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No. 2 - 10/2004 UK INSPIRED FOR TUBE THE TUBE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

INSPIRED FOR TUBEdemo.blmgroup.com/media/34931/2en.pdf · INSPIRED FOR TUBE No. 2 - october 2004 3 If one looks at the ranking of the top 100 Ameri-can companies today, more than

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Page 1: INSPIRED FOR TUBEdemo.blmgroup.com/media/34931/2en.pdf · INSPIRED FOR TUBE No. 2 - october 2004 3 If one looks at the ranking of the top 100 Ameri-can companies today, more than

No.

2 -

10/

2004

UK

INSPIRED FOR TUBE

THE TUBE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

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Contents

10 Laser Sheet & Tube - The Sub Contractor

From client perception to prototype

8 Bending and Endforming - Heating

The heat is up!

14 BLM GROUP UK - The Group

Hello BLM GROUP UK!

4 Bending & Endforming - Automotive

Specialists in innovativetube working

12 Cutting - Forming

A battle won

6 Lasertube - Furnishing

“The Finishing Touch”

INSPIRED FOR TUBE

Edited by:

Public Relations DivisionBLM GROUPEmanuela ColomboAntonio FareseCristina Guzzettie-mail: [email protected]: +39 031 7070 200

Produced by:BLM GROUPVia Selvaregina 3022063 Cantu (CO) Italywww.blmgroup.com

NumberNo.2 10/2004 Inspired for Tube

Graphic DesignStudio Grafico PageVincenzo RosaFabrizio Santini

Printed by:Arti grafiche masperoFontana & c SpACermenate (CO)

Photography:BLM GROUPDMM srlMarchesi & CBaender Blech Rohre

Reproduction of all or part of articles orillustrations published in this edition can-not be used without prior authorisation.

INSPIRED FOR TUBE

Also available in pdf format on:

www.blmgroup.com

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If one looks at the ranking of the top 100 Ameri-can companies today, more than half did not existtwenty years ago. This simple observation says twothings. Firstly, the American economy is the motorthat drives the rest of the world as it is the most dy-namic and has the capacity to subject itself to con-tinual reflection and renewal. Secondly, it can beconsidered that, as the economy is always chang-ing rapidly, there is also always room for companiesto climb up the table. For example, in Europe, Ire-land has been a catalyst for a spec-tacular increase in growth in recentyears. When they joined the Euro-pean Union, they were one of thepoorest in the Community; today theiroutput per capita is superior to thatof the United Kingdom. Naturally, ifone wishes to see the most aston-ishing growth phenomena one mustlook towards Asia. The largest andmost populated continent in theworld is also the most ancient andcomplex. Their people did inherit theirextraordinary capacity for evolution.Consider China. Their influence onoverall world trade is limited, evencompared with the UK and Italy, and is relativelystatic. But, in dynamic terms, their contribution tothe world economy between 2003 and 2006 will beequal to that of Japan. If its contribution to the growthin world imports is considered over the same pe-riod, China is superior in net growth to the UnitedStates and the Euro zone put together with a val-ue nearly three times that of Japan; from this per-spective, China is easily number one. Turning to theAmerican ranking, it can be noted that, with all thetalk of technology, the highest turnover company isa commercial company in the food industry: Wal-Mart. In the leading group, there is a small numberof companies in the medium technology sectorssuch as petroleum and refining and the automobile

industry. The market, therefore, is not overwhelmedby fashion, not even by technology; it is dominatedby those companies who find the best method ofsatisfying their customers - the more this is true, themore stable is the company. Fashion and sophisti-cation only prosper for a while, true growth - anddependability - is built over time. And what canwe say about the supposed difficulties of these fam-ily concerns competing in developing markets?Wal-Mart is owned by the Waltons. The richest man

in the world, Bill Gates, maintainssole control of Microsoft; the sameapplies to his arch rival, Larry Ellison,the Oracle owner. In Europe, themost successful automotive group,BMW, is owned by the Quandt fam-ily, and the most famous tyre com-pany in the world - Michelin - is alsoowned by a single family. In India,industrial dynasties are competitorsin economic development rivallingthe Chinese. It is possible to contin-ue with these examples; there aremany. What is the unique strengththese family groups possess? Ded-ication over a long time. These are

words missing from a strict definition of somewhatimpersonal capitalism. Economic growth createsworldwide well-being but is also creates problems.The biggest of these is the need for conservationof natural resources which should be for the ben-efit of all. A more correct response must be to de-velop technologies appropriate to each specificneed. Then those highly competitive companiescan unite and harness their capacity to accommo-date the skills of a diverse population.

