The world's leading gas company, Linde supplies gases for almost every situation – from green hydrogen for industry to oxygen for intensive care units. Less well known is its in-house production company, Linde Engineering, which manufactures individual components, storage tanks and process plants for gas production at its Schalchen plant in Bavaria. To do this, every component must meet the highest standards.
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It was a bachelor's thesis that convinced Joachim Stöckl. In 2020, a student had compared different cutting technologies for him. The question: Would Linde Engineering benefit from a laser system? The answer was clear.
Today, it is there – the ByCutStar 4020. It has been in operation at the Linde plant in Schalchen, Bavaria, since October 2023. Joachim Stöckl is the head of prefabrication there. His team cuts components that are later installed in gas storage facilities and process plants.
Faster and more precise
Until now, Linde Engineering has worked with a plasma and a water jet cutter. The laser cutting system complements the portfolio and is primarily used for working with thin sheets. The laser cuts faster, cleaner – and automatically. This saves on reworking.
We can now complete tasks that used to take us a day in around an hour.
Thanks to the time saved, Linde now outsources less work to external contract cutters. What's more, the laser cutting system consumes significantly less electricity and produces only a fraction of the emissions generated by plasma cutting. These emissions mainly consist of smoke and tiny particles, which have to be extracted from the production hall using powerful extraction systems. A nice side effect: to prevent the production hall from cooling down on cold days during plasma cutting, a lot of heating was always required. That is no longer necessary either.
All in all, Linde Engineering can save an average six-figure sum annually with the new system. In just three years, assuming a healthy order book and capacity utilisation, the investment should already pay for itself.
Small details often make the difference
The plant in Schalchen is large – around 200,000 square metres. It could easily accommodate 300 detached houses with gardens. And yet, in the end, it came down to a few centimetres: there was only one possible location for the laser system. And it was tight.
Until the penultimate design, the system was too large and would have blocked an access gate. It was not easy to accommodate everything we wanted.
Together with Bystronic, the team worked on a tailor-made layout. Countless variants were tried out until the solution was found: a compact line configuration with automation – tailored to the conditions on site. The final system now measures 29.60 metres in length and 10.07 metres in width.
Customised design with large storage capacity
‘It was a bespoke job,’ says Thomas Dörig, Head of the Solution Centre at Bystronic. ‘But that's exactly what we're here for – to translate individual requirements into precise solutions.’
And this translation means: a ByCut Star 4020 with ByTrans Modular and ByTower Line. The new system not only takes care of cutting, but also loading and unloading. What used to have to be done with muscle power and an overhead crane is now automated. The system fetches the sheets from the warehouse itself, cuts and punches them with precision – and thus noticeably reduces the workload for employees.
Thanks to the clever arrangement, two towers, each 4.65 metres high, were able to accommodate four more cassettes than in the competitors' designs. Linde Engineering has a total of 25 cassettes at its disposal – 21 for raw materials and 4 for unloading. This provides sufficient capacity to work flexibly and switch efficiently between different materials.
Intuitive programming, flexible production
At Linde Engineering, it's all about precision – and flexibility. Both are provided by BySoft CAM, the software that controls the new laser and enables cutting plans to be created efficiently and intuitively. An integrated parts and order manager ensures that all data is available at all times.
Once the cutting profiles have been programmed and created, the system is ready for the next job in just a few minutes. This is exactly what Linde needs:
‘We mostly cut individual parts or small series, a maximum of 100 pieces,’ says Florian Mittermeier. The 45-year-old is a group leader in the cutting shop and has been operating the laser since it was commissioned. After a seven-day training course at Bystronic, he quickly got to grips with the system – much of it is now routine. ‘We are now much more flexible in production.’
Highest material standards
Another feature that impressed Stöckl's team is the engraving. The system marks each component with a tiny number. Until now, this had to be done manually using a needle engraver. The reason for this is traceability: everything related to gas, from raw sheet metal to the finished pressure vessel, must undergo technical approval.
If a fault is detected, every component must be identifiable. This is particularly evident in the truck-length heat exchangers that are manufactured in Schalchen. They liquefy gas and can operate in a temperature range from around -270 degrees Celsius, just above absolute zero, to 600 degrees Celsius. They can even withstand high pressures of up to 1,400 bar.
That is why we are not concerned with maximum capacity utilisation, but rather focus on quality and reliability with every cut.
Working together to achieve the goal
The laser has been in use since the end of 2023, with automation added a few months later. The technology, team, and processes are now well established. Minor operational challenges were quickly resolved in collaboration with Bystronic Service.
‘We never felt that we were being left to our own devices, but rather that the aim was to provide us with a perfect laser cutting system,’ says Joachim Stöckl.
The operation is now running smoothly. The technology, team, and processes are all in place. The new laser technology not only saves Linde Engineering energy, but also creates scope for new ideas. Joachim Stöckl's team can now produce faster, more sustainably, and more independently – an important step towards the future.
