Are you doubtful between mechanical press and hydraulic press?
Are you doubtful about the press to choose? Mechanical press or hydraulic press?
Ask to Mecolpress, you will have no more hesitations!
You have just got a new commission and you need a new press for hot forging. Are you sure that you can identify the press that best suits your needs?
Typical request
It often happens that a Customer, or potential one, comes to us with the part he desires to forge. Usually it’s about complex situations, very far from standard applications. That’s exactly why the Customer asks for our help and support.
If the Customer is not a newcomer in the forging world, he usually arrives in Mecolpress with clear and straight idea about the type of press he wants. But very often it happens that he will change his view after having the possibility to get in contact with our forging know-how!
You ask for a mechanical press but you need an hydraulic one!
For example, some weeks ago two different customers came to visit us bringing some sampling to be forged. They were sure to ask a quotation for a mechanical press, they realized instead that the right machine for their situation was a hydraulic one!
Both our customers had the chance to test new dies, only 4 hours were needed for the preparation and installation of the dies and to run some tests. Even though the furnace was not the best one for their kind of production, because it’s a furnace that Mecolpress uses for testing, the machine gave a flash-free part in only 4 hours, with a saving of about 30% of material and with a quality definitely superior than the one they could achieve using a mechanical press.
Moreover, it is important to take into consideration the limits of the mechanical press:
- Since the part is not balanced, the mechanical press should use all its possible force to forge it.
- Working in this way the risk to run into damages or machine breakdown becomes greater.
On the contrary, The ME hydraulic press can forge the part better. The forged parts which required more force used however less than 200 tons on a punch, therefore it consists of a forces distribution that is totally different compared to the traditional mechanical press.
Often the customer is skeptical towards the hydraulic press, but just because he is not familiar with it!
Find out more about the hydraulic presses
The hydraulic presses patented by Mecolpress are suitable for the hot forging of standard parts or special parts in brass and aluminum. The dies closure force is higher than the one of the traditional mechanical presses and the independent and controlled movements of the ram and of the extruders allow to hot forge also complex parts without flash.
These are oleodynamic presses provided with coring tools combinable till to a maximum of 5 punches (4 horizontal and one vertical) suitable for the hot forging of brass, aluminum, copper and other materials.
Compared to the traditional mechanical presses these presses have different advantages, including:
- Reduced vibrations and noises.
- No foundations are required.
- Higher flexibility: there are no mechanical connections between tooling and ram; this implicates that you can decide speed, force, position and movement sequence for each punch independently. The result is the possibility to decide how to let the material flow, this helps the part production with a better quality level.
- Ease of tooling: easy access to the forging area and automatic adjustment of punches strokes from the panel that cancels the mechanical adjustment on the spines (for example insertion of spacer).
- The press is easy and intuitive to be used even without a great experience in the forging field. Together with the machine a lifelong service via teleservice and phone assistance is provided.
Some practical examples about the choice for a hydraulic press.
- Hydraulic press ME150: this is a quite small machine and often we suggest it to who has no experience in the hot forging field.
- Hydraulic press ME 250: let’s get serious!
Example: are you undecided if you want to buy a 400t mechanical press or a ME250 hydraulic press?
If you have small and easily to force parts to be produced in huge quantities and in series maybe the choice of a mechanical press is the most suitable, but if you have a part that is lightly more complicated, probably you need an hydraulic one. In this case, we are sure that a test here in Mecolpress will remove any doubt!
- Hydraulic press ME from 450tons onwards: This press is more efficient, more cost-effective, it allows to save material, to increase the productivity, it is more convenient, more silent, no foundation pit is required and despite of what our competitors affirm, the energy consumption is not high. In fact, this consideration comes from the fact that just the installed power is taken into consideration.
Did you carry out a forging simulation and forging tests?
In order to choose the right press it is surely helpful to carry out a forging simulation, our technical office can support the customer during the process for choosing the machine with a software analysis of material flow, in order to carry out a sort of “virtual pre-acceptance” of the plant.
Once that the forging simulation is successfully over, then the next step is a real test in our factory. Indeed we have available machines devoted for the forging tests, this is a very important aspect for the customer that often gives him the possibility to invest in a more aware and motivated way. Touching the forged part doesn’t leave no room for doubt!
