efficiency. To this end, two laser systems were purchased in 2017 and a suitable automation solution was to be implemented to prevent potential downtime. Three key aspects had to be taken into account: achieving optimum process efficiency by simultaneously loading and unloading the laser system, more efficient storage utilization of around 80 pallets of sheet metal, which needed to be stored and processed with minimal space requirements, and the possibility of modular expansion of the installed system.

Advantages through time and space savings
Remmertbotoffers its Laserflex automation solution and the Basic Tower system for optimizing storage space. A warehouse for sheet metal with an area of 35 square meters for 84 pallets was planned - designed for a load capacity of three tons each. According to the company, the design enables considerable space savings in line with the principle of "maximum storage space on a minimum footprint".

The Basic Tower system for storing sheet metal was designed at Kamir with an area of 35 square meters for 84 pallets. © Remmert

During operation, a signal is sent to the warehouse as required with an order for an unprocessed sheet. The Laserflex automation system picks up the sheet and transports it to the laser changing table. After the sheet has been cut to size, an unloading unit, which is equipped with rakes to ensure gentle handling of the material, removes the cut sheet from the laser changing table and places it on the pallet. At the same time, a second loading unit transports the next sheet from the connected storage tower for cutting.

Laserflex performs these tasks with a changeover time of around one minute, making it the fastest system for loading and unloading laser cutting systems on the market, says Remmert. The process is repeated until the pallet is full of cut elements. It is then replaced by a new one and the cut parts are automatically returned to storage or forwarded to the next process step.

The automated material supply reduces the downtimes of the connected machines to almost zero. An additional advantage of the implemented solution: the use of Laserflex in an automatic cycle requires little or no intervention by an operator. This is particularly valuable at night or on weekends and public holidays and also enables considerable savings to be made. Following the installation of the new system, the laser punching machine at the Kamir plant can work up to 700 hours a month.

Laserflex takes care of loading and unloading with a changeover time of only about one minute. © Remmert

The entire process is monitored and controlled by the Smart Control system, which also comes from Remmert. The interface, which controls all material flow processes within sheet metal storage and processing, can be operated intuitively and is permanently connected to Remmert's remote system. In the event of a malfunction, this allows a quick problem diagnosis to be made at any time and possible downtimes to be avoided in advance.

Making flexible use of growth opportunities
Remmert's solution is also modularly expandable, which was very important to the customer. Kamir assumes that its capacity requirements for laser cutting sheet metal will increase in the coming years and that the purchase of an additional system will be necessary. When the initial investment was made, the entire system was designed in such a way that the same automation system can also control other laser cutting systems in the future. One advantage of the modular design is that additional elements can be easily added at any time. This allows the automation to be tailored flexibly and cost-effectively to the customer's production requirements. The fact that the automation solution is completely manufacturer-independent ensures maximum investment security for the customer - allowing Kamir to choose the laser cutting system that best suits its requirements at the time. as