Maintenance Relief

However, most press operators have spent years learning the ins and outs of a conventional press and the maintenance of a gearless press can be discouraging when considering the possibility of having to handle electronic woes.

"These servo drives are extremely reliable, but if they do go wrong, a trained electronics technician is needed for repairs—although this is not really an issue as all presses today are based on electronics with digital drives, PLCs (programmable logic controllers), and complex computer-based control systems. So just about all companies who have bought new equipment of any type over the last 10 years have had to add these specialists to their staff," said Hans Deamer, president of Windmoeller & Hoelscher.