Being able to satisfy and fully understand the customer needs, to demonstrate and propose our most suitable solutions with concrete tests thanks to the machines and toolings we have available in Mecolpress for the forging tests is for us matter of pride.
HOT FORGING PRESSES INTERVIEW WITH MECOLPRESS
Company manufacturing hot forging presses.
We report an interview of the digital magazine Easy Engineering of 28 April 2020.
Established in 1969, MECOLPRESS was founded as a manufacturing company of mechanical presses for brass components hot forging. Up to today, Mecolpress has developed and installed more than 1.950 presses, at over 400 customers all around the world, used for forging brass, aluminum, copper, titanium, steel. The current production site in Flero, in the highly productive area of Brescia, takes up a 30.000 square meters surface, 10.400 of them are covered and employees 55 people, reaching a turnover in 2018 of 11.5 million Euro.
In 2019, in occasion of EMO exhibition in Hannover, Mecolpress officially presented the new series of continuous and discontinuous cycle eccentric presses, the HEAVY series.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
MECOLPRESS: At the beginning all efforts were concentrated on brass hot forging field; in the time, also through the acquisition of the historical brands Osterwalder and Dellavia in the screw presses section, the variety of machines that we design and produce is now so wide and complete to satisfy the most different requirements of the customers: for each specific material, shape and quantity to be forged, we are in the position to offer the most suitable solution.
Mecolpress is today the only company among the manufacturers of presses for the hot forging of brass, aluminum steel, copper, titanium, with a so complete production program.
Our present production program consists of:
- TDS: direct drive with electrical servomotor;
- Dellavia and Osterwalder: Traditional disc friction.
PG Knuckle joint presses
for calibration and coining of parts.
Presse Meccaniche Eccentriche
- SOV and SEO/F: for the vertical hot forging;
- SEO and HEAVY: for forging with horizontal cores, in single or continuous cycle.
for forging brass and aluminum parts without flash.
- PO: single station;
- S: multiple station, rotary table with hydraulic motor;
- E: multiple station, rotary table with electric motor.
In addition, Mecolpress is particularly active in after-sales service. The heart and pride of Mecolpress is its large spare parts warehouse, which is able to supply accessories or spare parts for machines produced fifty years ago. For this reason, in addition to the sale of machinery, there is a wide activity related to the service and supply of accessories (such as tools, arms, spare parts, etc..).
E.E: What’s the news for 2020 about new products?
MECOLPRESS: At the end of 2019 Mecolpress presented at EMO fair in Havvore a brand-new series of eccentric presses, named HEAVY, which defines a new standard for the hot forging of brass.
A machine concept that offer highest durability and reliability together with an innovative software system that allows the maximum control on the process and the a very easy operation.
E.E: What are the ranges of traded products?
MECOLPRESS: As a manufacturer with an own wide range of products, the additional equipment that we simply trade is limited to ancillary machines, to offer complete forging lines (delivering a finished part from the input of a raw material bar) to those customer that prefer to have a turn-key plant from one source.
Typical traded machines are: billets heating furnaces, forging dies, sand blasting machines.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
MECOLPRESS: Since our machines are dedicated to a very wide panorama of applications (from house building to automotive, from gas control to biomedical) there are always new developments in these sectors.
This is for us very stimulating because we are constantly involved in the design of new solution, to support our customers with the most suitable equipment to manufacture parts that are chancing in the shapes, in the alloys and in the technical requirements.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
MECOLPRESS: In the past our customers were mainly subcontractors, producing many different kinds of parts for the most differentiated OEMs. We see now more and more companies that are interested in bringing back into their own activity the hot forging process, to have full control over the entire production line. And also, the subcontractors that still exists, are increasing in size, in capability, and in specialization: they are requested to be much more accurate, reliable, more flexible and fast in changing production and technologies.
For these reasons, the machines that both our customer types (the subcontractors and the OEMs) need, are machines that can easily switch from one application to the next, and that can record and control really in depth every aspect of the production process. The user is therefore becoming more an engineer, that study and program the process in advance and then let the machine run autonomously, instead of an operator that has to stay full time at the machine, checking and adjusting the settings.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
MECOLPRESS: As above indicated, one of the most innovative products that we offer today is the new range of Heavy presses.
