LAU-NIK DESIGNS AND BUILDS ITS FIRST TUBE LINE WITH SERVO MOTORS FOR TENNECO ERMUA

The significant leap in technology supply and customer demand for Lau-Nik is reflected in the contracts that Biscayan engineering is currently facing.

For Tenneco, Lau-Nik technicians have created what will be their first large line exclusively equipped with servo motors, which replace the hydraulic systems. This advance will provide higher quality and repeatability, simplify operations and reduce maintenance; while improving versatility with rapid tool change and greatly reduced cycle time.

The line will be dedicated to the elaboration of the outer tube for the front shock absorber, which has greater complexity, and will be made up of eleven stations, which will run from cutting to deformation, machining, punching, nicking, parts washing, unit checking and robotic unloading. Delivery to the Ermua Plant is scheduled for the second quarter of this year.

Another avant-garde project focuses on the construction of equipment for mounting a highly complex shock absorber. The system includes a compensating mechanism integrated in the shock absorber and controlled by the intelligent suspension assembly that will be mounted by high-end vehicles from McLaren and AMG.

With the aim of projecting his R&D, and with the support of the CDTI, Lau-Nik tackles the construction of a test bench for the manufacture of tubes of variable thickness for lighter shock absorbers. This technology could be applied to other steering components, as it offers solutions to the need to reduce weight on parts. In fact, the system would replace hydroforming technology with conventional lines, which would reduce prices, increase the industrial robustness of the process and facilitate its extension to lower-end vehicles.

Lau-Nik engineers also face another challenge for more efficient automation in shock absorber manufacturing. In this case, they work in a team for the automatic detection of leaks after the welding process, which will replace the current water tanks with systems for measuring and testing components of the fluid injected under pressure into the team.

In 2020, Lau-Nik management will acquire a high availability server, which will increase the speed and capacity to exchange information with customers.

The new infrastructure will help implement the developments of the scorecard in real time, which will improve internal planning and management, both in purchasing and provisioning; at the same time that it will stimulate other plans in the portfolio such as the connection of the clients' PLCs for the analysis of alarms. In this case, the goal is to detect bottlenecks, optimize designs, and configure better maintenance strategies. In addition, it will unify the digital base at the plant, to which your Pamplona office will have remote access to its workstations in Etxebarria.

Source: Empresa XXI