profile - mitsubishi-edm.de much more economic than the old conventional process of die sinking...

Profile

The smart magazine for users

Issue 01 · July 2014

52 World of sportSalomon SA

18 At the end of the toolmaking chainFuture-TEC

06

Poetryin motionDMF Werkzeugbau

06 Poetryinmotion

ExcellenceinandaroundWeimar

DMFWerkzeugbauGmbH

12 Thesweetscentofsuccess

Breakingthemould

AmietAG

18 Attheendofthetoolmakingchain

Specialistsin3Dmoulds

Future-TECGmbH

24 Fullofthejoysofsprings

200millionspringsperyear

HirschFedernKG

04 Editorial

05 Newsflash

29 Focusonprecision

Worldmarketleaderwithprecisionmeasuringinstruments

MarpossS.A.S.

34 Specialistsinsmall,high-precisionseries

Alwaysaheadbyanose

PWRPräzisions-WerkzeugeAG

40 Cuttingedge

Forspeedontheskislopesforover80years

TYROLIA

43 YourcarrunswithWiesauplast

Injectingsafetyintomotoring

WiesauplastGmbH&Co.KG

39 Profilemagazine

You’vemissedoneofourissues?Noproblem!

Orderingbackissuesandchangeofaddress

48 Agoodjobofwork

Biginnanotechnology

FraunhoferICT-IMM

52 Worldofsport

Precisionequipmentforsportsenthusiasts

SalomonSA

56 Brightsparks

Manyironsinthefire

SALS.r.l.

62 Userhoroscope

Contents

02 Profile07.2014 Profile07.2014 03

Contents Contents

Newsflash

Touchpanel displays thatcanbeoperatedwithglovesThese days, more and more machines in complex in-

dustrial applications are controlled via touchscreen

displays. In these areas, employees often have to wear

gloves, which poses a challenge when using capaci-

tive touchpanels. Mitsubishi Electric is presenting two

new touchpanel display modules that can be operated

intuitively and accurately even with gloves.

MitsubishiElectricpresentsprototypes of cars that can think

Mitsubishi Electric is presenting “Ultra-simple HMI”, a

prototype that knows in advance which information the

driver will soon need and thus makes safe and straight-

forward operation of vehicle systems possible in one or

two steps and 15 seconds maximum. The predictions

of the Human-Machine Interface (HMI) technology from

Mitsubishi Electric are based on the driver’s behaviour

history.

Strong together! MitsubishiElectricisaspon-soroftheSpecialOlympics2014inDüsseldorf The 9th National Summer Games for people with mental

disabilities is taking place in Düsseldorf from 19 to 23 May

2014 and are making the Land capital the scene of out-

standing sporting achievements. 4,800 athletes, 18 disci-

plines, 2,000 volunteers, 1,700 coaches and assistants,

500 judges and referees, and 1,000 family members –

these make up the 2014 Special Olympics in Düsseldorf.

Mitsubishi Electric successfullysendssatelliteintospaceMitsubishi Electric has successfully launched the

TÜRKSAT 4A satellite that the company has built under a

turnkey order received from Türksat Satellite

Communi cation, Cable TV & Operation Inc. Co., (Türksat

A.Ş.) in March 2011. TÜRKSAT 4A was launched at 06:09 h

(Japanese local time) on 15 February 2014 from the

Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and brought into

a geostationary orbit.

Profile07.2014 05

Latestdevelopments

EditorialHANS-JÜRGEN PELZERS

Legalnotice

Publishedby:

MitsubishiElectricEuropeB.V.

GermanBranch

MechatronicsMachinery

GothaerStrasse8

40880Ratingen·Germany

Tel +49.2102.4866120

Fax+49.2102.4867090

[email protected]

www.mitsubishi-edm.de

Copyright:

MitsubishiElectricEuropeB.V.

Editorialboard:

Hans-JürgenPelzers,StephanBarg,

alphadialogpublicrelations

Designandlayout:

CityUpdateLtd.,Düsseldorf

Noresponsibilityistakenfortheaccu-

racyofthetechnicaldataandinforma-

tioninarticles.

Economic miracle on just a few square metres?

In2014everythingisshootingup–orders,salesandparticularlyprofits.But

onethingisn’t:overheads.CompanieslikeMarposs(from page 29) arereport-

ing55percentsavingsinelectricityinpractice.Othersaredelightedthatthe

spoolofcuttingwireisnowlastinglongerthanever.TheMVSeriesusesupto

45percentlesscuttingwire(page 43).

