Tummers Plaatbewerking mainly processes stainless steel: laser cutting, bending and assembly. Although the process is largely automated, the company cannot do without a manual deburring machine. Therefore, it makes use of the Timesavers 10 series Manual Grinder. “A lot of our sheet metal is for the food industry and the stainless steel must always have rounded edges.”
In the halls of Tummers Plaatbewerking in Hoogerheide, Brabant, Ricardo Moerkens, managing director of Tummers Plaatbewerking, is standing next to a gigantic rack. It is the company’s automated plate warehouse. Automatic metal processing is part of the further automation of Tummers Plaatbewerking. All the more remarkable is a small stand-alone machine in the chain. Almost at the end of the process is a 10 series Manual Grinder from Timesavers.
Moerkens smiles when he sees the Manual Grinder. The 10 series is in line with two Timesavers 42 RB deburring machines. “Much of our sheet metal is for the food industry and the stainless steel must always have rounded edges. These machines are ideally suited for that. We use the Manual Grinder if we have products that have a slightly lower grinding quality, so that we can process them in advance. Further processing is then done in the RB series. And this mainly concerns the smaller products. Maybe in the past an angle grinder was used for this, but we won’t do that anymore. Safety comes first.”
One-stop-shop
Tummers Plaatbewerking is part of the Tummers Group. In 1976 Tummers started as a machine company and maintenance partner for the Zeeland potato industry. Today, Tummers Food Processing Solutions designs, produces and maintains machines for the food processing industry. Tummers Simon Dryers Technology is an expert in drying techniques, with its own lab in Nottingham, which in addition to the food industry also works for the pharmaceutical, chemical and starch industries.
Back to Tummers Sheet Metal Working. This was originally a department of the machine factory, but has since become a successful independent enterprise. “We started out as a small department, but are now an independent enterprise with over 60 employees. We have developed into a one-stop shop for sheet metal: single pieces and small series, large series, sheet metal for machine construction and even design sheet metal.”
Tummers Plaatbewerking mainly processes stainless steel: laser cutting, bending and assembly. “What makes us unique is that, despite a high degree of automation, we have real professionals. And that is a necessity. Much of what our customers ask of us is special work, often single pieces. You can’t do that without skilled workers.”
Removing metal dross
The 10 series Manual Grinder at Tummers Plaatbewerking is suitable for quick deburring, edge rounding and finishing of metal. According to Timesavers, the ‘entry-level model’ is an alternative to manual deburring. The versatile machine has two rotating disc heads. The discs are easily changeable, allowing the use of different types of abrasive discs and brushes. Available brush types are not only for deburring, edge rounding and finishing, but also for laser oxide removal and heavy slag removal. All types of sandpaper can be fit on the discs with soft Velcro, from coarse to fine, to achieve a mirror finish. The 180-degree rotation axis makes it easy to quickly switch between different processing options.
“We have been working with Timesavers for over ten years now,” says Moerkens. “We choose these machines because they are rugged, have low maintenance costs and guarantee a high tool life. The machines are easy to operate and easy to explain to and by colleagues. And the directionless brush in the 42 RB series that they use is ideally suitable for our products. Our customers in the food industry expect this quality from us. So we expect that quality from our suppliers.”