In parallel to this, we are widening the offer for the ME hydraulic presses which are designed to forge net shape parts. These machines are extremely versatile, can communicate in two directions with the company ERP software to exchange production data, recipes, preventive maintenance information. And are also able to automatically detect a non-conforming product and separate it from the good ones. This makes the ME forging presses a fully automatic system, that does not require operators to work but also does not need regular presence of quality control staff to check periodically the output.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2020?
MECOLPRESS: At the end of 2019 we planned a very aggressive budget of sales for the 2020, and supported it with several activities and strategies, from the participation to many international shows, to the production of machines for stock, to grant to our customer very fast deliveries.
Unfortunately, due to the Covid-19 virus spreading, many commercial activities had to be reprogrammed or postponed. We are now investigating the world markets to assess what will be the customers’ propensity to invest for the remaining months of this year. We are very optimistic that we will in any case be able to reach most of our targets also thank to the availability of machines in our workshop, which is allowing us to complete deliveries in this year of machines ordered in the second and third quarter.
STEEL HOT FORGING: THE WORD TO OUR EXPERT
We interviewed Luca Di Donato, Mecolpress specialist for steel hot forging.
Steel is a far different material from brass, for this reason Mecolpress has decided to increase its team with a devoted figure, to whom we have addressed some questions.
Let's talk about steel hot forging
What is your role in Mecolpress?
The role I currently play in the company context is project engineer manager specialized in steel hot forging and non-ferrous alloys (except brass).
Specifically, I mainly deal with the identification and definition of the hot plastic deformation process that is technically and economically most suitable for the production of semi-finished steel components but also aluminium and special nickel and Titanium alloys.
What kind of experience do you have in steel hot forging sector?
The gained background in the specific sector derives from many years of work experience acquired in the company field, initially as a designer and then as technical and operational director of companies located in Italy and abroad.
Which application sectors do usually use steel hot forging presses?
Presses for steel hot forging are widely used in many application sectors such as automotive, aeronautics, agriculture, construction, chemical, petrochemical and industrial sector in general.
Which type of machine is most suitable for steel forging? (mechanical presses, hydraulic presses, screw presses?)
From a metallurgical point of view, steel can be forged using every type of press, since the types of steel in general are little affected by the presses deformation speed as some aluminium alloys and the super alloys of Titanium and Nickel are affected.
Therefore, there are other parameters that influence the choice, in fact the geometry, the geometric and dimensional tolerances can certainly guide the choice on a mechanical press rather than on a screw press, but also on a hydraulic press.
Compared to brass, which are the distinctive traits of steel?
From the process point of view and therefore from the point of view of the relative presses, the first aspect that is typical for steel is certainly the forging temperature which is around 1200 ° C.
The other equally important feature is the steel deformability which is far more difficult than the one of the brass. The resistance to hot plastic deformation of steel forces the adoption of simpler geometries, the adoption of presses with increased capacity in terms of forces, moreover, pre-forming processes are often used.
According to your experience, which are the recurring critical issues that you could observe in the forging of this material?
As previously highlighted, steel is forged at high temperature, therefore possible overheating can be created in areas that are particularly subject to deformation, the involved forces are important and as a result the energy and disposition can approach the limit and cause no geometric conformity on the piece.
In the end, steel cannot be easily deformed and therefore it requires a specific study to understand which preforming processes are better to adopt in order to avoid cracks / folds of material.
Always according to your experience, when we want to choose the most suitable machine, what should we absolutely consider?
Obviously the geometry of the forged product to be obtained, together with the imposed geometric and dimensional tolerances, strongly influences the choice of the best process, first of all the type of press but also all the machines necessary to compose the line, from the cutting, heating, and preforming process up to the possible calibration of hot / cold forging.
Mecolpress, through the specific skills acquired in fifty years of working history and thanks to its professionalism, is able to support the customer from the very first stages of defining the most suitable geometry for the choice of the forging up to the realization of the line, also fully automated, turnkey.
What do you think that can really make the difference in a “guessed” press?
The heart of the production line in its entirety is the PRESS which has been designed to respect specific characteristics, as a result “guessing” the type of press is absolutely important, but it is equally essential to consider who designed and built it, in this regard the presses produced by Mecolpress are considered to be among the best on the market, both in terms of technological content and in terms of rigidity and reliability.
