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Last year DimaSimma participated to the tender for

the delivery to the Ma’aden/Alcoa joint venture for

the new smelter centre at Ras al Khair.

At a preliminary stage the Engineering Companies

Bechtel and Fluor carried out the general project

and the technical selection of the bidders.

DimaSimma was chosen as supplier for the

manufacturing and installation of an automatic

system for the “Slab” transport by means of 2 laser-

guided vehicles with capacity up to 40 tons.

The 2 AGV vehicles will carry out the transport of

the heavy and bulky slabs (up to 9 meters length

and up to 40 tons weight).

By means of 2 transfer lines equipped with rails

shuttles, the slabs are transferred on specific

support to the loading stations. Here the AGVs will

automatically load the slabs coming from the

CASTHOUSE area and transport them to the

unloading stations into the ROLLING MILL area,

where they will be stored for the subsequent

process for the coil manufacturing.

The whole system is automatically interfaced with

the load/unload stations and with an automatic

crane in the Rolling Mill Area.

Last week the engineers of Samsung (acting as main

contractor for Ma’aden) surveyed the factory

acceptance test at the DimaSimma facilities, and

after an accurate control gave their approval and

the authorization for the shipment.

It’s not the first exit of DimaSimma in the Middle

East; as since the 2007 are working the automatic

warehouses delivered to Gulf Extrusion in Dubai

and Napco in Oman.

It’s not the first time also for AGVs, but in a

different field, since nine months a system with 5

AGVs is working in the plant of OWI, Egypt, the

biggest carpet factory of the area, and this years it

is foreseen the extension with further 6 AGVs.

AGVs for the aluminium field

By such heavy and bulky materials as the slabs, it is

evident the need of an automated system; anyhow

the AGV concept can be applied in many other

situations.

In facts the AGVs (= autoguided vehicles) are

applied since several years in many industrial fields,

but they are not yet so common in the aluminium

plants, in spite of the advantages offered by this

system.

Beside the application in the Casthouse and Rolling

Mill, there are many other possibilities for the AGVs

in the aluminium industries:

- For handling of bulk profiles

- For handling of profiles baskets, also interfaced

with automatic warehouses or automatic stacker

cranes

- For handling of coils

- For handling of billets

- For handling of sheets or panels

- For handling of semi manufactured or finished

products

For special application, AGVs can be provided with

- Motor driven conveyors

- Elevating loading plane, with interesting

application in the aeronautic and automotive

field.

The AGVs can accompany the aluminium during all

the production phases, from the foundry and

casthouse till to the handling of the finished

products.

ADVANTAGES OFFERED BY AGVs

Besides substituting at any effect the traditional

forklift with driver, the AGVs go beyond this and can

reach performances that are impossible to obtain

with the non automatic system`.

1. AGVs can handle any load type, up to 150 tons

2. For moving and curving AGVs need less space

than the traditional forklift with drivers.

3. AGVs are provided with tools for the retrieval

and deposit of the materials, also at different

heights into static shelving, or they can be

interconnected with automatic warehouses, or

simply stack loads at different levels on the floor.

4. AGVs work 24 hours, 7 days in the week, 365

days in the year.

5. AGVs work indoor or outdoor, indifferent to

weather and don’t need lighting.

6. AGVs work in safety and this is a main point, in

consideration of the accident that occurs with

the traditional forklift. AGVs are provided with

devices to detect possible obstacles and

immediately stop, with evident advantage for

the safety of the personnel and for the sake of

the machinery inside the factory.

7. AGVs can be integrated with weighing devices.

8. AGVs function by battery, therefore do not

contaminate neither with gas, nor acoustically.

The vehicles are provided with self-diagnostic

system, i.e. they constantly check the charge

level of their own battery and alternate in the

energizing station, preventing inopportune

interruptions.

9. The software management enables, besides

the material tracking, to manage also the

missions priority, the paths maximization and

the eventual interventions by remote

assistance.

10. Last but not latest, the inversion is very

reasonable in consideration of the service

given by this system, what enables a pay-back

normally in 3 years.

The functioning principle is very simple, it consists

in defining the paths and the material flows, and

therefore the mouvement frequency: from here,

according to the Customer needs, we calculate the

necessary quantity of vehicles.

Along the paths are placed the reference points

that interchange signals with the board

transduction devices of the several vehicles, so that

the AGVs can recognize the paths.

Different navigation systems are available according

to the application:

- laser

- inductive (wire-guided)

- magnetic (tape or spot).

Also combination of different navigation types

might be applied according to the needs.