TECHNOLOGY - PRODUCTION

One of the strong points of CO.M.P.ES. is its dynamic ability to modify its processing systems with the maximum speed and flexibility, both to respond to the needs of the clientele and to apply the latest innovations to its equipment.
The personnel now comprises a total of 200 employees including the staffs of the engineering offices and the two outside production plants, that though they are a part of the CO.M.P.ES. company structure, are physically located a few hundred meters from the main offices. The personnel, whose average age does not exceed 32, is highly qualified and motivated, and participates actively in the development of new production strategies to improve the final quality of the product.
The organization and processing cycles, like the entire production zone, are kept constantly supplied with the latest technology made available by the world markets.
A team of specialists constantly tests every novelty in the sector of production processes, from new or renewed programming software to the most sophisticated machine tools, always selecting the best for continuous updating and upgrading of the company.
The production facilities are structured to satisfy the needs of the clients for the supply of dies and tooling in sizes that can even be well over one meter in diameter.
The organizing skills of the department managers in directing the work force, as well as their ability to optimize the processing steps and make the most advantageous use of the machinery enable CO.M.P.ES. to make deliveries in a very short time even for orders of particularly complicated or large dies. The monthly production capacity depends on the complexity and size of the dies; with an average production of dies of 400 mm diameter CO.M.P.ES., with its high technology, can easily exceed a production of 1200 units. This number is achieved every month even though it is not unusual for the company to have to produce over 40 dies with a diameter greater than 500 mm. This is because almost all the European extruders who operate presses with a capacity of over 4000 tons are CO.M.P.ES. customers. To obtain these results, the company has an excellent production department composed entirely of CNC machines with mills that use high speed to perform 3D machining both of complete mandrels and of dies without any size limits. In addition to its normal CNC lathes, the company uses robot lathes with multiple heads and vertical structure. These latter are particularly suitable for processing pistons, liners and large containers.
Particular attention is given to the quality and size of the departments devoted to the production of equipment in order to satisfy all the requirements of the clientele. The CNC spark erosion processing equipment is used for machining mandrels, bearings and for all other operations that require absolute precision and repeatable sequences in case of reproduction of a new model, such as feeding channels or central feeding. The wire spark processing equipment available in the company is the maximum in technology to obtain the highest degree of finishing possible, as there is no question that one of the key aspects for defining the quality of the die and thus of the extruded section bar is the surface roughness of the bearing.
Thanks to the perfect finish that can be obtained with our wire machines and the four-pass cutting system, we are sure of giving our clients the maximum quality at world level.
Our steel warehouse is always well stocked with bars for both dies and tools, up to a finished diameter of 850 mm, which is the maximum cutting capacity of bars at CO.M.P.ES. In addition to the bars, there are always rough pieces in forged steel for the construction of containers, liners, pistons, so as to reduce to a minimum the time often necessary because of having to wait for material from steel mills and foundries. Particular attention is given to quality control as regards the steel and heat treatment. Tests are made on all steel bars before they are used and following heat treatment to check the quality of the latter as well. These tests are made both by an outside metallurgical testing center and by our own metallurgical laboratory at CO.M.P.ES; the results are compared with those on the certificates and specifications of the steel mills so as to have an unequivocal guarantee of good quality of the raw material first and of the heat treatment later. Heat treatment is carried out entirely at the company premises (and we are the only producer of dies in Europe to provide this service) by qualified personnel that is kept constantly up to date by participating in courses of specialization and conferences on metallurgy. The furnaces used are computer controlled for the definition and control of cycles; the treatment is carried out in a chamber with partial vacuum and cooling by nitrogen so as to cool in the shortest possible time and thereby obtain the maximum quality of the heat treatment. Tests published by major centers for metallurgical testing show that nitriding performed on dies tempered in furnaces under a partial vacuum is more effective and resistant to wear. In addition to steel types W. 1.2344/43, W. 1.2367, W. 1.2365, W. 1.2888 and W. 1.2714 we also "handle" different types of "special" steel used for the construction of special dies. The total combined production of CO.M.P.ES. S.p.A., CO.M.P.ES. FRANCE and CO.M.P.ES. INTERNATIONAL is on the order of 1800 dies/month with full response to all needs for quality, complexity and punctual deliveries necessary for extruders with installations including presses from 300 tons to over 10.000 tons.