38 | sheetmetalplus.com | ISMR

(Left) Adrian Haller, MD, Bruderer UKat this year’s MACH exhibition in the UK

Bruderer UK (part of the large Swiss BrudererGroup) offers high-precision and high-performance, fully-automated stamping

presses with press forces ranging from 180 upto 2500kN, for high-speed precision stampingand forming simple and complex parts.

The company sells its products to customersin various sectors, including the automotive,electronics, watch, medical and new energiesindustries as well as to clients in the food andbeverage sector. Press tooling, coil-handling andfeeding systems, such as precision high-speedmechanical and servo types as well as completeturnkey packages, are part of the broad portfolioof products which it provides. This also includesperipheral equipment from well-knownmanufacturers. A range of services, includingfull press refurbishments and in-house training,are also offered.

Formed in 1968, Bruderer UK supplies itscustomers with authentic spare parts plusservice support from a UK-based team offactory-trained service personnel. It alsocarries out full refurbishment and overhaulservices at its UK Competence Centre inLuton, with a wide range of pre-ownedpresses in stock and tonnage capacitiesranging from 18 to 80 tonnes.

Going for growthBruderer UK enjoyed significant growth in2015, seeing sales pass the £3.5m mark withthe potential to increase even further over thenext twelve months. ISMR caught up with itsmanaging director, Adrian Haller, at this year’sMACH exhibition in the UK where the companywas displaying its new BSTA 410-110 high-speed press.

“The UK market is very buoyant right now.We made £3.5 million last year in sales andpredict that we will reach £4.5 million in 2016.Our partnership with ZANI Presses is helping –it provides presses from 100 to 3000 tonnes,together with service and parts support, for theUK and Ireland. Our engineers have beentrained by ZANI and our customers in the UKcan be assured of full service and support.”

This partnership paid off recently with theApril announcement that Sertec, one of theUK’s fastest growing automotive suppliers,signed its largest ever ‘press’ investment with

ISMRSAYS:

“ Bruderer UK made £3.5 million insales last year and projects that itwill reach £4.5 million this year”

38 | sheetmetalplus.com | ISMR May 2016

Adrian Haller, BrudererUK’s managing director,discusses stampingtrends, new technologylaunches and opportunitiesin sheet metal marketswith ISMR

AHEA

D

SPRES ING

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ISMR May 2016 | sheetmetalplus.com | 39

FACE TO FACE

£10m press expansion (l-r) Adrian Haller andMartin Hinkley (Sertec)

Bruderer UK enjoyed

significant growth in

2015, seeing sales

pass the £3.5m

mark

Bruderer UK. The Sertec Group, which is amanufacturer of stampings and weldedassemblies, has tapped into the machineryexpertise of Bruderer UK to identify andpurchase 12 machines to help it meet growingvolume demands from many of the world’slargest car makers.

The Tier One supplier has committed morethan £10m to the three-year modernisationprogramme that has seen it start to install ahost of ZANI Motion Master presses, rangingfrom 250 to 800 tonnes. It marks thecontinuation of a long-term relationshipbetween the company and Bruderer UK andwill give it the speed, quality and capacity todevelop structural stampings – in steel andaluminium – for all of the new Jaguar LandRover models.

“We have been the exclusive sales, spareparts and service provider for ZANI presses formore than two years in the UK and this is,without doubt, the biggest deal we’ve everagreed,” explained Haller. “It’s a massivesuccess with the current purchase worth £10million – it will also serve as a true shopwindow for ZANI presses in the UK.

“Our specialists were invited by Sertec tolook at an upgrade plan for part of its pressshop. We looked closely at its requirements,

the end application and predictions of volumesgoing forward. ZANI presses have been usedby Sertec for more than 20 years and areknown for their durability. It initially started outas six machines, but quickly grew to 12, with allof them being fitted with coil lines and servofeeds. Our engineers will also be responsiblefor providing a full service, maintenance andspares programme that will ensure the pressesare operating effectively and thus suffer theminimal amount of downtime possible.”

Bruderer unveils‘UK’ firstThe news from Sertec came less than a weekbefore Bruderer UK unveiled its BSTA-410-110at the UK’s MACH exhibition in April, the firsttime that the high-speed press had been seen.Combining the dynamics of its BSTA-280 withthe performance of a BSTA 510, the newmachine boasts a stroke speed of 1600 perminute and a tool loading area of 1100mm.

“There has been a lot of interest in the 40-tonne range and the BSTA 410-110 addressesthis demand, offering speed, precision andextra bed length capacity. It’s an irresistiblecombination, especially when you add in thelatest high-speed precision servo feedertechnology we can provide. We expect to sellat least three of these machines thisyear,”explained Haller.

Live demonstrations of the high-speed press,featuring Press tooling from precisionmanufacturer Brandauer utilising Fibrocomponent parts, were made at MACH 2016A number of innovations for shop floor datacollection to support Overall EquipmentEffectiveness (OEE), press and press toolprotection systems and a section on Biegema,formally known as Finzer and a specialist inbending and forming of complicated parts, werealso showcased on the Bruderer UK booth.

Visitors, including ISMR, were also able tosee the latest developments in lubricationsystems; mould tool rotators; test machines;laser and inkjet systems as well as a host of coilhandling and servo feeding solutions, togetherwith welding of virgin and stamped strip.

“The BSTA 410 range has beenpredominantly designed for the micro-electronics and connector industries whorequire longer press bed lengths to acceptmore complicated progression press tools, withlower tonnages and higher speeds. This seemsto be an increasing requirement from themarket and we are developing more pressesnow in the lower tonnage range but with biggerbed lengths. Progressive dies are becoming farmore complicated and this means larger dieareas. We are seeing this even on olderpresses, where customers ask us to do bedextensions where new technology press toolscan fit into older presses. We are also moreversatile with our feeding systems, making

more variables with our servo feeders withregard to strip widths and speeds etc.," Hallertold ISMR.

