Case study
When innovating means choosing
Story courtesy of E. Oldrati/Deformazione
Comel, an evolved subcontractor from Arre (Padua, Italy), uses an incremental approach to innovation by making continuous investments in new technologies, without fear of embracing new processing methods and strategies if they are useful for reaching new levels of efficiency. Their partner in these “technological breakthroughs” is Salvagnini, which was able to provide effective solutions for automating the sorting of parts cut with fiber laser and improving the efficiency of the bending department.
When innovating means choosing
Highlights
- Comel
Founded in 1970 in Arre, near Padua, Comel specializes in subcontract sheet metal fabrication. With over 250 employees and almost €60 million in turnover, the company manages orders across different industries and production volumes. Its installed base includes four Salvagnini S4+P4 lines and two stand-alone S4 punching machines. - The challenges
Large laser-cut nests containing many different items made manual separation and stacking costly and time-consuming. Comel needed to reduce handling costs, sorting errors and throughput times without compromising cutting efficiency. In bending, it sought to increase speed and flexibility beyond what its manual press brakes and robotic bending cells could deliver. - The solution
Comel integrated a Salvagnini L5 fiber laser (4 m working range, 6 kW source) with MCU automatic sorting, NEXUS software and six unloading tables. A 39-tray LTWS twin-tower store, AVS vision and NVS nozzle monitoring support production autonomy. The P2-2120 panel bender combines universal bending tools, CLA/SIM and RSU with robot-assisted or operator-managed loading. - The results
Automated sorting saves 100% of the labor previously required to separate and stack laser-cut parts. Configurable stacking strategies help reduce handling time, errors and throughput times, while the P2 speeds up bending and reduces press brake workloads. "For us, this is a very important advantage, considering that we can use these operators for other activities," says Luigino Giacometti, Comel founder.
