Aachen/Mehrstetten, 1 June 2023:

ProCom Automation and bullmer are pleased to announce an important milestone in their long-standing cooperation. Thanks to innovative software optimisations in ProCom’s CNC controls, bullmer’s machines now cut 6 % faster. This progress marks a significant gain in productivity for bullmer, the market leader in cutting and laying technology.

Successful together: a traditional machine construction company and a CNC control specialist

Since its foundation in 1933, bullmer has always pursued innovations in the areas of laying technology and cutting. At the heart of this endeavour has always been the goal of further optimising customers’ production processes in the apparel, automotive, advertising technology, upholstered furniture, technical textiles, and aerospace sectors. ProCom, a specialist in CNC control solutions for cutting applications, has been bullmer’s development partner for almost 40 years. Now, ProCom has optimised the motion algorithms of control software and the smoothing of the contour data in an intensive process lasting six months.
“Once again, this result shows our ambition: we always want our control solution be a nose ahead and, therefore, we work on continuous improvements for our customers. Here we have the great advantage that – as an expert in CNC control solutions for cutting applications – we also offer control solutions for other technologies, such as laser cutting, water cutting, plasma cutting and oxyfuel cutting. This is where synergies arise that we use specifically to make our product that little bit better,” says Anette Höchst, Product Owner at ProCom Automation.

A 6 % productivity increase brings bullmer customers massive cost savings

In bullmer’s test, it was verified that the machine now cuts 6 % faster thanks to the software optimisation. In practical application, the increase in productivity means significant cost savings for garment manufacturers. Producers can now process more high-layer stacks as a result of this increased speed. If now, instead of 1,000 t-shirts per day, 1,060 t-shirts are cut due to the 6 % increase
in productivity, the manufacturer achieves 60 euros more profit per day with a margin of 1 euro per t-shirt.
In addition to the 6% faster cutting speed, the software optimisations also led to a significant improvement in quality. Particularly with corners, edges, and curves, cutting is now even more precise and leads to an even higher contour accuracy of the cut parts. This also results in potential significant savings for garment manufacturers, as the increased quality reduces waste and scrap.
Reiner Kast, responsible for development and production, from bullmer emphasises: “High-quality machines need a high-quality control system to exploit their full potential. With ProCom as our long-standing supplier of an excellent control, we can rely on receiving a solution that is perfectly matched to our machines and is consistently being optimised.”
In addition to the higher speed and improvements in quality, ProCom’s control solution offers further advantages, such as cutting with zero clearance. This brings significant savings in material and time. Optimisation potential is also evident in the IIoT production monitoring platform, Clouver. In this way, the machine operator can continuously improve their processes based on the visualised production data.

Cooperation opens up new opportunities in the market

The improvements made through software optimisation impressively demonstrate how bullmer and ProCom use their expertise and commitment to continuous improvement to win over their customers time and again with efficient and high-quality solutions. Kast sees the grown cooperation as the key to innovations: “Through professional and long-standing cooperation, we always manage to identify new opportunities and promote innovation. This way, we can be sure that we will continue to be pioneers on the market with our machines in the future.”