Davi: Trusted Partners Revolutionizing the Plate Roll Industry

For the Davi Inc. team, being viewed as a trusted partner by customers is a major factor in the entire process, from purchase to after sales service. Davi wants to be perceived as consultants and not as salespeople. “We are there to provide expertise, and with them [customers], find the right solution,” said Ettore Giambetti, general manager of Davi Inc.

Davi Inc. is the North American branch of the Davi Group, which is the world’s largest manufacturer of plate rolls, angle rolls, high productivity lines and customized rolling machines. The Davi Group is headquartered in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy, which is home to a cluster of high-tech and innovative companies.

In fact, innovative and leading-edge technologies are continuously developed in this region, which is home to companies such as Ferrari, Ducati, Lamborghini and many machinery and mechanical companies that are leaders in their respective industries. Davi’s research and development initiatives have resulted in many innovations, including the e-POWER plate roll, a completely electric machine.

With its network of highly qualified dealers, 10 of which are located in North America, the Davi Group provides sales and customer care assistance throughout the world, at any time. In the United States, Davi Inc. is the largest plate roll and angle roll company, which also equips machines with accessories and automation features. The company’s U.S. office and technical center is located in the Dallas metro area. There are also four logistics warehouses in North America, including one in Phoenix.

Davi’s product range includes an extensive selection of plate rolls (in both 3- and 4-roll configurations), catering to plates ranging from approximately 6.5-to-19.5’ in width to 0.25-to-15.75” in thickness. Additionally, the lineup encompasses a comprehensive array of angle rolls designed for beams up to 4’ in height, pipes up to 2.5’ in diameter, and flanges up to approximately 23.5-x-8”on edge.

Davi’s plate and angle rolling machines are at work in a diverse range of manufacturing sectors including oil and gas, wind energy, aerospace and aviation, mining and earth moving, tank trailers, HVAC, agriculture, shipbuilding and more. More than 300 of Davi’s high-productivity wind energy machines are installed worldwide, which produce towers, foundations, monopiles and transition pieces.

“So, we really are in a position to understand or to have a lot of input on not only the general market condition, but also we pay a lot of attention to which markets at any given time are doing better,” Giambetti said. “We try to direct our effort towards those markets, and we try to do that by communicating internally among the sales team and communicating with our dealers.”

Davi’s team also provides custom tailored solutions for its customers to address their needs. For example, for a wind tower manufacturing company, Davi developed a specific custom solution, which includes a machine plus smart automation. “Specifically, they have to roll a very big can, so the plate is very long,” Giambetti said. “We developed infeed/outfeed tables, which are also tiltable.”

R&D Department Keeps Busy

The plate rolling industry, in the last few years, has increased the use of automation in the development of machinery and equipment. Davi’s leadership team is focused on easy to use automated solutions. This includes flexible automation solutions because one of the main challenges in the manufacturing sector is the ability to find good operators.

Giambetti said Davi’s team has been busy with many initiatives to create the ultimate solutions for its customers. One effort has been the redesign three years ago of Davi’s CNC, which resulted in the iRoll Performance and the iRoll Extreme controls, which are easy for the operator to use, and makes it easy for the company to train new operators. The human-machine interface provides smartphone like navigation of the controls, which brings out the best performance from operators.

The redesigned controls feature an ergonomic console, which supports 24/7 operations. Following graphic-aided simulation, operators enter four parameters of the product:

• the width of the plate
• the thickness of the plate
• the I.D. they want to roll
• the type of material they are using

After this information is entered, with the push of button, the CNC develops the program for the operator. The operator has the ability to see a simulation of all the phases of the process.

Programming the iRoll Performance and iRoll Extreme is simple thanks to self-adjusting AI, which generates programs based on historical parameters collected during the fabrication of similar parts. The program also features workflow phases, such as pre-bending, for intuitive checking and editing of the generated machine sequence. The CAM program generated includes CNC utilization of all handling and feeding systems of the rolling line.

The controls feature enhanced tools to convert complex tasks into simple routine, such as single-pass CAM program (multi-radius or custom shapes); multi-pass rolling; and an “apple-shape” calculator to achieve the desired roundness for re-rolling.

In another technological advancement, Davi has created an unprecedented machine, the e-POWER plate roll electric machine. “We proudly say that this is the first complete line of electric machines in the market,” Giambetti said. “What we mean is that every movement in that machine is actuated, is controlled, by an electric actuator. Versus some of our competitors, they have an electric machine but where only the top roll is electrically driven, and the rest is hydraulic.”

“It [e-POWER] is a direct result of Davi’s dedicated research and development department’s capability to design new products that push the boundaries of performance,” said Alessandro Soffritti, president and chief executive officer of Davi Inc. The machine made its debut at FABTECH 2023.

