With batches becoming smaller and parts becoming increasingly complex, sheet metal bending workshops are under constant pressure to deliver in time. Throughout the day, operators need to switch tools more frequently and carry out an increasing number of complex bending operations on sheets of different types. The inevitable small variations in thickness and grain configuration further complicate the bending process, which becomes very laborious if the intermediate bending stages are to be verified and corrected manually.

Bending angles automatically adjusted to material variations in thickness and grain

LVD makes perfect sheet metal bending easy with its Easy-Form® adaptive bending system. Equipped with lasers that constantly measure the angle of the workpiece being bent, Easy-Form adjusts the bending machine control parameters so that the resulting angle will be exactly as defined in the design. Any variation in sheet thickness or grain configuration will be corrected for in real time.

Easy-Form significantly increases productivity and throughput of the bending workshop. 

Find out more on Easy-Form

For 60 years, LVD has been bringing innovative machines and items to you, our customers. And today we’d like to present our Easy-Form. But let’s start by discussing the highlights and trends in machinery today. So what can you expect from our machines? We have a lot of items that we can include as special features. 

But for our customers, digitalisation, integration, smart factory and, of course, flexibility are four keywords. As part of industry 4.0, digitalisation is extremely important. You all want to know exactly what is happening on the machine, for every single digit going to and coming back from the machine.

You want to know exactly what you can use it for. The more digitalisation, the more information and the more efficiently you can use your machine.

Secondly, integration. Nowadays, we’re not selling you a machine as such, you’re buying a solution. And when you buy a solution from us, you want software. This software is used to program the machine and we call it CADMAN-B. 

But our customers take a much broader perspective. You also want to have the programming software for your laser, your punching machine, and of course you want to have a link with your ERP system. You want to have the link between the CAM, the computer-aided manufacturing, and your machine. Today we bring you these solutions, and then there’s smart factory and smart manufacturing to improve your efficiency. 

You want to increase your throughput and reduce material use. We offer you the optimum solution with a smart machine that is integrated in a smart factory. You want flexibility because when you buy a machine, you will have different parts, you have operators and programs, but all of them must be flexible nowadays. 

You want all parts of the system to communicate with each other, everything has to be linked. This is extremely important and it is what we offer today. So what are the key features of Easy-Form? If you want to understand Easy-Form better, you need to know exactly how the system works.

And the basis of Easy-Form is its database. I say database because there are millions of variables. What is an example of a variable? There’s yield strength, you have tensile strength. All of this is included in our database. So we will highlight all the different materials and enter every material into our database with the correct parameters.

And our database is open because we have carried out thousands of tests and we have entered all this data, but we don't know what material you are using. If you’re using a special, specific material you can enter all your data and create your own database for your own material, which is extremely important for the functionality of an adaptive forming system.

And then, of course, you want to work in real time. It makes no sense to have an angle measurement system on the machine if you're wasting time. Productivity is the primary concern today and that’s why we developed a solution where you're working in real time. 

And, of course, you want to measure with cameras. You don't want to have contact with the material and you want to measure the front and the back of the material. This is extremely important because the angle at the front and the back can vary ever so slightly because of the gripping. Our solution is to offer two laser cameras to have access to the correct information without making contact with the material. Also, sometimes you need thin material and sometimes thick material, so you have to be able to handle a variety of materials. This is easy for measurements from a V of 8 to 240 with single V dies. So you can say that you are bending from a V of 8 (1 mm) to a V of 240 (30 mm thickness), and Easy-Form works accurately on all of these thicknesses and different materials.

So why buy Easy-Form? 

Of course, Easy-Form is a special machine, but why should you buy it? And why is Easy-Form part of the future of your bending operations? The answer is very simple. The problem is the material you buy. You’re constantly buying new batches of material and the truth is that they vary. At your company, you mix these batches and as a result your operator is constantly facing issues of angle accuracy. So he has to solve the problem created by the material you’re buying. If you give that operator a correct tool with Easy-Form, every part he makes will be accurate.

Discover how Easy-Form can make your day

Watch this webinar to see how LVD’s Easy-Form adaptive bending increases the bending machine’s productivity and makes the operator’s task much easier. The live demonstration shows how Easy-Form adjusts the bending angle in real time to variations in the sheet’s thickness and grain.