John Deere Brasil S.A. has a long history of achievement in the manufacture of agricultural equipment. Founded originally as SLC in 1945, the company grew through the years and manufactured Brazil's first combine in 1965. Eventually, SLC captured the attention of agricultural equipment giant John Deere, which purchased 20% of SLC's shares in 1979. In 1996, John Deere purchased another 20% of SLC, and began production of agricultural tractors in Brazil. In 1999, John Deere purchased the remaining 60% of SLC and the name of the company changed to John Deere Brasil S.A.

     Today, of all the agricultural machines working in the Brazilian fields, 50% are John Deere (combined with the original SLC models). John Deere Brasil S.A. exports many of its products throughout Central and South America as well as Europe. In fact, the company exports 60% of the combine harvester equipment manufactured in Brazil.

     The main factories of John Deere Brasil are located in Horizontina, Rio Grande do Sul, in the southwestern part of the country near the Argentina border. In two of these factories, 1,700 employees manufacture various models of agricultural tractors, combine harvesters, platforms, header, and planting equipment. As Gerson Ricardo Pohl, business opportunities and internet supervisor, explains, all machines and equipment produced at the Horizontina facilities are guided by the John Deere corporate philosophy firmly in mind: "I will never put my name on a product that does not have in it the best that is in me."

Automation of sheet metal fabrication was introduced at John Deere Brasil S.A. with the Finn-Power Express installation. It includes a 10-shelf tower, load, turret punch press for punching/forming, and unload. Two families of parts are currently processed on the Express: longer parts and high-volume parts.

     To manufacture these products, John Deere Brasil has a wide variety of metalworking equipment, including: stamping presses, machining centers, CNC lathes, MIG welders, rolling machines, coil cut-to-length lines, lasers, oxy-fuel cutting machines, press brakes, shears, and turret punch presses.

     During 2001, the company began searching for an automated turret punch press. According to Derli Antonio da Silveira, team leader - manufacturing engineering platforms & planters, his company was looking for a machine that could fulfill three major criteria:

• Load/unload long parts
• High productivity
• Least amount of floor space
  

    "Every machine builder showed us a different solution," explains da Silveira. "We chose the Finn-Power F6.4 Express® Flexible Manufacturing Unit (FMU) because it best met our needs. It went into production in November, 2001"



     The unit that John Deere Brasil purchased has a capacity of fabricating sheets 1500 mm x 4700 mm. It also is equipped with a 10-shelf storage tower with a load shelf and a double load table. "The theory is to produce just enough parts for one day's production," says da Silveira. "We currently process two families of parts on the Finn-Power Express: longer parts and high-volume parts so we can take advantage of the storage tower."

     John Deere Brasil is currently producing 133 parts on the Finn-Power Express. "Within six months we expect that number to increase to 250 parts as we transfer parts from the laser to the Express," explains da Silveira.

The Finn-Power Laser is designed by using innovative linear drive motor technology to allow maximum speeds, even in small notches or narrow contours. Finn-Power provides a new level of high-speed performance with regard to machining dynamics, contour accuracy, and process safety.

Finn-Power
High-Speed Laser
    In another factory facility at John Deere Brasil, the company produces combines. Much of the same fabricating equipment is found in this factory. This combine manufacturing center produces approximately 10,000 different parts, 2,500 of which are replacement parts for existing John Deere combines. In early 2002, the Finn-Power FPL-6 Laser Work Center with a load/unload went into production at the Horizontina location. According to Dirceu Luiz Dal Bianco, team leader - manufacturing engineering combines, Finn-Power's leading technology was once again the reason for choosing the FPL-6 over competitors' models. "We chose the Finn-Power FPL-6 for its high speed and high productivity, the Ping-Pong repositioning, and the load/unload. This was our first contact with this type of a laser system."

The FPL-6 Laser Work Center at John Deere Brasil is equipped with a load/unload system for automated processing.

     The FPL-6 is a breakthrough in sophisticated high-speed laser cutting for sheet metal fabrication, creating enhanced production with superior speed, accuracy, and part quality.

    "Today we estimate that cutting with oxygen, the Finn-Power laser is approximately 30% faster than our other two lasers," says Dal Bianco. "As we learn more about the machines, we expect this to increase to about 40%. When we switch to nitrogen as a fuel source, we expect the Finn-Power laser to be about 70% faster on 1.0mm thickness mild steel."

Finn-Power's NC Express Software
     Both the Finn-Power Express and FPL-6 Laser Work Center are programmed with the NC Express software. Finn-Power's NC Express CNC programming system is a user friendly, integrated, and automated tool for managing Finn-Power equipment in the most efficient manner available. NC Express is a tooling, nesting and optimizing software package designed to easily integrate into an existing manufacturing environment, taking full advantage of the CAD design database and the Finn-Power machine tool product line.

    NC Express is a scalable application - the system may be used as a single part drafting and tooling program or as a fully-automated machine tool management system. Either way the results are the same - optimized automatic N/C code creation. "The NC Express is a very user friendly software that is easier on the operator," concludes Dal Bianco.

To obtain a copy of the complete John Deere customer profile, contact Vicki Thoma at (847) 885-3200 or e-mail: victoria@finnpower.com

John Deere Brasil S.A. exports many of its products throughout Central and South America as well as Europe.

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Phone: (847) 885 3200
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Copyright © 2002 by Finn-Power International, Inc.