Gian Maria Gros-PietroVice-President ADIGE SALA S.p.A.Head of Department of Economics and BusinessLUISS University, Rome

Opi

nion

Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, economist, has recently beenappointed Director of the Department of EconomicScience and Trade of the Luiss University in Rome.He has been a Director of the Institute of Researchand Development for over twenty years. The Instituteis the most important centre of the National Councilfor Research in Economics. He has been a consultant to various Italian Govern-ment Ministries, especially in the field of industrial pol-itics, since 1970.In 1994 he became a member of the Committee forGlobal Consultation and Guarantees for Privatisation.

In 1997 he was nominated President of the IRI withthe task of privatisation of companies and closure.In 1999 he became President of ENI to oversee tran-sition to a free energy market within Italy.In 2002 he was nominated President of Autostrade,a completely private company, and from December2003 he was also President of Federtrasporto.He has been an economic consultant to UCIMU (TheItalian Machine Tool Trade Association), since the ear-ly 1980’s and has worked with the BLM GROUP formany years; he is Vice President of ADIGE SALA SpAand a Director of BLM GROUP UK Ltd.

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“We are German and we want to stay in Germany”is explained firmly by Klaus Liehr from his brightglass walled office in S.M.A. Metalltechnik in Back-nang. Herr Liehr is the Managing Director andclearly shows that the company has no nervous-ness of foreign competition in their own plannedfuture development.Over 210 employees, including 10 apprentices,are helping the company achieve its strategic ob-jectives. Tubing and tubular systems for the au-tomotive industry are produced on this site and,as the giant poster of a Mercedes at the entranceindicates, Daimler Benz Group and its subsidiariesare its most important clients.

Complex tubular componentsOn our tour through the plant we can see a largenumber of bending machines, with varying lev-els of automation, producing complex tubularcomponents - one on small batches for the May-bach, the largest model in the Daimler-Chryslerrange. Klaus Strobel, the Production Manag-er, told us “We purchased our first BLM bend-ing machine in 1997 - a MULTIPLA.Since then we have bought a further ten DY-NAMO machines and, in July this year, a SWINGtube bending machine was delivered for tubeup to 35mm diameter, with both left and rightbending capability”.

The Daimler-Chrysler Group and its subsidiaries is S.M.A.

Metalltechnik’s most important client.

Specialists in innovativetube working

S.M.A.’s speciality : Connections without brazing for automotive clients.

Klaus Liehr.

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Using the machines for top qualityrequirements“In our production process, we use many differ-ent machines from different suppliers but we con-sider BLM machines to be of the highest qualitypossible. We can confirm that the balance be-tween price and performance is absolutely cor-rect in regard to BLM machines.The Italian company was the first to market witha tube bender with both automatic loading andunloading as a fully integrated system - at a sen-sible price (the Dynamic) “Klaus Strobel affirms.“We are entirely satisfied with the reliability of theBLM machines especially when you consider thatthe bending machines and endformers are op-erating on a three shift system, seven days a week.They are extremely robust and their straightfor-ward construction allows us to do maintenanceon them less often than normal”.

The DYNAMO tube bending machine is the per-fect example of the reliability and performanceavailable from BLM machines. “On this machine,we bend pipe from the air conditioning system forthe Class C Mercedes. We form an extremely

complex aluminium tube with various 180 degreebends, which it is not possible to do on anothermachine”.Another application for BLM machines is foundin their end forming area at a technical level thatKlaus Strobel defines as “impossible”, involvinga BLM AST80NC multi-station endformer. “It hasbeen possible to endform and produce very com-plex tubular components to a very high standardusing multiple tools mounted on the same ma-chine,” says Klaus Strobel.” In fact, because ofthis very technology the S.M.A. is able to producetube joints, connections and flanges without ad-ditional brazing operations”.