Muchmoreimportantthansavingsareofcoursequalityanddependability.Our

cooperationwiththeFraunhoferInstitute(page 48)ishelpingyoutoconquer

newterritory.Sothereareexcitingdevelopmentsonmanylevels–something

thatisalittleunusualforasectorthathasbeenestablishedfordecades.

IfyouaccomplishsomethingextraordinarywithyourEDMmachine,getincon-

tactwithmesothatyourcompanycanfeatureinthenextissueofProfile.

And,ifnotin2014,when?

Bestregards

Hans-Jürgen Pelzers

fromtheTechnologyCentreinRatingen

Editorial

DMF WERKZEUGBAU

Mouldinsertwithwire-

cutejectorholes,oblique

slidesandtheassociated

obliquepenetrations

It’s Goethe and Schiller wherever you turn. But there are other names in and around Weimar that deserve recognition for their achievements. DMF Werkzeug-bau, for instance, that has made a name for itself in mouldmaking. One of the company’s machining fortes is wire EDM.

LorenzLuczynski,oneofthetwoman-

agersofDMFWerkzeugbauGmbHin

Nohra,Thuringia,putssomecompo-

nentsonthetableandgivesusaglimpse

oftheproductspectrum.“Onasurface

areaof1,300squaremetres,wefabri-

catetechnicallysophisticatedinjection

anddiecastingmouldsforitemsmade

ofplastic,aluminium,zincand

magnesium.”

MostofthemouldsmadebyDMF

Werkzeugbauareone-offs.Onthewire

EDMmachines,thecompanyprocesses

mouldinsertsandcores,cuttingblades,

punchingdiesandslides.Thematerial

employedistoolsteel,someofithigh-

temperature.Withwirediametersof

0.25and0.3millimetres,theyachievea

surfacefinishof0.2to0.4µmRa.On

smallcomponents,thecompany

achievesparallelismandprecisionto

withinaslittleasfivemicrometres.As

tothemaximumworkpiecesize,the

companyquotes700x300millimetres

formouldinserts,250x200millimetres

forotherpartsandheightsofupto

400millimetres.Machiningcantakean-

ythingfrom2to100hours,depending

ontheworkpiece.

Cuttingangleupto30degrees

Becauseanincreasingnumberofan-

gledcutsariseduringwirecutting,the

Thuringiancompanybenefitsfromthe

factthatthewireEDMmachinesfrom

MitsubishiElectriccutveryprecisean-

gles.Luczynskiliftsupsuchapart.

“Thesmallertheworkpiece,thebigger

theanglethatwecanachieve.Weman-

ageupto30degrees.”

Theonlyconceivablealternativefor

Luczynskiisdiesinking.Andonlywhen

thecustomerdoesnotinsistonabso-

luteaccuracy.Wirecutting,hesays,is

DMFWerkzeugbauGmbHinNohra,Thuringia,

hasmadeanameforitselfinmouldmaking.

Poetry in motion

Profile07.2014 07

EDMandmore

06 DMFWerkzeugbauGmbH

EDMandmore

alsomuchmoreeconomicthanthe

oldconventionalprocessofdiesinking

followedbymilling.Andthewholepro-

cesstakesplacetodayonasinglema-

chinethatoperateswithalowerfailure

rateinaddition.Theonlyrealscopefor

mistakestoday,hecontinues,iswith

programming.Duringthetour,Luczynski

explainswhatDMFWerkzeugbauisca-

pableofinmouldmaking.“Wecanlook

backonabout15yearsofexperiencein

wirecutting.What’smore,wehaveall

theequipmentweneedin-houseand

nolongerhavetocontractanyworkout.

Thisisappreciatedbyourclients.These

aremainlyproducersofinjection

mouldingsandplasticsdestinedforau-

tomotivecomponentsuppliers.”The

companycertifiedtoISO9001:2008of-

fersthefullrangeofsolutions–from

itemoptimisationandthefinishedmould

toasupplyofsampleplasticsparts.In

addition,DMFWerkzeugbauisalsoca-

pableofsupplyingprototypemoulds

and,forthediecastingsector,package

solutionsinclusiveofdeburringtoolsat

shortnotice.Thecompanyhasstrength-

eneditscompetitivepositionbyintro-

ducingefficientCAD-CAMsystemsearly

onandconstantlyupdatingthemand

trainingitsstaffaccordingly.

Expertadviceandservice

Fromanelevatedpositioninthepro-

ductionshop,Luczynskiviewsthethree

wirecuttingmachinesfromMitsubishi

Electricarrangedinaneatrow.“We’ve

investedinanFA30-SAdvance,an

FA10-SAdvanceandanFA20-V.We

chosethefirstmachineonthestrength

oftestsandtheimpressiveprice/per-

formanceratio.Asasatisfiedcustomer,

wethenstayedwithMitsubishiElectric.