If you want further information regarding the topic “Steel hot forging”, we invite you to consult the U.NI.S.A. Italian National Union of Steel Forgers, of which we are aggregate members.
Optimize the production with Mecolpress training courses
Mecolpress makes available to its customers a training service against payment whose aim is to provide useful information to the staff in charge of the presses in order to use the machines in the best performing way and to optimize the production.
Read this article to discover how training could help a customer of ours to reduce of 50% the maintenance interventions.
The problems of customer Alfa
Time ago a customer of ours, that we will name Alfa, contacted us because of his interest in custom-made training courses for forging machines proposed by Mecolpress. The reasons why he decided to activate the course were several.
First of all, the company employees were not adequately trained and could not use the forging machines in the best way. This implicated a frequent request of assistance from Mecolpress by the customer, and even if our intervention was very prompt, the company had to face up to the interruption of the productive process and to the additional costs connected to the customer care service.
In addition, the company hired new young but still not-expert personnel, however definitely open to technologic innovations and able to use the informatic devices of production machineries.
By their side there was also experienced personnel, working in the company for many years, with greater familiarity with forging techniques, but with some difficulties to approach their selves to the new digital techniques. Persuading them to change method was not so easy, because the long experience matured during years with their procedures.
In closing, the Alfa customer has at his disposal a various set of machines including dated presses, trimming presses, mechanical presses and a new hydraulic press, just bought.
For all these reasons, our customer has felt the need to take advantage of a new custom-made training course that can teach to the operators how to use the machines in the most performing way and to obtain the maximum output with minimum effort.
Mecolpress training course
According to the needs expressed by our customers we have planned a custom-made training course that takes account of forging machines in the company and of the type of forged parts.
The course is structured as follows:
- Introduction to hot forging;
- Explanation of drawings and simulation program in support of parts to be forged;
- Parts forging in the factory with an entirely devoted machine;
- Answers to questions of the personnel, detailed studies and explanations on problems regarding the production.
In particular, during the course very relevant matters were debated, such as die and process preliminary analysis, setting of specific parameters, driven setting of the hydraulic presses for parts with flash and without flash and analysis of output with simulations.
Result of the course
Our customer was particularly satisfied with our custom-made training course because of the obtained result.
Indeed, the personnel could acquire an increased competence regarding hot forging, both generally and specific, related to the company production type.
Moreover, the course has contributed to reinforce the team spirit among employees, that is of high importance to create a working environment based on collaboration. Indeed, activities of this kind contribute the personnel to interact more, to better work as a team and also to better face with the daily difficulties.
After our training our customer has decreased drastically the number of service requests against payment. Indeed, the operators in charge of machines can now use better the presses with a lesser wear and they can carry out in autonomy some activities of ordinary maintenance, without the need of Mecolpress technicians.
For further information about Mecolpress training courses, please send an e-mail to: sales@mecolpress.com.
Interviews in the company: Riccardo Segreto
At Mecolpress offices we met Mr. Riccardo Segreto, person in charge of dies test and brass forging department.
What is your role in the company?
I follow the dies design for the parts forging both in brass and aluminum. Then I follow the starting test for the set-up of the die with all the necessary procedures to prepare it, to make it work properly, also suggesting the proper maintenance.
From which sector do you come from?
I have 25 years of experience in the forging sector, during which I mainly took care of brass hot forging process.
So, we are mostly speaking about brass. There are different types…
Indeed, the brass is an alloy that can be combined in many different types. Recently the tendency to produce it without lead is affirming. In this Italy follows Germany, where Ecobrass is used for a few years now, that indeed is without lead. Since the brass produced parts are largely directed to the domestic water circuits and installation, it is clear that the presence of lead represents a danger.
In the sector of taps and fittings, components, the same norms forbid the lead usage.
This is good for our health but taking off the lead from the brass alloy means to reduce its processability and this reflects on the machines, because the traditional ones are no more adequate, for example due to high cycle times or uncontrollable vibrations during the working phase.
Critical issues that arrive then to the machines. What is the answer from Mecolpress?
The company philosophy is focused on the absolute quality. Translated into concrete terms, regarding brass it means to be able to forge without flash. In this case, our hydraulic presses are very efficient. These are machines that guarantee a drastic reduction of wastes and an optimum quality of parts.
Do you speak about all parts, without differences?
