Wire rolling mill are known worldwide in jewelry industry for high productivity and performance.
But not everybody knows that this machineries in the past years were not as performing as today.
The constant research and confrontation with the customer were always the keystone of Invimec. In the 80s, when jewelry industry had new needs, Invimec responded to this requirement in this particular historic moment with the design and manufacture of a new solution: tandem rolling mills.
Rolling mills and jewelry industry in the 70s and 80s in Italy
The jewelry production in Italy develops in post-World War II and is mainly concentrated in three cities: Vicenza, Valenza e Arezzo.
In 1963 Invimec, situated in the outskirt of Vicenza, begins to design and manufacture the first rolling machines for jewelry, but between 70s and 80s the production of first motorized rolling mill has been optimized further.
New rolling mills are able to:
- Obtain a better wire quality;
- Ensure repetitive features for the semi-finished product;
- Speed up the production process
This is particularly important: the reduction passages for plate and wire, back then, were made manually by two manufacturing operators.
The inserting speed could be optimized to the maximum, but it was anyway linked to the ability of the operators. Likewise, the quality of the final product was related to the operator’s ability and the possibility of a simple human error was always an issue.
Tandem rolling mills
In the mid 80s, Italian jewelry production quickly increases so much that Italy is the first country in the world for worked gold (about 25% of world production).
In this period, market’s requests lead to a change from hand-made jewelry production to an industrial mass production, with new standard for quality, quantity and production speed.
It’s no longer possible to rely on human competence: the industry needs more.
To fulfill these requests, Invimec designs and manufacture rolling mill with automatic tandem system, marking an important change in the sector.
Tandem rolling mills benefits
The insertion of this new kind of machinery brings countless benefits compared to the old system.
Production
- One of the most interesting aspects is the reduction of production time: with train of rolls is possible more wire reductions simultaneously;
- The number of passages to obtain a specific dimension is inferior compared to the old system, the manufacturing is easier and faster;
- The following annealing process is reduced too, saving working time;
Working Area
- In the past the wire and the plate coming out from rolling mill surrounded the machine, occupying space and increasing the risk of accident. On the other hand, wire train of rolls are more compact and the threading is inside the machine, guaranteeing safety for workers.
Quality
- The wire obtained has highest and constant quality: the automation decreases the possibility of human error, in this way the final product quality is mechanically guaranteed;
- The material loss in the process is minimized.
- The flexibility is an important characteristic in wire and plate production, but in the past it was difficult to achieve. Train of rolls has the possibility to pull out the wire or plate from intermediate stands to obtain different dimension with the same machine.
Worker
The innovation regarding operator’s work is particularly important, because train of rolls brings benefits not only to the production, but also to the worker’s safety.
- During the automated process, the worker’s presence is not necessary. It’s required only to insert the wire or the plate: pressing the start button, the train of rolls will independently begin rolling and it will stop at complete work.
- The automates process is completely hands-free, reducing the risk of accident on the workplace;
- Train of rolls helps to organize the team work of the company: since the machine works without operator, workers can do other tasks, while the material is automatically rolled;
In conclusion
The world of rolling mill’s research is in continuous development: once, tandem rolling mills were used only in massive production, while today is considered fundamental even in workshop or small business.
That is because the necessities of both jewerly and industrial sector change from year to year and some are completely unpredictable: for example, thanks to the possibility to work without operator, train of rolls is particularly successful for covid-19 social distancing.
The strength of Invimec is the will of continuous innovation in order to fulfill market’s requests, offering more than 55 years of experience.