A small revolutionThere has been a minor revolution, from a tech-nical production viewpoint, in the forming of ourcomponents. This is particularly valid when pro-ducing air conditioning pipes without brazing,”states Klaus Strobel. “What’s specially interestingis that we have eliminated the use of gaskets.”Simplification: Reducing complex work process-es to simple procedures. This is Metalltechnik’sspeciality.

Note: by kind permission of Bander Bleche Rohre, September 2004.

Klaus Strobel.

Automatic forming line with three robot controlled AST80NC endformers.

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“To produce hundreds of pieces of furniture as ifthey were individually made, we combine sophis-ticated manufacturing methods such as laser tubecutting, with more traditional craft methods such asend-finishing by hand -the final touch-”. These wordscome from Gian Luca Malipiero, who is the Mar-keting Director of DMM di Montecchio di Sant’ An-gelo in Lizzola (PU). The company is an extremelymodern manufacturer but with origins deeply root-ed within the craft industry. By preserving its flexi-bility and attention to detail it has retained the ulti-mate respect of its clients and product integrity.

Complete-integration is the “secret”DMM began life as a manufacturer of decorativemetal components for furniture, and this still re-mains their core business in the furniture sector.“We produce components and accessories forthe whole furniture industry, the kitchen sector inparticular,” affirmed Signor Malipiero. “In prac-tice, we are able to turn full circle in providingpieces for kitchens, lounges and dining rooms up

to complete bar and shop furnishing.” It’s an ex-tremely comprehensive range of products andDMM are able to supply their clients with what-ever they want in quick time.The secret? There is complete integration of theproduction software with CAD and CAM pro-gramming, dramatically reducing lead times. “Inthe course of the last six years, for example,” Sign-or Malipiero relates, “there has been an 80% re-duction in design times for our main productranges, the process is now completely automat-ed. It must be emphasised that there is no realstandard catalogue - it’s down to client choice -with infinite combinations possible for customiseddesigns or for adaptations from a basic product.”

From design idea to perfect prototypeDesigners are always the first link in the chain inDMM. “This is especially true in the kitchen sec-tor where clients only give us the bare bones ofan idea and basic dimensions,” says Mailpiero“and ask us to solve all the logistics”.

DMM create custom-designed or standard

ranges with no quality compromise

“The Final Touch”

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Lasers and furniture solutionsDMM have relied heavily on high technologyequipment to achieve its product strategy. Thepick of these is their laser tube cutting system.“An ADIGE Lasertube 651 was installed morethan 4 years ago. “continued Malipiero” In thebeginning, we had to adopt new working prac-tices and encourage our designers to fully recog-nise and completely understand the immensepotential of the new laser tube cutting technol-ogy. Freed from traditional manufacturing re-strictions, our designers now have an entirelynew ‘plain-sheet-of-paper’ way of designingframes and assemblies based on best-for-de-sign, best-for-manufacture and best-for-product.Creative and innovative designs that were pre-viously thought impossible are now practical andreality with laser tube cutting technology”.

Reducing lead timesDMM by investing in the ADIGE Lasertube 651system have not only added value to the designaesthetic of their products, but also achievedmassive cost reductions and huge benefits in

the increased productivity and flexibility that thesystem offers.

Previously, their process involved several indi-vidual traditional operations such as: sawing,drilling, punching, notching, deburring etc… Nowcomponents can be ‘complete-machined’ on onemachine, fully automatically, to the highest levelof accuracy and repeatability.Eliminating 5 or 6 traditional processes has cutlead times significantly- from ten days to four days.It has also eliminated the touch-time and han-dling-time between processes and the accumu-lative error associated with consecutive machin-ing operations.

In today’s, fiercely competitive, furniture industry,where the difference between success and fail-ure is not measured in hundredths of a millime-tre, creating an aesthetically perfect, defect freeproduct is vitally important. With the techniqueand technology of the ADIGE laser tube cuttingsystem DMM is able to do just this, within the timeand cost the market demands

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A radical review of manufacturing methods and pro-duction efficiency has seen Worcester Heat Sys-tems, part of the Bosch Thermotechnik Division, Eu-rope’s largest manufacturer of combination gasboilers, completely replacing a copper pipe man-ufacturing facility. The new facility includes 4 newBLM CNC Tube Processing machines, which havereplaced 3 semi-automatic benders, 2 end form-ers, an automatic saw and a de-burrer. So far,process efficiency has been raised by over 25%,scrap reduced and product quality improved tosuch an extent that further automation for subse-quent manufacturing and assembly processes isnow possible. A vital part of the production is basedaround the design, development and forming ofcopper tube components, which, thanks to the in-stallation of the new BLM Machines, now occupies20% less floor space than before.

