SCHIESS-FRORIEP Vertical Turning and Milling Retrofit with SINUMERIK 840Di

SCHIESS-FRORIEP VERTICAL TURNING AND MILLING RETROFITTED WITH SINUMERIK 840Di

CNC Design - Australia has recently completed CNC retrofit project on Schiess-Froriep vertical turning and milling type 63DZ900 for Falk Australia Pty Ltd, a world class industry leader in designing and manufacturing large precision gears and other huge parts for various industries.

The machine was manufactured in 1986 and currently located in Falk Engineering, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. This is one from some biggest machine tools available in this factory. This machine can handle parts with diameter up to 10m and maximum height 4,5m. The indexing table is driven by 140kW motor and capable of loading 250 tones workpiece. This Schiess-Froriep machine is being probably the biggest vertical machine in the country.

Originally the machine was equipped with two SINUMERIK System 8. The lack of spare parts for this obsolete CNC and concerns about the down time in case of failure were the main driving factors in deciding the retrofit. In the first stage of this retrofit project, the customer decided to replace only the CNC control and retain the old DC servo system.

Siemens PC Based CNC system SINUMERIK 840Di in conjunction with ADI4 (Analog Digital Interface) has been selected as the solution. The solution selected by the customer was with a configuration with two CNC's working separately or in synchronicity. It is made possible to get advance features of latest CNC technolgy while still accommodating the requirement of analog speed setpoints for axis and spindle drive system. Later on, the old DC servodrive and servomotor can be easily replaced with latest AC servosystem.

Installation and commissioning has been completed in 4 weeks time (January 2004). Another happy customer have been added into the list as Falk's plans are to continue their retrofitting with other machines to be equipped with the latest Siemens technology.

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Customer Comments:
Glen Richardson, maintenance supervisor of Falk Australia (www.falkcorp.com/australia): "The Schiess Vertical Borer was running two Siemens System 8 CNC controls. This system had been very reliable but being the original control spares were getting scarce plus we were experiencing increasing memory and control faults affecting production." "With this control being so reliable we decided to upgrade to another Siemens control. CNC Design recommended the 840Di, which was installed and commissioned quickly and professionally. From the outset CNC Design worked closely with the operators to ensure the new system would operate as close as possible to the old control introducing a number of new features to make the machine more efficient and user friendly." "We are very happy with the finished product and the service we received from CNC Design and look forward to working with them on future projects."


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