Because it is electric, the machine achieves a much higher positioning accuracy. With such precise control and positioning, the e-POWER ensures repeatable and reliable results for a variety of applications.

For increased productivity, e-POWER’s smooth and simultaneous movement across multiple axes allows the machine to carry out multiple tasks concurrently, saving time and effort. This capability overcomes the limitations of traditional methods, which results in a more streamlined and efficient workflow and higher output.

Another time saver is found in the maintenance of the machine. Users can replace the actuator instead of having to disassemble it, and then ship the actuator that needs rebuilding back to Davi. This way a licensed electrician can conduct the replacement, eliminating the need for a specialized technician.

The e-POWER plate roll line eliminates the need for hydraulic control units, which contributes to its compact design allowing fabricators to make the most of the space on the shop floor. Its size enables easy integration into various production settings. And, by reducing the number of components, the installation process is simple and less time consuming.

Giambetti said the e-POWER plate roll is one way Davi can respond to the fabrication market as it moves toward more sustainable initiatives in its manufacturing processes. As an intelligent system, e-POWER utilizes energy only when necessary, much like the efficient start-stop function commonly found in automobiles. This innovative approach to energy management is particularly advantageous in plate rolling processes where there are frequent idle times during the operation.

In addition to energy savings, the e-POWER electric plate rolls reduce carbon emissions, aligning with efforts to combat climate change and promote sustainable practices.

So, is the e-Power line for everyone? No, but there is a niche market of customers who value those advantages that come with an electric machine, Giambetti pointed out.

Davi’s research and development initiatives also include the addition of iVision. It is a tool that allows operators, in real time, to measure the radius of the plate, and send feedback to the machine so that the machine can adjust in order to achieve the desired shape, Giambetti noted. In machining this activity is a given, but in fabrication, for plate rolling machines, iVision is an advancement and revolution.

“It is another aid, a tool, to make the process simpler, faster and easier to manage for a less experienced operator,” Giambetti said. He said that Davi’s solutions are customer driven to solve the challenges of their customers so they can perform their processes better and less expensively in a labor challenged market.

Trusted Partner at all Stages of the Process

And accompanying these technically advanced machines and solutions is outstanding service and sales support functions. In the fall of 2023, Davi announced it significantly expanded its Service and After Sales Division. This enhanced globally managed division supplies customers with even more all-encompassing service and support that includes expert machine installation, large readily available stocks of spare parts and accessories, immediate response to service needs, preventive maintenance programs, customized technical training sessions and more.

“Being available to our customers is core to our mission,” Soffritti said. “We are always at our customers’ sides to provide support and develop plate rolling machine innovations which we continue to deliver for them.”

Davi maintains four warehouses in North America to provide customers with accessories and spare parts. These warehouses and Davi partners located worldwide ensure that spare parts are delivered efficiently and in a timely manner to minimize customer machine downtime. Additionally, Davi has created two-year and five-year recommended spare parts kits, specifically tailored to a customer’s machines and for them to keep on hand at their own facilities.

To further enhance machine productivity, Davi offers a wide variety of accessories. These range from overhead and lateral supports to feeding systems, conveyors and robotics for automatic loading along with customized solutions for dedicated production needs.

Customers have access to telephone support, remote assistance and remote machine connections, along with training for machine operators and site maintenance teams. Taking customer training to the next level, Davi’s Shadow Program involves the company working together in-person with customers to support their machines and operators.

In this process, Davi service specialists will “shadow” machine operators to refresh their training and offer advice as to how to optimize the efficiency of both machines and any current plate rolling jobs. The training covers CNC controls and programming optimization, instructing operators how to run machines in the auto mode whenever possible. Davi will also review a customer’s current machine parameters with operators to strengthen their abilities and comprehension of the plate rolling machine and the overall plate rolling process.

Giambetti shared a few insights as the industry heads into 2024. For Davi, listening to their customers’ requirements opens the doors to new possibilities. For one customer who was interested in a long machine, through listening to the customer’s exact needs, the discussion turned from the purchase of a hydraulic machine to an electric machine in order to bring the utmost value to the customer.

In another example of providing the best solution, four years ago, Davi sold two completely automated lines to a large manufacturer in the United States. The customer’s challenge was that they wanted to automate the loading of plates onto the Davi machine. The approach was a three-tower system where all the plates are stored, and a robot would pick and place the plates.

Davi wants to be a partner of the industry. “We want to be the technological partner with whom they can develop a technological solution so that they can advance in their manufacturing processes, no matter what the direction will be,” Giambetti added. “Whether it is flexibility, whether it is productivity and volumes, whether it is ease of operation, whether it is safety, or whether it is consumption. That is key for us, and where we feel we can make a difference throughout the entire process.”

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