With the third order of a press in six years, Schuler is strengthening its good relationship with the Turkish automotive supplier Ak-Pres
As part of Küçükoğlu Holding, the Turkish company Ak-Pres has specialized at its two locations Bursa and Sakarya in the manufacture of structural parts for the global automotive OEMs. Founded in 1990, Ak-Pres has since continuously expanded its reach as a globally active automotive supplier and established itself as one of the top 1,000 industrial companies in Turkey.
To satisfy the stringent quality requirements in the sector and to do so with a high level of productivity, presses from Schuler are increasingly playing their part in this as well. The shared history of the Turkish automotive supplier and the German machine manufacturer extends back to 2016 with the first engineering calculation that Schuler performed for its future customer. In 2018, a 1,600-ton servo press was commissioned, and in the fall of 2022 another servo press was delivered, this time with a press force of 2,000 tons.
In September 2024, Schuler was able to receive a third commission for the construction of a press – this time not a servo design, but rather a conventional 1,600 link drive press of type TML4-1600 with a bed length of 6,100 mm and bed width of 2,500 mm. As part of this, the Göppinger company will take care of the entire engineering for the system, assembly, commissioning, and final acceptance as well as the complete management of the project. A transfer unit and blankloader from Schuler will also be integrated into the system on site.
Especially impressive for a project of this magnitude is the scheduling of the implementation. After the order was placed in September 2024, the individual parts of the press are expected to be delivered to the northwest of Turkey by August 2025. Assembly is scheduled to occur immediately after. After final acceptance, which is planned for November 2025, the press is then expected to commence operation.
Like the servo press delivered in late 2022, the TML4-1600 also belongs to the Triton series from Schuler. Triton is based on a modular system that allows the customer to configure their press exactly according to their expectations and requirements. The user interface of the Triton presses and the operation of tools such as “Optimizer” and “Smart Assist”, which assist operators in achieving their goal of maximizing output, are consistent across all presses in the Triton series.
