Straight components for curved projects
Krehle GmbH uses Schröder folding machine
Customer
Krehle GmbH is known for its high-quality round metal profiles for roofs and facades. From Copenhagen to Ashgabat in Turkmenistan, they make the hearts of architects and roofers alike beat faster. As a manufacturer of ready-to-install solutions, Krehle supplies not only the curved profiles but also all necessary straight connecting parts and covers. With the new PowerBend Professional folding machine, these components are manufactured quickly, efficiently, and with precise dimensions. (https://krehle.de/)
This is an area where we can improve even more
Ensuring the high quality standards that Krehle customers have come to expect from round profiles—even for straight profiles—was becoming increasingly difficult with the aging folding machines in the company’s machine park. Rework was often necessary, for example to remove indentations or compensate for dimensional deviations.
At a trade show, Michele Dal Ponte, a technician at Krehle, became aware of the Schröder Group—specifically a swing-bending machine with a rotating clamping beam: “We looked at various manufacturers, scheduled on-site visits, and compared the machines with identical bending tests. One factor was decisive for us with Schröder: repeatability. It is extremely important to us, as we rely on reproducible dimensions. This allows components to be assembled without additional adjustments.”
When the Krehle employees first got to know the PowerBend Professional at Hans Schröder Maschinenbau in Wessobrunn-Forst, some aspects were initially unfamiliar, such as the pneumatic clamping of the folding beam tools. In practice, however, this concept proved itself just as much as the other technical details. Krehle brought its own requirements to the back gauge fingers, for which Schröder implemented a suitable custom solution.
Opportunities identified and seized
Krehle uses the PowerBend Professional model capable of folding steel sheets up to 2.5 mm thick with a working length of 4000 mm. In addition, materials such as aluminum, copper, and zinc with thicknesses ranging from 0.5 to 3 mm are processed.
The machine produces all straight connecting parts, butt joints, brackets, and special components to complement the round profiles. But that’s not all: increasingly, complete assemblies consisting of round and straight components are being delivered together.
“Originally, many customers had the mindset that Krehle manufactures the round profiles, while they produce the straight components themselves,” explains Managing Director Eva Krehle. “However, since we can produce very quickly and with high precision on the Schröder machine, customers are happy to accept our offer to also source the straight components from us. Thanks to the high efficiency, this can be implemented in an economically attractive way.”
Customers receive complete, ready-to-install deliveries directly to the construction site and benefit from shorter installation times, less effort, and reduced costs.
Advantages of a Powerful Control System
Today, Krehle supplies not only round and straight wall copings, facade profiles, and window flashings, but also increasingly complex custom solutions. “We first had to familiarize ourselves thoroughly with the comprehensive control system of the PowerBend Professional,” reports Krehle skilled worker Michael Muth. “But the effort is worth it. It’s fun to program components that you wouldn’t have thought were feasible before.”
The segmented top rail tools are particularly helpful here, for example when setting up different stations. Thanks to the rotating clamping beam, complex profiles can be produced without constantly retooling the machine. Another process improvement is that data from round profile production can be easily transferred, and matching connecting parts can be created directly in the folding machine’s software. The programs remain saved. The time-consuming search for drawings is eliminated.
“The accuracy of the PowerBend Professional is a key factor in our ability to consistently meet our high quality standards today, even for straight components,” says Managing Director Eva Krehle. “Dimensional accuracy is crucial, especially when combined with our round profiles. Schröder’s technology is at the cutting edge. The investment has clearly paid off for us.”
Used Machine
PowerBend Professional
- Folding machine up to 2.5 mm sheet thickness (400 N/mm²)
- 4,040 mm working length
- Clamping beam stroke 540 mm
- Graphic control POS 3000 3D
- Rotating clamping beam for 2 tool stations incl. hydraulic tool clamping
- Up-and-Down folding beam
Published in:
blechnet online 03-2026
maschinenmarkt online 03-2026