Bruderer atBlechexpoAt Blechexpo last November, Swissmanufacturer Bruderer presented the world-first BSTA 410 110, a press whichcomplements its product line in the 40-tonnepress force range. It also offered a glimpse ofthe future of high-speed stamping with aspecial high-speed version of the BSTA 200 60HS, equipped with a high-performanceprogressive stamping tool made by press-toolmaker, Fritz Stepper GmbH & Co. KG.

The main drive, brake, flywheel and clutchare based on the BSTA 280 model, for strongdynamics and a correspondingly higher strokespeed of 1,600spm. The tool-loading area of1,100mm corresponds to that of a BSTA 510.

In its standard version, the BSTA 410-110 isequipped with a BBV 191 roller feed unit, thesuccessor to the BBV 190. As optionalattachments, various servo feeds or the BZV 61gripper feed unit are available. Tools used on aBSTA 510-110 can be transferred to a BSTA410-110 as the presses share the same size oftool-loading area.

In close cooperation with toolmaker, FritzStepper GmbH & Co. KG, Bruderer alsoexhibited the stamping industry’s equivalent ofa concept car at Blechexpo 2015: the specialedition BSTA 200-60 HS equipped with a high-performance, 7-stage stamping tool by Stepper.Up to 16,000 board-to-board connectors perminute can be stamped at a speed of over2300spm, utilising Bruderer's high-speed servofeeder BSV 75 which was demonstrated on thestand.

Challenges andopportunities“If a customer has a challenging project, wewill draw it up for him, make the press tools,create the complete line, take care ofdecoiling, making the part, rewinding, handlingthe part etc. – in essence, offering full turnkeysolutions. Because we have partners handlingthe rewinding, decoiling, removal of the partetc. the customer is only dealing with us asthe sole point of contact for all theseoperations. We are mostly toolmakers andengineers so we have a wide range ofexpertise to offer,” Haller told ISMR.

A strong example of Bruderer expertise wasits development of the BBG planetary gear boxlaunched two years ago, now featuring newcontrol developments. Its answer to servopress technology, the gear box enables 1000strokes/minute or one stroke/minute, with theability to control ram movement throughbottom dead centre on full press tonnage. Thiseffectively offers servo capability and a range

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hole patterns and notching processes arerequired at speed. The press offers reliabilityand, with the onset of industry 4.0, controland engineering excellence is what reallymatters,” Haller told ISMR.

“Over the last couple of years, I have seena lot more investment from Europeancustomers into the UK. Things are starting toimprove in our general market. We justdelivered a BSTA-500 110 press to a customerwith high-speed servo feeder, who, like manyother firms, seems to be going from strengthto strength.

“Long tool life and increased productivityare key for our customers, as isflexibility in tool design. Brudererpresses are dynamically balancedand are mounted on springdampers – thus they do not needspecially built foundations.Customers, in essence, wantgood parts. Bruderer guaranteesthis, from the first stroke to thelast, and over the entire speedrange of the press….” n

40 | sheetmetalplus.com | ISMR May 2016

Bruderer UK showcased its BSTA410-110 press for the first time

ever in the UK at this year’sMACH exhibition

The Bruderer UK booth at this year’s MACH exhibition

of applications such as deep drawing and tooldevelopment operations.

“It basically means two presses in one, bothcapable of different operations (a developmentpress for slow operation and a high-speedstamping press) which offers greatproductivity advances to customers,” addedHaller.

Customers work across different types ofmaterials on Bruderer presses e.g. metals,plastic, rubber and foils. Products include thesealing tops of food sauce bottles; aerosolcans; drink cans: electric motor laminations;smart phone components; tops of coffeecapsules; caps for lithium-ion batteries;yoghurt pots; insulin injection pens;mechanical and electronic watches etc.

“The greatest problem we have in industrytoday is getting young people intomanufacturing and engineering. The averageage of service/sales engineers in Bruderer is56 years old – this is a huge problem for thefuture when they retire. It is hard to gettechnical sales people as the skills are just notthere… Firms are now poaching skills throughtools such as LinkedIn,” Haller told ISMR.

The Brexit issue (possible UK exit from theEU) will, he believes, cause uncertainty in themarket, whatever the eventual decision. Steelis another issue that concerns him, in the lightof the Tata Steel UK sale, and he believes, thatit is strategically important for the UK to haveits own steel-making industry.

“Without steel, you can’t make houses orcars, for example. It is vital that the UKcontinues to have a steel industry – it is astrategically important product. Our customersneed steel to feed the machines they buy fromus.”

Support is a key issue for his customers, as is speed of reaction and troubleshootingability. Bruderer UK aims to supply spares fromstock within 24 hours. This also, he says,engenders loyalty in customers and a truepartnership principle – 'if our client wins, wewin – it's a joint effort.",

“We also listen to what our customers say –we will put them in contact with people thatcan help them. We are always talking to them,always networking and consulting with themon projects. Social media has become animportant tool for us too as our portfolio is sodiverse. We have a very active Twitter feednow,” added Haller.

Meeting marketrequirements“From a technology standpoint, presses aregetting faster and more precise. Our machineat Blechexpo was 2300 strokes/minute and5mm pitch and customers want to see thesetypes of speeds. Collectively, our machinesare often part of complete processing linesfrom specific jobs, like tapping a hole at speedor in the perforation industry where specific

CONTACTMeet Bruderer UK at EuroBLECH, Made in the Midlands and NorthernManufacturing or contact it on Twitter@Brudereruk or www.bruderer.co.uk

FACE TO FACE

From a

technology

standpoint,

presses

are getting

faster

and more

precise

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