MET

Winning Dialogue between super “Specialists”

True specialists, able to analyse the problem, come up with a solution and create the aggregate needed. The application sector is that of food technology, more precisely bottling plants.

“What we do is work with the manufacturers of units for labelling, packaging, bottling, aggregates that will be installed in highly complex lines, capable of very high speeds and production capacities, built by true industrial giants in the sector which use “third party suppliers”, like us, for the construction of certain aggregates”.

This is the start of the explanation by Gianfranco Milani, co-owner of Met, based in Roverbella (Mantua province), who gave us a further demonstration of how wood-related technologies and expertise in machining on numeric control centres can be successfully “exported” to other sectors. It represents a very important opportunity in the current situation….

“Our job is to convey the bottles in the machines, to make them move along a precise path and at the correct speeds: the technical office of our customer company (95 per cent working for foreign customers) sends us the drawing and we prepare the finished part, ready to be installed, made of plastic or metal.

We work all materials because the components of these plants include, for example, steel flanges or bushings made on a lathe. We’re a machine shop with a goal: to supply a quality product and service that makes us stand out amongst the many others who do the same work as us”.

"We have a good working relationship with Routech and Scm Group and the machine - software combination guarantees us the results that we dreamed of!" - Gianfranco Milani, Director

Two partners (Gianfranco Milani and Graziano Toffoli), seventeen employees, a turnover in excess of € 4 million, two production units, one for plastic materials, the other for steel, a couple of kilometres apart. In total 3,600 square metres of machine room, and the desire to expand, if possible at a single site…

“We’ve always chosen innovative technologies, avoiding traditional methods: as soon as Graziano and me decided to set up our own business we started to invest in machines because the bottling sector deals with particular aspects, different shapes, containers and bottles that are different to one another, but which the plants must still be able to process.

We are specialists. We make “tailored” parts. And we don’t have much time to do it, because people are just waiting for us to do our part. They need our screw feeders or our feed units so that they can close the crates, ship the plant, then go and install it at the end customer’s premises”.

“We have to be extremely quick in getting from the drawing to the part that’s ready to go... All in a few days.

For us the “Sim Coclee” (screw feeder sim) software created with Routech technicians for the two “R200K” machining centres, one with robot, that we use has been a blessing: we combined our specific expertise and their technical know-how and the result is that now their technologies can even do things that maybe they would never even have thought of. It’s really great!

We have a good working relationship with Routech and Scm Group and the machine - software combination guarantees us the results that we dreamed of!

Having made our process “technological” means that we can make a good product, with constant quality, which we can sell at a reasonable price. This gives us a considerable competitive edge over our competitors. We have a good turnover with the right number of staff: I think that with these machines, and above all with this software, we have halved our times...”.

The first encounter with Scm Group dates back several years: an initial purchase that gave the results expected and, above all, established a relationship and cooperation between the companies.

We now have fi ve Scm gamma Accord centres for nesting on large sheets of plastic material, up to 5000x2200 mm, as well as two Routech “R200K” for screw feeders and a Tecnocut-Cms water jet cutting system for sheets and spongy materials. In recent years we have doubled our technological assets, because we can’t afford to stand still...”.

DMC Metal System at MET

The stainless steel components used in machinery for the food and pharmaceutical industries must have a high level of surface finish. This is why MET has decided to install a DMC “Metal System” automatic deburring and finishing machine in its metal working plant, to remove sharp burrs from component edges and finish the surfaces of laser-cut parts.

Moreover, the machine guarantees maximum hygiene and safety for the operators, an essential requirement for the sectors that these machines are used in. MET’s “Metal System” machine has been fitted with a contact roller to remove burrs, a rotating disc unit to remove sharp edges and a second contact roller for finishing the surfaces.

The innovative modular potential of DMC’s deburring machine has allowed MET to leave some free space inside the base to be able to add another machining unit in the future if required.

Compared to the manual deburring and finishing process, the “Metal System” has considerably increased productivity, whilst at the same time guaranteeing maximum uniformity, consistency over time and measurability of the results of these machining processes.

MET (Italy)