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Heckert HEC 1600 Athletic – The key to precision and productivity

The term “drum” refers to the roller body of compacting equipment, such as the kind used in road construction.

The drum forms the very heart of this equipment – so much so that world market leader BOMAG, or Bopparder Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft mbH, pays special attention to the production of drums. Around 15,000 drums are produced each year. In order to optimise the machining of the side panels, the company invested in a Heckert HEC 1600 Athletic horizontal machining centre.

+ Highest availability of > 95%

“The HEC 1600 Athletic is the most precise machine in the entire drum factory”.

To ensure the best production conditions, the company built a new hall – the “drum factory”. Production Manager Kai Riedel explains: “The drum factory is what we would call a production cell: Ready-to-install drums in various forms and dimensions are manufactured within this cell”.

The process for machining cup washers, which are already permanently welded into the drum, is particularly demanding. In order to operate at the highest technical and economic level, BOMAG equipped this area with a new HEC 1600 Athletic machining centre from Heckert. Kai Riedel explains the reasons behind the investment: “Every production sector must be able to stand up to comparison with external suppliers, from both a technical and an economic perspective. Therefore, particularly for new purchases, we set high requirements in terms of efficiency and thoroughly compare the offers on the market”. In this way, the new horizontal machining centre in particular should be more productive than the two existing boring mills and have a technical availability of at least 95%.

Like all horizontal machining centres in the HEC series, the HEC 1600 sets itself apart through its modular construction, which comprises the main groups, the functional elements for tool and workpiece handling, the work spindle and the CNC control. The powerful main drive ensures a high material removal volume. Dynamic adjustment axes and a rapid tool change process reduce the amount of unproductive time. “With its 1,600 × 1,250 mm clamping surface, the machining centre also meets other requirements, such as a high level of availability, and is controlled by a Heidenhain iTNC 530 that is easy to programme on-site. Together with the compact, thermally symmetrical design of the machine, the profile rail guides and digital AC feed drives on all linear axes form the basis for precision machining.

Gangolf Wobido, a member of the management team for the drum factory, is impressed by the Heckert machining centre: “Besides being another new, albeit considerably smaller machining centre, the HEC 1600 is the most precise machine in the entire drum factory. As a result, we no longer need to finish-bore some fits, rather we can circular mill them. That is more cost effective”. The HEC 1600 also has an NC-controlled traversable spindle at its disposal, which can reach deep into the drums in order to finish-bore the holes for the axle, for example. Wobido is enthusiastic: “Thanks to the traversable spindle, we can use short tools in most cases. If this were not the case, very long tools would be required for internal work. These long tools tend to vibrate strongly, which is particularly detrimental when working inside a resonating body. The results with the spindle are much better and altogether more efficient”.

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