Fiat Bravo - Waterjet cutting polyurethane dashboards
CMS Plast, a Bergamasc company that produces cutting robots and is a part of CMS Industries, has become a link in the FIAT Group supply chain. Production of passenger compartment parts for the FIAT Bravo, a model that is contributing prominently to the Turinese car manufacturer’s present success, avails itself of technological treasures designed and constructed by CMS Plast.
SINTESY 2 TU2 has been adopted for cutting and finishing dashboards in polyurethane foam, having a reinforced glass ABS base covered with PVC upholstery. SPEED 6 2R WJ is used for cutting the car floors, which are produced for FIAT by ROI Automotive Technology, part of the Bergamo Gruppo Radici. Both systems contribute to sustain the requested production rate of 7-800 cars a day.
The choice of CMS Plast as a partner was justified by the company’s experience in cutting and finishing automotive components acquired by the Bergamasc company, as testified by numerous other installations at prestigious companies operating in the sector, for example the SELMAT Group and SG Plastica. This know-how has required considerable investment in research and development over time and today has permitted the achievement of objectives for the construction of plants and production start-up in relatively brief times.
SINTESY 2 TU2 is a cutting robot equipped with two independent electrospindle operating units and a rotating table for piece loading/unloading during processing. It has already been proven a success in the production of the Croma, Day after day; SINTESY 2 TU2 has revealed itself to be a highly competitive solution, superior to traditional cutting and finishing technology using a shearing machine and cell of anthropomorphic robots. For its flexibility, allowing processing of both left and right-hand dashboards on the same machine; for its cutting precision and quality, equal to that obtained from a shearing machine and such as to eliminate all manual finishing of pieces; for its economic advantage, with decisively inferior investment requirements. SPEED 6 2R WJ is a cell equipped with two anthropomorphic robots, waterjet operating units and a rotating table, designed for cutting several car components such as carpets, car floors, headliners, parcel shelves, trunk modules, door panels and engine housing parts. SPEED 6 2R WJ can process different materials, from reinforced glass polypropylene to PUR RIM: the machine in operation at ROI cuts FIAT Bravo car floors made of polyurethane foam EPDM.
The cell is equipped with FANUC anthropomorphic robots, and combines a high-level specification product with excellent supplier service. A particular feature is the ability to define variable areas of anti-collision, which substantially simplifies programming for this type of application. The cutting technology used on materials cut by SPEED 6 – water jet – ensures an unrivalled combination of speed and cutting quality, completely eliminating dust. Another important factor for the process is the precision of the cutting, which allows for a precision mechanical fit and a quality end product, reducing manual intervention to a minimum.
At the core of the system are its unique pressure intensifiers, designed and produced entirely by Tecnocut, a company which is highly specialized in water jet technology and is also part of CMS Industries. Founded in 1992, Tecnocut is now an established international point of reference in this sector, with state of the art systems, both standard or with the opportunity for personalization, for the cutting of metals, marble, glass, plastic and composite materials.
The partnership of CMS Plast and Tecnocut in the installation of the plant for ROI is a positive result for CMS Industries strategy, and one which places the Bergamasc group in an excellent position on many markets. This brings with it undeniable advantages for clients too, who can frequently find a highly competitive solution for a relatively modest level of investment.