Panel Production

In the shipbuilding sector, panel lines are one of the key elements of the entire production. For this reason, leading shipyards from Europe, the U.S. and Asia have been placing their trust in Graebener® panel production lines for decades. With our Tailor-Welded-Plates® technology and the Graebener® plate edge milling machines we have brought the automated panel production to a new quality level. Benefit from our customized solution with state-of-the-art milling and joining technology – for your existing lines as well.

In the shipbuilding sector, panel lines are one of the key elements of the entire production. For this reason, leading shipyards from Europe, the U.S. and Asia have been placing their trust in Graebener® panel production lines for decades. With our Tailor-Welded-Plates® technology and the Graebener® plate edge milling machines we have brought the automated panel production to a new quality level. Benefit from our customized solution with state-of-the-art milling and joining technology – for your existing lines as well.

OverviewConceptsWelding Technology

The production of ship deck sections is a major technological challenge. The plates must be joined to form a large deck as automated, flexible and cost-efficient as possible – with various plate thickness, different plate lengths and highest requirements regarding the quality of the joints.  

With our Graebener® plate edge milling machines and our Tailor-Welded-Plates® technology we face this challenge and turn it into a competitive edge for you. With the combination of modern milling technology and laser-hybrid welding technology your Graebener® machine increases the productivity and the quality of the weld seams and achieves more fitting accuracy of the sections for the further assembly. Elaborate straightening, clamping and tacking operations in downstream machines are no longer necessary.

Your Graebener® TWP® system joins plates of different plate thickness in various combinations – highly precise and automated. Our well-proven milling and joining process allows a weld seam preparation without gap for the subsequent laser-hybrid-welding process even for deck sections with a width of up to 30 meters. Due to the intelligent machine concept, a possible plate waviness is compensated, thus no longer impeding the production in any way.

Our solutions are ideally suited for a wide range of plate dimensions.

Individual plate length:

up to 30 m

Individual plate width:

up to 4 m

Deck length:

up to 60 m

Deck width:

up to 30 m

Wall thickness:

3 - 30 mm

The well tested design of the Graebener® panel production lines is based on long-term experience and the close cooperation with leading shipyards in Europe, Asia and the U.S. The machines are designed especially for the rough shipyard conditions and ensure precise and reliable results, even after several years of operation.

The main advantage of the TWP® machine concept not only is the simultaneous milling and the subsequent joining of the individual plates within the same pass through the machine but rather that the plates remain clamped after the simultaneous milling process and are adjusted to each other by means of a movable clamping beam. Therefore, a possible plate waviness does not impede the reaching of straightness tolerances since the plate clamping remains constant until the end of the joining process.
After the joining of the first two plates, further plates – even with varying plate thickness – can be joined the same way.

The TWP® concept also offers the following advantages:

  • High-precision positioning of the plates for all production steps
  • Welding gap "0" due to the simultaneous two-side milling process
  • Option to use various welding processes
  • Use of cost-efficient standard components for milling heads and milling tips with short changeover times
  • Prevention of additional straightening, clamping and tacking operations
Based on the following machine concepts we find the optimum solution for you:
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Graebener® TWP 2-Side Plate Edge Milling Machine, Type GTWP
Graebener<sup>®</sup> TWP 2-Side Plate Edge Milling Machine, Type GTWP
  • with movable clamping beam
  • optional with integrated welding unit
  • optional with variable plate positioning
Graebener® TWP 4-Side Plate Edge Milling Machine, Type GTWP-V
Graebener<sup>®</sup> TWP 4-Side Plate Edge Milling Machine, Type GTWP-V
  • for simultaneous processing of longitudinal and cross edges
  • with movable clamping beam
  • optional with integrated welding unit
  • optional with variable plate positioning

We offer additional solutions on the basis of our Graebener® plate edge milling machines.

Choosing the optimum welding technology holds great potential concerning the panel production: using modern joining technology such as the laser or laser-hybrid welding, you can increase your productivity, improve the quality of the weld seams and achieve higher fitting accuracies of the section for the subsequent assembly.

To provide you with the optimum result, it is paramount for us to only introduce expert knowledge to the project. For this reason, we only collaborate with the most experiences welding partners for the realization of your individual Graebener® panel production line. We have been working closely with theses partners for many years to provide you with a comprehensive solution which will give you a real competitive edge.

Benefit from our strong international network.

You buy a Graebener® solution

You get more than just a machine. You get a reliable partner who understands your processes and who develops the optimum solution for the market challenges together with you.

Customer promise