Themanufacturer’sexpertadviceand

Onthewirecuttingmachine,DMFWerkzeugbauprocessesmouldinsertsandcores,cuttingblades,

punchingdiesandslides.

servicesalsocontributedtothis.We

weregivenreallyquickassistancewith

anyproblemsthatarose,sowedidn’t

seeanyreasontolookelsewhereon

themarket.Inaddition,byresortingtoa

singlesupplier,weonlyhavetostock

partsforasinglemake.”

TheFA20-Vwentintooperationin2005,

theFA10-SAdvancein2009andthe

FA30-SAdvancein2013.Thecompany

alsooptedfortheFA30-SAdvancebe-

causeofitslargerworkingrange.Itis

equippedwithahigh-speedgenerator,

whiletheFA10-SAdvancehasanop-

tionaldigitalfine-finishinggenerator.

Themachinesareadaptedtotheneeds

ofDMFWerkzeugbauandaresynony-

mouswithhighavailability.Thecom-

panyensuresthecontinuousreadi-

nessofthewireEDMmachinesunder

TheCADdrawing

showsacomponent

onwhichDMF

Werkzeugbauhas

wire-cuttheinsertand

cores.

Onthismouldhalf,the

ejectorholes,core

seatsandcoreshave

beenwire-cut.

DMFWerkzeugbaucanlookbackonabout

15years’experienceinwirecuttingandhasthe

fullcomplementofequipmentonitsownsite.

DMFWerkzeugbauhaswire-cut

theejectorholes,obliqueslides

andtheassociatedobliquepene-

trationsonthismouldhalf.


EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 09

EDMandmore

amaintenancecontractwith

MitsubishiElectric.Thecontractin-

cludesannualmaintenancebytheman-

ufacturer’sservicestaff,soLuczynski

expectsthemachinestohavealong

servicelifeandachieveaconsistently

highqualityofmachining.Theopera-

torsthemselvesplaytheirpartbyclean-

ingthethreadingandguideareaand

takingtheopportunitytoreplacewear-

ingparts.

Noalternativetoautomaticwirethreading

MatthiasDohne,wirecutteratDMF

Werkzeugbau,threadsanewwireon

theFA30-SAdvance.Indoingso,he

benefitsfromtheuser-friendlyauto-

maticwirethreaderthattheFA10-S

Advanceisalsoequippedwith.“Rapid

andreliablethreadingareabsolutelyes-

sentialforus,asweusuallyworkat

nightandatweekends,inwhichcase

themachineisunmanned.Lastyear

alone,ourthreewireEDMmachines

clockedup12,000hoursofoperation.”

Becauseofthenightandweekendas-

signments,thecompanyhasinvested

infurtheroptionalextras–firstly,ina20

kilowirestationthatisindispensablefor

longerunmanned

operation,and,

secondly,inthe

Telecontroland

Teleservice

tools.Withthe

aidof

Telecontrol,the

EDMsystemsare

monitoredviaadata

lineinrealtime.

TheTeleservicetoolpermitsremotedi-

agnosisandonlineassistancefromthe

MitsubishiElectricafter-salesservice

whichisthusabletoremedyhitches

online.LuczynskiopensuphisiPad.

“Themachinesarealsocontinuously

connectedtotheInternet.Thismeans

that,ontheiriPadsandPCmonitors,

thestaffconcernedcanviewthesame

machinedataandmessagesasaredis-

playedonthescreensoftheoperator

terminals.”

Goodwork

Finally,toreturntothereferenceto

Germanpoets:DMFWerkzeugbau

GmbHdemonstratesdayafterdaythat

inNohra,onlyabouteightkilometres

fromthecentreof

Weimar,thetown

ofGoetheand

Schiller,that

one’slivelihood

doesnotneces-

sarilyhavetode-

pendontourism

andthecommemo-

rationofGermany’s

greatestmenofletters.

Anyonewhodoesgoodwork

willmakeanameforhimself–among

readersorcustomers.

Professionals in Profile: Lorenz Luczynski

Nameandplaceofcompany:

DMFWerkzeugbauGmbH,Nohra,

Germany

Foundingyear:

1991

Managingdirector:

LorenzLuczynski,LutzMärker

Numberofemployees:

47

Corebusiness:

Diecastingandinjectionmoulds

How did you earn your first money?

As a milling machine operator.

What is your source of motivation?

I’d like to create something enduring for later generations.