Producing from CoilAt the Warndon site, UK, Max Hausler, Manu-facturing Development Manager and Mike Ross,Senior Production Engineer described the in-tegration of the new cell, which has been boughton stream in stages, as the old facility was grad-ually de-commissioned. “Originally, productionwas based on the use of straight stock lengthsof tube, which were cut to the appropriate lengthon a saw and then manually transferred andloaded onto 5 semi-automatic benders. Whilstthis worked reasonably well, we incurred thecost of scrap and too much manual handling.To resolve this problem, we decided to switchcompletely from straight stock lengths to tubesupplied in coils. This gave us a continuousstream of material i.e. up to 1.9 kilometres of 6mm diameter tube on a single coil.

“Cut and break”The swarf-free “cut and break” system of the BLMProcess and the BLM Planet provides a cleanburr-free cut, eliminating previously necessaryend-finishing operations. The ability to produce

bent parts of a consistent quality was critical toour plans, as we wanted to automate our brazingprocedures. The new BLM CNC Benders havegiven us such repeatable bend accuracy that wehave been able to replace the majority of our man-ual brazing operations with a single automaticbrazing system.

“Stick bending” “For bending the more complex copper pipes,we use the BLM Swing CNC Bender, which canexecute both left and right-hand bends in auto-matic cycle of the same tube. It is fitted with anautomatic loading and unloading system, so canbe left to run for long periods with minimal su-pervision.“As well as bending individual components, wealso use the Swing for “stick bending” ie. bend-

A radical review of manufacturing methods and production

efficiency at Worcester Heat Systems

The heat is up!

PLANET: a continuous straeam of material

from coil up to 1900 m.

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ing a series of the same component in a contin-uous stick from a single stock length, which wethen cut into individual components. This processmaximises bending output and minimises scrap.“We can make use of the BLM Swing’s versatilityand flexibility further, by mounting up to four dif-ferent tooling options at the same time.Thus we can process four different tube diame-ters or different bend radii with minimal toolchange, ideally suiting smaller batch sizes. “Thefourth machine we purchased, was the BLMAST35NC CNC Tube End Forming machine. Wehave an extremely wide and diverse range of end-forms, from the simple to the very complicated,and we wanted to control closely the quality ofshape and repeatability. The feeds and speeds of the AST35NC are setand controlled by its CNC System, thus guaran-

teeing the highest degree of accuracy, whateverthe complexity of the end-form. Its 6-station ro-tary head, including one head with machining ca-pabilities, allows virtually limitless end-forming op-erations to be carried out with minimal toolchange”.

‘Continuous Improvement’Max Hausler concluded, “We are committed to‘Continuous Improvement’ in new technology,people skills and new product development. Weoffer our customers the best possible product andin turn, expect nothing less than commitment andtotal support from our suppliers. The adoption of the BLM machines simply con-firms our willingness to undertake radical changefor the better and our determination to maintainour position as market leaders”.

SWING: for bending the most complex

copper pipes.

AST35NC: to control closely the quality

of shape and repeatability.

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Labour saving and well researched methodsToday, the field of automotive chassis has beentransformed with a reduction in manufacturingproblems from this increased benefits in morevaried production modern-day solutions. “The experience acquired, “Signor Marchesistates,” has put us at the cutting edge, both inour continued cooperation with the automobilemanufacturers and in the problems they face. Overall, the most fundamental aspect of ourwork is in converting our clients ideas into pro-

From client perceptionto prototype

A combined sheet/tube laser cutting system enables Marchesi & C

to be quick and flexible in their response to customers’ demands.

Three dimensional detail of the complex Snow Cat framework.

