tube inspired for - BLM GROUP

Solutions for
barrier- accessibility
We meet the Managing Director of the
company, Mr. Zbynek Prilesky, who explains
how the owner, Mr. Machala,
had the idea of setting up the company exactly
twenty years ago (1992)."The company was
not formerly a state-owned one and then privatised;
it was a private company from the beginnging
and was built up from scratch. At first
it was set up in the owner’s private house and
had two employees, now there are about 170
employees and we are the second-largest company
in the region".
Never as in this case, has the social function of a
product by one of our Customers been so clear
and evident, but this does not exempt them from
responding to the market demands in terms of
time, cost and quality. "The market demands led
us to a situation where we could not more rely
solely on subcontractors. We had reached a
stage at which it was necessary to do everything
in-house by investing in the necessary technology.
So, in 2008, we decided to focus on production
equipment with a higher technological
content, like the BLM’s ELECT-L tube bending
machine and last year the LT Combo combined
laser cutting system for sheet metal and tubes
from Adige-Sys".
It is not often that two identical
pieces need to be cut
In 2009, ALTECH outsourced work to three companies
with laser sheet cutting systems. "Getting
a laser cut piece of tube was almost impossible;
not many had this technology and
delivery times were very long. In our field we
have very tight delivery times and therefore, the
main problem we wanted to solve was, in fact,
the lead times from suppliers. Then we wanted
ALTECH is specialised in the production of platforms and systems to ensure that
people with poor mobility can overcome architectural barriers. We are mainly
speaking about electrically-driven wheel-chair elevators or platforms that allow
people in wheelchairs to access areas with steps and stairs. An ALL Electric tube
bending machine and a laser tube cutting machine manufactured by BLM Group
are the technological heart of ALTECH’s production process.
to have the production of some specific components
under our own control. This applied
mainly to sheet cutting, whereas tube cutting
has opened up new possibilities. For example
on vertical lifts we were able to improve productivity.
It is difficult to quote a number, but it
was definitely around 20%.
The LT Combo system has therefore made us
self-sufficient and has solved many problems.
Most of the production volume is still tied to
sheet metal, but today the machine is working
on tubes most of the time. We work on project
basis and most of the times we do not cut the
same piece twice, above all on tubes. Our designers
already had some experience on tube
cutting, but we still don’t cut everything I have
planned on the laser, partly because the designers
have yet to understand the full potential
of the system and partly because we ourselves
were surprised at how many tubular
components can potentially be laser cut. The
machine is already saturated and there is still
more to be done.
7 bends in a single piece
Also as regards bending. Initially, we used to get
our parts made from the suppliers that were
quite far from us. Then we bought a used tube
bender that could only do one bend on a part.
In practice, this forced us to make a bend, cut
it, and then connect different pieces to get the
final component. Now we can make a single
piece with several bends and get the final component
right from the very beginning of the production
program. The work has been reduced
by about 40%, almost 90% of the welding has
been eliminated. We produced a tube with 7
bends that form a single curve, which is practically
the entire handrail. Even though we had
received several offers for tube bending machines,
we chose BLM as it was the best value
for money.
Technical advantage makes
the difference
Today we export 70% of our total production all
over the world; mainly to European countries
and also to China, Argentina, Australia, South
Africa, New Zealand. We are starting exports
to Canada and Brazil. Compared to our competitors,
our strong point is the traction system.
In our design, the traction system is not part of
the mobile part, it is on the track. That makes that
our chair smaller in size and can access spaces
where others fail.
The technical advantage in this
case is often crucial because we
can do what others cannot do,
but value for money is always
taken into consideration. We
have also provided such systems
for the royal box of the national
theatre, as well as banks
and other similar contexts.
I see no problems for our products in the future.
We are currently the second largest producer
in the world in this field, and despite the
upcoming hard times, life expectancy continues
to grow and the need for products like ours
continues to increase. We have grown even
during the crisis; every year we see an increase
of between 5 and 10%.
INSPIRED FOR TUBE Furnishing
27