AP&T UniLines – 60 years of sheet metal forming expertise in a new line concept

What do a kettle grill, a ball bearing, a washing machine, and a bumper have in common? They are all made on a press line from AP&T. Now AP&T is launching UniLines, a new line concept that distills the company’s combined knowledge and experience in sheet metal forming since the 1960s and makes it available to manufacturers of all sizes.

For more than 60 years, AP&T has operated across a wide range of industries, from automotive and defense to home appliances, electronics, and energy. The company has now brought this depth of experience together in AP&T UniLines, where every component has been refined through thousands of deliveries and carries knowledge from all the niches where AP&T is active.

UniLines is built on standardized modules (presses, automation, tooling, control systems) that can be freely combined, like LEGO bricks, based on each manufacturer’s specific needs and conditions. The result is a tailored line built on-site that can be formed with a high degree of freedom: configured as a U, straight like a skewer, or whatever best fits the shop floor environment. Short or long, a large press or a small press, the manufacturer’s reality determines the layout, but the line always has the same core values: robust performance, easy operation, and long service life. For certain niches, AP&T also offers fully turnkey line concepts, with layout, technical data, simulations, and total cost of ownership (TCO) calculations ready to roll out.

As part of the new UniLines concept, AP&T has upgraded several included components with a new generation of automation and more precise, flexible Speedfeeders. Combined with a servo press, this delivers shorter cycle times, higher availability, and lower energy consumption, and overall UniLines provides noticeably higher output compared with previous generations of lines.

“Since the 1960s, we’ve worked with everything from heat shields and ventilation components to shell casings and body-in-white parts. That experience is now built into how we integrate them into a functioning line,” says Lennart Johansson, Business Manager Line Solutions at AP&T. “With UniLines, you could say we’ve made all our combined sheet metal forming knowledge available to every manufacturer, regardless of industry or size.”

Integration is one of the things that sets UniLines apart from other modular solutions. Just like the mechanical modules, the integration is based on decades of experience from different industries and applications, consolidated and refined in the new concept. AP&T’s integrators assemble the line’s logic: the sequence of events, how the automation behaves during a tooling change, what happens if a sensor returns an unexpected value, and how the operator is notified. This spans everything from sequencing and safety functions to the structure of the control system interface.

AP&T can also run the calculations in advance. By evaluating each configuration based on parameters such as cycle time, energy consumption, availability, changeover time, and the amount of floor space the line requires, AP&T can estimate both how the line will perform and the total cost of ownership (TCO) before the customer makes their decision.

UniLines also reflects AP&T’s philosophy of One Responsible Partner, where the entire chain, from press and automation, tooling and control systems, to installation and service, is handled by one and the same provider.

“As a manufacturer, you get a solution where all components are optimized to work together. That enables us to ensure high availability, low energy consumption, and easy operation over time,” says Lennart Johansson. “In short, you get a line that just keeps running and running and running.”

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AP&T UniLines——60年钣金成形专业经验，凝聚于全新生产线概念

煎锅烤架、球轴承、洗衣机和保险杠，它们有什么共同点？它们都是由AP&T压力机生产线制造而成。如今，AP&T推出了UniLines这一全新生产线概念，将公司自20世纪60年代以来在钣金成形领域积累的丰富知识与经验加以提炼，并面向各种规模的制造商提供解决方案。

六十多年来，AP&T已在从汽车、国防到家用电器、电子产品和能源的各种行业开展业务。如今，公司将这些深厚的经验汇聚于AP&T UniLines之中，其中每个组件都经过成千上万次交付的改进，且融合了AP&T在各个细分领域的专业知识。

UniLines基于标准化模块 (包括压力机、自动化设备、模具和控制系统) 构建，这些模块可以像乐高积木一样，根据各制造商的具体需求和现场条件自由组合。最终形成一条定制化生产线，能高度自由地布局：可配置成 U 形，也可像烤签一样呈直线，或采用最适合车间环境的任何形式。无论产线长短，是大型还是小型冲压设备，制造商的实际情况决定布局，但每条生产线始终具备相同的核心价值：强劲的性能、简便的操作、长使用寿命。针对某些细分领域，AP&T还提供完整的交钥匙式生产线方案，包括布局设计、技术参数、仿真模拟以及总拥有成本 (TCO) 计算，随时可实施。

作为全新UniLines概念的一部分，AP&T已将多个集成组件升级为新一代自动化系统，并配备了更精准、更具柔性的快速机械手。结合伺服液压机，该方案可实现更短的节拍时间、更高的设备可用性以及更低的能耗。总体而言，与前几代生产线相比，UniLines的生产效率显著提升。

AP&T生产线解决方案业务经理Lennart Johansson表示：“自20世纪60年代以来，我们为隔热罩、通风部件、壳体和白车身零部件等各类产品提供过生产线。这些经验现已被我们融入到如何将它们整合到一条生产线之中。通过UniLines，可以说我们将所有积累的钣金成形专业知识，向各行各业、各种规模的制造商全面开放。”

集成化是UniLines区别于其他模块化解决方案的因素之一。与机械模块一样，这种集成基于不同行业和应用领域数十年的经验积累，并在新概念中进行了整合与优化。AP&T作为集成商负责构建生产线的逻辑：包括事件顺序、换模期间自动化系统的运行方式、传感器反馈异常值时的应对措施，以及如何通知操作人员。这涵盖从顺序控制、安全功能到控制系统界面结构的所有内容。

AP&T还可以提前进行计算分析。通过节拍时间、能耗、设备可用性、切换时间和生产线所需占地面积等参数来评估每种配置，AP&T能够在客户做出决策前，估算生产线的性能表现以及总拥有成本 (TCO)。

UniLines也体现了AP&T“可靠的合作伙伴 (One Responsible Partner) ”理念，即从压力机、自动化设备、模具和控制系统，到安装调试与售后服务，整条产业相关环节均由同一供应商全面负责。

“作为制造商，您获得的是一套所有组件都经过优化、能够协同工作的解决方案。这使我们能够确保系统长期保持高可用性、低能耗和易于操作。简而言之，您得到的是一条持续稳定不停运转的生产线。”Lennart Johansson说道。

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