Yes, the range of productions is very wide, from the ball valves to the T junctions, from components for gas plants to automotive parts. The choice is complete.
Which features contribute to the good functioning of the machine?
Reaffirming that when there is no flash some problems can be considered as to be solved, I would mention the simulation program that is a valid help for the forging of very particular parts. It is a software that, once the parametrization is given by the Mecolpress designers, shows the material flow inside the die, allowing to prevent deformation flaws in the points of impact or the brusque alterations of temperature that generate criticalities in the parts. Even if it does not replace the sensitivity of an artisan, and his experience can indicate reliably the points that need adjustments and corrections. And it allows – this is the advantage – to intervene in time.
The message of Mecolpress is above all a call to quality. How do the customers react?
Many operators of our sector are at this point convinced that our advantage incentive is the quality. They understand that to stay active on the international market, they need to be protected, and not to give up with the features for which the Italian companies are always very appreciated worldwide. It is not convenient to lose time in the battles on new orders fighting on few euros, according to us it is always better to offer a 100% quality standard. This is the distinctive characteristic of our presses and the factor that brings more satisfactions.
I mention gladly the last one: we are working hard on a test of 100.000 parts (brass sanitary taps and fittings), commissioned by a German producer that turned to us after he asked to competitors. They request to forge 100.000 parts without flash and without changing the die: we took up the challenge, but we are sure that we will win the challenge.
The word to an “historic” customer: Isval
Reference company in the hot stamping process sector and in the processing of brass, copper and aluminum, Isval is ISO9002 certificated since 1993 and ISO 9001 certificated since 2002. Here we met Mr. Beccalossi, customer of Mecolpress since many years.
You are a loyal customer of Mecolpress. What kind of factors is your preference for our company based on?
I would certainly speak about trust. Our relationship has strengthened during the years, and we can say that we relate to each other more as friends rather than as suppliers.
What year does the first purchase date back to?
We have to go back of several decades. We already used to buy screw presses of Dellavia and of the Swiss brand Osterwalder. Once that these brands were bought by Mecolpress, the relationship of exclusivity has remained.
Among our several different competitor, you must have evaluated also other manufacturers of similar machines … what can Mecolpress offer more than others?
Our corporate philosophy is based on the continuity, in the sense that once we have started heading in a direction, it is very difficult that we leave it. Of Mecolpress we have always appreciated the great availability and the promptness of after-sales service.
Actually, the after-sales service is one of our flagships!
I confirm it: as a customer I have always had the impression that there was a great attention for us, like a special treatment.
It must be said that restricting the suppliers number means “to deserve” the benefit of a priority assistance… Important is that the customer’s needs are met, and I have to say that for many years we haven’t had significant problems, and if we had them, they were solved very promptly.
Nowadays you have more than 20 Mecolpress machines, or anyway, machines of brands that Mecolpress represents today, Osterwalder and Dellavia. Are you particularly satisfied with some of these machines? Among screw presses, forging presses, vertical forging presses… I am very satisfied with the last type of presses, the SEO45/CVE-CS and the direct 400 model, the vertical forging SOV4 model. We just had to make some corrections to the start up of the 450 Tons press regarding the oil filtration, but it seems that this depends on a component that also Mecolpress buys.
And with regard to innovation, do you think that Mecolpress moves in an interesting way?
Yes, I would rate Mecolpress very positively regarding in this respect. I think in particular of the hydraulic Soft-Impact cushion mounted on the last purchased machine, the SEO45 continuous cycle.
I don’t know if in this panorama of great satisfaction there is place for some criticism.
If I have to find a request to make, I underline the importance for a company like ours that the expected delivery date must be scrupulously respected. It happened that some components had to be replaced, and the wait prolonged beyond the previsions, implicating for us the necessity of reviewing the production plan.
On the whole, looking at the past and at the long lasting relationship with Mecolpress, would you define it as a competent company that can keep pace with the customers, reliable but also elastic and rapid to find resources?
There is generally much more hurry than before in our world and this imposes not only to be very rapid but also very flexible regarding the needs (usually in continuous mutation) of customers. But Mecolpress is always a good interlocutor, that goes always beyond the role of a supplier. During the years we have been able to evaluate the receptiveness in taking note of a problem, or of the complex characteristics of some commissions, and the expertise made available to us, looking for the best solutions.