Marchesi & C srl are among the most qualifiedmanufacturers of low volume automotive chas-sis in Italy. The Modenese company has been manufac-turing chassis for all the most prestigious Ital-ian cars since 1965 including Lamborghini (fromMiura through to Countach) with whom theyhave a very close relationship, BMW M1, theLancia Stratos E037, De Tomaso, Pantera, Pa-gani Automobili, Ferrari and Maserati. They haveconstructed over 20,000 chassis either in alu-minium or steel, in sheet or tube.

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promise - in one operation cutting tube and then,if needed, using the system for cutting sheet.To us, the ADILAS 2 represents the best possi-ble solution to our particular needs”.

First experience with “the Cat”The frame of the “Snow Cat” produced byPrinoth/Leitner was an important and relevantproduction experience for Marchesi. They useda laser to cut the tubular structure and were ableto achieve real benefits in cutting high precisionprofiles.

They had previously faced considerable diffi-culties in machining thick wall tubes in toughmaterials. Numerous components were either plasma cutor sawn involving, long cycle times, the clean-ing up of each part manually, and poor accu-racy and repeatability.

Marchesi & C is an extremely good example ofa company that has integrated high technolo-gy applications, in an innovative way, withoutlosing sight of their production imperative.

“We don’t want to lose our creation of real addedvalue coupled to our wealth of experiencegained over 50 years of production. The basisof all our work is to be inventive and to under-stand and satisfy our customers’ needs.

totypes”. The basis for this is the visual and men-tal capacity of Marchesi technicians to producethe most adaptable labour saving methods pos-sible, whilst forming a real design-partnershipwith the automotive manufacturers, thereby cre-ating the undoubted benefits in quality and pro-duction cost reductions.

Associated with BLM GROUP since 1985Marchesi & C have had a long relationship withBLM, employing their laser technology in 1985when they installed the first laser sheet cuttingsystem. This has recently been replaced with an inno-vative combined laser system for sheet and tube- ADILAS 2 “This new system has enabled usto be very speedy and flexible in our responseto our clients, “said Signor Bonara, “also im-proving the product precision and repeatabili-ty, the machined profiles are much more definedand production time for the chassis are signif-icantly reduced”.

A genuine compromiseMarchesi & C now have two ADILAS 2 systemsinstalled, processing flat sheet, tube and sec-tions. But how significant to them is it to havea hybrid system rather than systems, dedicat-ed to tube or sheet. “It’s a matter of flexibility”, stated Marchesi.“Looking at it, we see the best possible com-

Sheet laser cutting with ADILAS 2. Some Prinoth/Leitner completely assembled chassis.

Air conditioning

ducting produced from

tube and sheet cut by

ADILAS 2

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When competing directly with low-value productsfrom Asia, you cannot make mistakes. The contin-uing success of Univers Srl, clearly demonstratesthat aggressive competition, from cheap-labourcountries, can be met most effectively by long-termstrategies, technological investment and a demonicattention to the right combination of quality, priceand delivery in a mature marketplace.

Based at Gussago in the Italian province of Bres-cia, Univers produces valves, flanges and turnedparts in brass. A member of the Bonomi Group,based in Lumezzane, founded in 1901, it now em-ploys over 230 people and last year’s turnover ex-ceeded €70 million. Other Group members include famous interna-tional companies such as Rubinetterie Bresciane(RB), Valbia and Vapres. The group specialisesin the production of taps, and ball valves in brassand steel for water, gas and pneumatic applica-tions for the building, civil engineering and in-dustrial sectors. Univers’s production capacityand high technological capability are used bothwithin the group and for sub-contracting. Universproduces all forms of small turned parts and fit-tings to customer specification, particularly for thebrass stampings sector, where they have a vastamount of market experience.

3000 stampings per hourRemaining highly competitive with low value prod-ucts is a winner for Univers thanks to intense andcontinual investment in high technology and au-tomatic production lines covering every aspectof their production process. From tube to bar, fromcold stamping to deburring, from metalworkingto finishing.

The key to UNIVER’s production: combining quality, price and delivery

successfully, to compete with Chinese products.

A winning bet.

CM601: Cutting two bars simultaneously.

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Their clear and firm objective is to combine highquality with market prices, whilst remaining prof-itable but highly competitive with their Chineseopposition.

