Extrusion International 1-2025

36 Extrusion International 1/2025 In Gotha, sheets up to 2,500 x 1,300 x 800 mm in size with material thicknesses between 2 and 13 mm can be processed; pure thermoforming would even be possible up to 3,000 x 2,000 x 1,000 mm. The approximately 25 employees at the site, some of whom work in two shifts, primarily manufacture larger parts, including voluminous side wall panels or gas tank doors for motorhomes. These are then milled to create cutouts, for example, for windows or vents, and holes are drilled. This is followed by assembly, during which ventilation grilles and entire lighting and locking sys- tems, among other things, are mounted, bonded, and ultrasonically welded. Premium CNC Maschines from Bavaria Across the various locations, the thermoforming com- pany has a series of 5-axis CNC milling machines from the Bavarian premium manufacturer in operation. In Gotha, three different models are currently in use. In 2018, swissplast acquired an RT-F 1400 rotary table sys- tem, followed two years later by a single-table gantry system and a machine in gantry design. The highly compact rotary table system is particularly designed for workpieces with cubic dimensions in X/Y/Z of 1,000 x 800 x 400 mm and a maximum total weight of 200 kg. swissplast primarily uses this machine to pro- duce small covers and panels that are completely ma- chined in a single clamping. In the RT-F 1400, the rotary table performs the C-axis movement, allowing theworkpieces to bemilledwith ex- ceptional dynamics and high precision. High productivity is also achieved through minimal traversing movements and a water-cooled milling spindle with two shaft ends, each of which can accommodate a milling tool. With a THERMOFORMING – CASE STUDY The 5-axis CNC machining center G-S-F(24-13)/B in gantry design was added in 2020 Since 2020, swissplast has also been milling larger parts on the 5-axis CNS portal milling machine P-S-F(25-13) The portal milling machine is used as a single-table system, but it would also be possible to divide the work area or double it with an additional table and then manufacture even more productively in tandem operation Around ninety percent of the technical parts that swissplast thermoforms in Gotha end up being milled