The speed, quality and versatility of the equipment have given larger companies an even bigger competitive advantage, including with bespoke or batch size one items. The Homag Group has been conscious of this situation for some time and has been working hard to develop a solution that will benefit the niche workshops.
The latest machinery from the group has achieved this goal and now you can invest in a complete manufacturing cell, including a high quality beam saw, a zero-joint edgebander and a CNC drilling machine for under £12.50 an hour*.
If you are looking to consistently produce premium quality panel-based products, whether for furniture, kitchens, bedrooms, shopfitting or other items, this package from Homag will revolutionise your business.
“These three machines really do offer a complete panel manufacturing cell for small companies,” claims Simon Brooks, sales and marketing director for Homag UK. He continues: “The introduction of the new Holzma HPP 130 beam saw and the Brandt Ambition 1230 airTec edgebander, alongside the proven Weeke BHX 050/055 CNC drilling and routing machines, provides incredible value for a complete panel processing cell at an extremely affordable price.”
High performance beam saw
“It has always been a bit of a bone of contention with smaller companies that they cannot justify the investment in a beam saw. This new Holzma HPP 130 is a real game-changer. Not only is it manufactured to the same exacting standards as the more expensive Holzma saws, but also it delivers all the benefits of larger beam saws less than £4 per hour based over five years, with a 20% deposit and operational 40 hours per week. This makes it a truly affordable and better alternative.
“Traditionally, small workshops have had to make do with table saws which are less accurate, more of a health and safety risk, and less productive. With Holzma’s easy to use CADmatic operating system and a saw carriage speed of up to 60m/minute, the HPP 130 delivers faster, more accurate cutting – a benefit further enhanced by the electronically controlled program fence, which has an electro-magnetic measuring system to guarantee incredible dimensional accuracy.”
Power with control
The main saw motor is a powerful 5.5kW, but this can be uprated to a stronger 7.5kW motor if required. The in-feed air cushion tables are 500mm wide as standard, but can be specified at 650mm wide to allow for larger panels. Additional rollers on the edge of the air cushion table are also optional; these make gentle handling of larger panels easier and safer.
Another productive option is the label printer which enables the printing of customised labels directly at the saw. These labels can include bar codes, text and graphics for clear parts labelling.
When combined with Holzma’s Cut Rite optimisation software, the label machine can produce parts labels with instructions for downstream CNC machining. The Cut Rite optimisation software, which is proven to boost performance and efficiency of panel sizing, enables better control of costs and makes faster calculations to improve the cutting processes.
Zero-joint edgebanding even at entry level
The Brandt Ambition 1230 airTec is a cost-effective entry level edgebander which, because it features airTec zero-joint technology, delivers first class results every time. The airTec system joins the edge and the panel without adhesive but using hot air to give an incredibly tight ‘invisible’ joint until now only found on up-market machines. The machine can also be used with conventional EVA adhesive and even PUR.
This compact machine is fully equipped with pre-milling, a heavy duty pressure zone for coil and strip materials, front and rear end trim saws, top and bottom trimming and profiling units and a corner rounding unit to provide complete panel processing.
With the Ambition 1230 airTec, the need for hand finishing is eliminated because it has a profile scraper, a glue joint scraper and a buffing unit.
easyTouch control
The appeal of Brandt’s new easyTouch control system lies in its intuitive operation and user-oriented menu structure. It features a clearly arranged 7in graphic display with simple touch screen operation.
These days, the ever-increasing diversity of edge materials requires a highly flexible machine with rapid edge-changing capabilities. The easyTouch control system makes it possible to adapt the range of operations to meet customers’ specific requirements and save the programs for instant call up.
The new easyTouch controller has supporting functions that are simple and easy to access. The logging of production data, the selection of programs or the glue temperature can be quickly checked on the 7in display.
High performance with cost efficiency
Simon Brooks again: “The main economic benefits of the Brandt Ambition 1230 airTec are time saving and an excellent price/efficiency ratio. It offers complete panel processing with its pneumatic adjustments of the pressure zone, end trimming unit, trimming unit and scraping unit all contributing to this performance.
“It can handle edge thicknesses from 0.4mm to 6mm, along with a panel thickness capability of 8 to 60mm. It’s a real workhorse which will deliver first class results day after day at a cost of under £5 per hour*.”
Weeke BHX 050/055 – vertical CNC drilling and routing
Launched at Ligna in 2009, the Weeke BHX 050 set a new benchmark for throughfeed machining centres with a cost per hour of just over £3.50*. This ultra-compact model, with a footprint of less than 5m2, has an equally trim price and more than 3000 have been sold worldwide.
A reliable 3-axis processing centre, the BHX 050 can drill on five sides. It is capable of grooving and routing at fast throughput rates whilst, at the same time, keeping energy bills down due to its low energy usage.
The versatile BHX 050 is capable of processing panels as small as 200 x 70 x 12mm up to panels as big as 2500 x 850 x 60mm as standard. There is also an option to increase this working length to 3050mm.
It can process any type of wood-based panel such as MFC, MDF, HDF and plywood. However, this robust machine can even handle demanding materials such as Trespa and solid wood components.
High praise
“The Weeke BHX 050 is a great little machine,” enthuses Homag UK customer, Steve Payne of S R Furniture. He continues: “Compact and highly efficient, the 050 has enabled us to almost double our production capacity of doors. It has also enabled us to free up time on our main CNC machine and is the perfect back-up for it, as it runs on the same operating software and is very easy to use.
“It speaks volumes for the BHX 050 that, given the choice, our operators would rather use that machine over the larger one. It does exactly what it says on the tin and even has an eco-friendly setting which puts the machine into energy-saving mode when it is not being used.
“We are delighted with the little Weeke CNC; it has not only significantly improved our productivity, but also given us peace of mind as a back-up CNC,” adds Steve.
The next step up
The success of the BHX 050 prompted Weeke to develop a higher specified version, the BHX 055. This powerhouse has all the benefits of the original 050 but includes automatic adjustment of workpiece thickness, a maximum working length up to 3050mm and 13 vertical spindles as standard.“The BHX 055 is a great little machine,” claims Richard Meakin of Contour Furnishings.
“As a specialist manufacturer of bespoke bedroom furniture, we have a lot of panel drilling and routing to do. We’ve had a pod and rail CNC from Weeke for many years, but we needed a more flexible back-up to the Venture 3 that would give us high throughput.
“The 055 is perfect. It is quick and easy to set up which means most of the team in the factory can operate it with ease. Being an upright CNC, it only occupies a small footprint and so was simple to fit into our facility without causing disruption.”
A new dawn
“This entry level package from Homag represents a new dawn for the smaller manufacturer,” concludes Simon Brooks. “It brings them on par with larger producers, opening up new markets and delivering new levels of professionalism to the niche operators.”
For a demonstration of the entry level manufacturing cell package, contact Adele Hunt at Homag UK on 01332 856424.
*Costs per hour are from Homag Finance. This is an indication of its current rates which may be subject to change in line with money costs. All quotations are subject to formal credit approval.
