A fully automated ctl (cut to length) work station entered service this year in Sapa’s Cressona Plant in Pennsylvania, USA.

The new facility was set up for the manufacture of abs blocks for Bosch, a leading supplier of brake systems to the car industry. The work station can produce up to 3.2 million units, a precision extruded and cut block of 9003 Kobi aluminium alloy later machined by the customer.

“This is a high volume operation. The possibility to use an automated process give us an edge over our competitors. We have a low cost manufacturing solution for a very complex and demanding product,” says Kevin Stuban, director of Fabrication at Sapa North America. “It is the first time we use this type of manufacturing and we are ready for new challenges,” he says.

The abs blocks manufactured for Bosch are mounted in the brake system of cars and light trucks all over North America, a market for abs blocks of 12 million units/year.