AMP 70 in China: Successful overhaul and commissioning

Years later, together with a team from our customer Mapleland Precision Forge, we had the opportunity to overhaul the last of the three machines and restore it to an excellent operating condition. The customer also took this opportunity to modify the system and bring the technology more up to date.

Project progression and planning 

Based on a detailed inspection and the recommendations of our local team in China, we drew up the initial quotations to be discussed and updated as the process progressed. This process required constant coordination of sensible and necessary measures, taking into account the available budget and the specified schedule.

In the second quarter of 2023, we reached a technical and commercial agreement following intensive negotiations on site. The temporal component played a major role and required challenging organization in terms of the availability of the necessary parts and the deployment of our service engineer team.

Carrying out the overhaul

Our team arrived in the tenth week of 2024 to get an overview and to check the first delivery of spare parts and preparatory work by the customer. The work was initially scheduled to take 15 weeks, however, as is often the case with large projects, we had to reassess the situation on a daily and weekly basis and adjust our planning. This required an experienced and motivated team.

The assembly procedure for an overhaul is similar to that of a new machine, with the additional aspect of reworking and testing reused parts. The main work and modifications at a glance:

1. Inspection of the main parts: First, the machine body and the pressram were examined again for cracks.

2. Reinstallation: This was followed by the complete reinstallation of the electrical system, lubrication, the pneumatic system and the hydraulic system. Much of this work had already been carried out by the Mapleland team in advance and only needed to be checked and completed.

3. Installation of the assemblies: Installation began with the driveshafts, followed by the individual assemblies around the machine, depending on the availability of parts.

4. Modification of the pressram: The pressram was converted to a version without adjusting wedges. This, in turn, required extensive and exciting reworking, accompanied and guaranteed by one of our service engineers. Due to dimensional changes and a slight distortion, the pressram had to be re-scraped at short notice and scraped into the machine body. For this complex task, we sent a scraping specialist to carry out the work within the maximum visa-free period of 14 days.

Electrical work

From the twelfth week of deployment, an electrical engineer checked the integration of all monitoring units as well as the cabling and units on the construction site. This was followed by connection and interaction with the new control system, which was within the scope of delivery.

Completion and production readiness

It was possible for the assembly work to be completed, the main motor to be put into operation and the trial empty run to be organized with a slight delay. There are still many obstacles and challenges to overcome from the point of the trial empty run until the system is completely ready for production. Here, machine-related expertise and production experience were just as important as well-functioning teamwork between Mapleland and Hatebur.

On July 17, after 19 weeks and with a slight delay, the overhauled machine produced its first parts. There are currently still minor malfunctions to be rectified until the complete interaction between the bar rack, heating system, forming machine, main drive, units and monitoring systems is perfectly coordinated.

The successful overhaul and commissioning of the last AMP 70 machine shows how important careful planning, detailed inspections, continuous coordination and experienced teams are. Despite the challenges, it was possible for the project to be successfully completed thanks to the close collaboration and commitment of all participants.

We would like to thank everyone involved in this challenging project for their excellent and exemplary teamwork in bringing it to a positive conclusion.