Recent investments have included three ADIGECM601 two bar automatic sawing machines, tocomplement the two CM501’s and a CM500 saw,previously installed. Having the capability of cutting two bars at thesame time on the new CM601’s has now dra-matically increased the flow of cut billets to thestamping presses - each press can produce inexcess of 3000 components an hour.“We are cutting bar from 25mm to 50mm in di-ameter, usually in brass. The ADIGE cuts our bil-lets accurately and automatically without burrs,

this guarantees the quality of our end product.We also achieve significantly better material op-timisation and reductions in final trimming and fin-ishing operations”.

The search for optimum quality.Univers runs a two shift production and the re-liability and performance of the ADIGE ensuresthat overall production is never compromised.The ADIGE saws are an important strategic el-ement in the continual search for optimum qual-ity which the company rigorously controls andmeasures.These working practices have enabled them toobtain UNI EN ISO 9001 approval recognised bySQS (the Swiss Association for Quality and Man-agement).

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BLM GROUP UK, a totally-owned subsidiary of BLMSpA, was founded almost eight years ago to pro-vide the highest levels of sales support and after-sales service for the UK market, for BLM and ADI-GE products. Backed by the global resources,finances and know-how of an international group,BLM GROUP UK is structured to respond instantlyto customer demands and market needs in the hightechnology sector of the tube processing market.

True market understanding, serious service ex-pertise and in-depth application knowledge are

attributes that can only be gained with years ofexperience in the industry concerned. The levelof experience and professionalism available fromBLM UK is unique and unrivalled in our industry,ensuring our customers get the very best solu-tions, technically, commercially and in all aspectsof after-sales service. Our levels of support ex-tend far beyond the industry-accepted-normsand one of our committed goals is to ensure ourcustomers get the highest possible levels of per-formance and capability from our machinesthroughout the machine’s entire working life.

Hello BLM GROUP UK!

A rapid response to our customers’ needs

and to market changes.

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Whether for bending tube, endforming, laser cut-ting or saw cutting, at BLM GROUP UK we arehappy to share our vast level of experience withour clients.

For example, initially we can carry out a full in-vestigation on your current processes, then putforward for your consideration the best possiblesolution to get the lowest possible cost per com-ponent taking into consideration fastest cycle time,best automation, lowest labour content, quickestchangeover etc… In most cases we would showyou a machine working in a similar factory envi-ronment to your own, followed by a showroomdemonstration, where possible, producing yourown components to prove out the process andcycle times.

Our after sales support service is monitored on acontinuous basis to ensure we meet or beat thehigh standards we set for ourselves. Our last sur-vey showed that we were supplying 98% ofspares from stock and 97% of service requestswere carried out within 24 hours.

Equally the majority of machines we supply todayhave a telediagnostic system so most errors canbe corrected remotely by modem link within a fewminutes with the minimum of lost production time.

With this level of total-support and the continualproduct innovation, BLM GROUP has becomethe market leader, respected as a high technolo-gy provider. Evidence of customer satisfaction isreflected in the fact that over 70% of our customershave bought second machines, we have sever-al customers with seven or more machines in-cluding one with twelve!

The team at BLM GROUP UK

Paul Lake - SalesJon Curtis - SalesWayne Caldow - ServiceBruce Foster - ServiceSteve Hayes - ServiceIan Kopec - ServiceDavid Turner - AdministrationKaren Smith - Administration

BLM GROUP UK Ltd4 Ampthill Business ParkAmpthillBedsMK45 2QWTel: 01525 402555Fax: 01525 402312E-mail: [email protected]

Page 16: INSPIRED FOR TUBEdemo.blmgroup.com/media/34931/2en.pdf · INSPIRED FOR TUBE No. 2 - october 2004 3 If one looks at the ranking of the top 100 Ameri-can companies today, more than

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TUBE BENDERSTUBE END FORMERS

CUTTING DEBURRING AND WASHINGCUTTING AND END MACHININGLASERTUBE CUTTING SYSTEMS

LASER CUTTING FOR SHEET AND SHEET&TUBE COMBINEDMATERIALS HANDLING SYSTEMS3D MEASURING AND INSPECTION

PRODUCTION CELLS NON CONTACT MEASUREMENT SYSTEMS

PROCESS CONTROL SOFTWARE

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