edging The room, the space and the ceiling above it – press the brakes for tent buildings

Tent: garden party, camping, circus. Yes too. But much more! Losberger De Boer has specialized in temporary and permanent space solutions for nearly every occasion for over 100 years. The vertical range of manufacturing is high, which is why we cut and shape ourselves – on a pressure press and an LVD laser cutting system.

Airport, disaster zone, major sporting events, production halls, vaccination center, agricultural sector, port, trade – the “tents” of Losberger De Boer are used everywhere. Founded in 1919 in Heilbronn as a tent manufacturer and merged with Dutch company De Boer in 2017, the group is now a leader in flexible room solutions with 1,100 employees worldwide. However, today’s “tents” are very similar to “real buildings” that can be quickly and easily towed into a modular design. Simply put, it consists of a frame as well as an outer shell. Depending on the application (expect snow load or wind load, for example), this could be PVC-coated fabric or insulated sandwich panels. The chassis is usually made of aluminum. The constant is everything and the end of all.

The vertical range of manufacturing is very high: for example, group sites in France and Hungary manufacture tarpaulins that are processed in Bad Rappenau, and Losberger De Boer also manufactures windows and doors for the halls themselves. It goes without saying that aluminum scaffolding parts are also manufactured in-house to be released.

Hydraulic press brakes provide more business volume within the company

“Aluminium comes to us in rod stock,” explains Dustin Kadlubsky, head of production at Losberger De Boer in Bad Rappenau. Of course, steel is also processed. The company’s machines, saws, drills, punches, welds, burrs, bends and laser cuts are in production. “As part of an internal project to change the layout of the company’s buildings in the sense of the supply chain, we wanted to improve the flow of materials and production methods,” Kadlubsky explains. At the same time, investment was also made in new and modern machines. “Our previous laser cut up to 12mm max. We had to outsource everything on top of that – we didn’t want that anymore, we also wanted to cut over the 12mm ourselves. “In addition, the internal hydraulic press brakes should create more production capacity and therefore more turnover in-pit. For example, our colleagues from the Mannheim site can now buy their parts from us rather than from abroad,” Kadlubsky continues. “Since the laser cutting system and the press brake had to work in tandem and had to be the center of production, it was clear that we wanted to buy both from the same supplier so everything was coordinated. In addition, we had not formed before, so our claim was very clear: the press brakes should be as productive and easy to handle and operate as possible.”

Very simple: part in, down, up – finished

In fact, Kadlubsky and his team asked suppliers what they had in their halls and looked at references there. This is how people have been made aware of LVD. After several meetings with LVD Sales Director Gerhard Trissel and a joint visit to the XP Center in Belgium, Team Bad Rappenau won the 6-kW Phoenix FL-3015 and Easy-Form 9 135/30. Kadlubsky is passionate about the simplicity of the easy model with 9-axis CNC controlled: “Load the program, lift the part, lift the part, down, up, done!” Tresl explains: “The practical patented Easy-Form Angle Measurement System provides the highest accuracy, in real time without wasting time, so that each part is bent at the right angle right from the first turn. Easy-Form is positioned automatically during external programming and measures angle independently of the tool.”

Losberger De Boer also uses Cadman-SDI (Smart Drawing Importer) software. This makes importing CAD files and assemblies quick and easy using “drag and drop”. Cadman SDI recognizes leads, gills, and the like, repairs graphics, creates cost engines for internal computations, and more. Using Brics CAD, a powerful 3D CAD package for direct design, the company can make any desired modifications or changes to parts.

The 6KW Phoenix FL-3015 is equipped with a 17-position automatic nozzle changer and the laser head can continuously adjust the focusing width according to the thickness of the material, which means great flexibility and quality. “Plus, we can now cut steel up to 25mm and sometimes aluminum up to 30mm,” Kadlubsky says happily. Here too, ease of use and programmability are his greatest gains.

He also feels that his intentions have been confirmed: “Both devices interact perfectly. This is exactly what we wanted it to be!” So ​​far, the laser and press brake have been manually loaded, but the hall layout is already set up so that the automation solution can be modified from the LVD.