Zuidberg bending department

Zuidberg recently welcomed another new press brake. This brings the total number of press brakes to seventeen and makes our bending department one of the largest in the Netherlands. "We can really do everything in the field of air bending," says Johan Breeman, Senior Foreman of the bending department at Zuidberg.

The smallest press brake in the department has a pressing force of 35 tonnes, the largest is 500 tonnes. Johan: "Our extensive range of press brakes enables us to process all kinds of materials, from plates as thin as one millimetre to 35 millimetres thick. With our tandem press brake, which consists of two separate press brakes that can be linked by software, we can even process steel up to a width of nine meters."

The bending department has a total of thirty employees. All of them can handle the different types of press brakes. "They rotate their positions," Johan explains. "Of course, most of them have a preference. One of them prefers to work on the 1.2-metre wide ergonomic press brake, while another likes to work on the 500-tonne press brake, where products weighing over a hundred kilograms are bent."

Unique
In 2013, Steel Service Lelystad, which was already part of the Zuidberg Group, moved to the main location in Ens. A year later, Johan started as a foreman in the bend- and cutting department. "At the time, we had six employees and four press brakes," he recalls. "More and more engineers discovered that bending is a faster and therefore cheaper operation than cutting and welding. By offering this operation to our customers, demand increased and the bending and cutting department grew rapidly. This growth went hand in hand with the overall growth of Zuidberg, the increased market share and the favourable changes in the market. In 2017, we introduced a two-shift operation and from that time as a foreman I was only reasonable for the bending department. Now, barely five years later, we have a total of seventeen press brakes and thirty employees. This makes us unique; we can call ourselves one of the largest bending department in the Netherlands."

The complete package
Besides the seventeen press brakes, there are four other machines in the Bending department: a plate roller, a profile bending machine and two press brakes. One of the press brakes is specially designed for bending the side plates of the front linkage and can apply a double resistance in one press run. The cutting and bending departments are located in the same hall. Zuidberg also has two other production companies: machining and technology (coating & assembly). "This enables us to offer customers the complete package: from cutting, bending and welding to machining, spraying and assembly, just what they want. The vast majority of our products in the bending department, around eighty percent, are made for third parties, our OEMs. The other part is for Zuidberg itself, for which we make parts for front lifts, PTOs, transmissions and track systems."

Learning by doing
For staff in het bending department it is important to be able to read a drawing Johan: "Some of the products are programmed in the office by the work planner, offline we call it, but the vast majority of the products are programmed by the operators on the press brakes themselves, i.e. online. They receive a drawing and a plate result. Based on this, they visualise what the product will look like in 3D. They then determine how to go about it. What is the bending sequence? How should the plates be placed in the machine? What tools are needed?"

In house training
Some technical knowledge is an advantage before you start in this department, but not a requirement. Johan: "At Zuidberg, we can train you in house to work independently and operate bending machines. It's an advantage if you can read a drawing before you start, but we have training courses for that too. In addition, there are external training courses available, such as general bending and operating training. Technical vocational students are also very welcome. We match these students with an instructor, who helps them complete their training and learn the technical craft."

Machine- and/or process owner
Zuidberg works according to the Lean principle. This means, among other things, that all employees are responsible for improving work processes. Johan: "The colleagues in the workplaces know best how to make things easier or more efficient. They work with the machines, products and tools every day. They are responsible for suggesting and implementing improvements. Together with the management, we periodically hold a GEMBA-walk, during which we visit the workplace. All employees are closely involved in the work, the machines and the product.

Across borders
Some of the products made for Zuidberg in the bending department also cross the border. HB, based in France, is one of the first Zuidberg importers. Next time, HB owner Hans van de Blankevoort will tell his story together with Zuidberg export manager Gerben Klungel.