What’s different about how you do things now, compared to five

years ago?

As far as the company’s concerned, there’s much more communication

these days. We talk more about work during work. The reason for this is

that the individual employees have much less time for much more work.

What’s your favourite way to relax?

Walking.

What attributes do you value most in other people?

Honesty, reliability and loyalty.

What failings in others do you find easiest to forgive?

Ignorance.

If you were asked what you do by a friend with no technical knowl-

edge, how would you explain your work in a single sentence?

What we do is like using an electric band saw.

DMFWerkzeugbau

Steinbrüchenstr.10

99428Nohra

Germany

Tel +49.3643.8714-0

Fax +49.3643.8714-20

[email protected]

www.dmf-werkzeugbau.de


EDMandmore

Lastyearalone,thethreewirecuttingmachinesofDMFWerkzeugbauclockedup12,000hoursof

operation.

Insertsforaninjection

mouldonwhichDMF

Werkzeugbauhascut

thesquarecorepene-

trationsonthe

circumference

Deburringtoolon

whichtheexternal

contourandlargehole

havebeencut

www.dmf-werkzeugbau.de

» As a satisfied

customer, we then stayed with

Mitsubishi Electric. «

Profile07.2014 11

EDMandmore

Forabout50yearsnow,AmietAGhasbeendesigningand

fabricatingtoolsforallsectorsofSwissindustry.Theem-

phasisisonpunchingandformingtoolsforCNCpunching

machinesandfollow-oncompositetoolstogetherwitha

numberofin-housedevelopmentssuchasspecialtoolsfor

theformingofaluminiumfoilandplasticmembrane.

Membranekeyboardscanbefoundtodayinallareasof

everydaylife.Everytoolmakerisfamiliarwiththem–among

otherthings,fromhisEDMandmillingmachines.Tocreate

thekey“springiness”andletters,themakersofthemem-

branesusedtohavetoembossthemembranesinarela-

tivelyelaboratethermalprocess.Amiethasdevelopedcold

embossingformsforembossingkeyboardsinthesameway

aswiththermalembossing.Theprocessisveryinexpen-

sive,quickanddurable.

Amiet’slistofcustomersnowhasanumberofreputed

companiesfromahugerangeofsectors–including

Huber+Suhner,adeveloperandmanufacturerofsystems

The production of punching and follow-on composite tools is the speciality of Amiet AG in Herisau, Switzerland. With its 13 employees, the family business covers the full range of machining plus design and programming. A few years ago, its owner Hans Roderer ventured into a totally new field of business: that of indoor scent diffusion.

AMIET

The sweet scent

of success

EDMandmore

ThespecialistsinHerisaufocusonpunchingandfollow-oncompositetools.

Profile07.2014 13

EDMandmore

12 AmietAG

Inthelittlevacuumhardeningoven,thereisspaceforbatches

weighingupto30kilos.Toachievethedesiredresults,the

employeesfirsthadtoacquireagoodunderstandingofmet-

allurgyanddrawontheexperienceofpartnersinthesteelin-

dustry,forinstance.Withitsexpertise,Amietisnowableto

fullyexploitthepotentialofexistingprocesses.Thisisthe

onlywayofhardeningindividualpartstoperfectionwithtem-

peraturecurvesadaptedtotheworkpieceinquestionandad-

justinghardeningprocessestoworkpiecesize.

Heavenscent

ThesmellthatgreetsanyoneenteringtheAmietproduction

shopisoneofoilandcoolant,muchlikeinanyothertoolshop.

Soonewouldneverrealisethatindoorscentdiffusionsys-

temsareproducedhere.“Howwecameacrossscentdiffu-

sionisquiteabizarretale,”Roderertellsus.“Threeyearsago,

atamecrowwanderedontothesite.Andwewantedtoknow

whothetamebirdbelongedtoandwhatweshoulddowithit.”

Animal-loverRoderercontactedthevetinHerisauaboutits

owner.Thevetknewthebirdandthatitbelongedtotheartist

MsHezel.Roderertookthecrowbacktoitsownerandthey

gottalking.Itturnedoutthattheartist’shusbandwaslooking

foranewinnovativepartnerforthedevelopmentandproduc-

tionofnewindoorscentdiffusiondevices.“Thislaidthefoun-

dationforcooperationandstimulatedinterestonbothsides,”

saysagratifiedRoderer.Today,threeyearsafterthefirst

meeting,thenewlydevelopedscentdiffusiondevicesare

creatingapleasantatmosphereinbusinessrooms,disco-

theques,cardealershipsandspecialisedhospitals.Another

highlypromisingnewdevelopmentisanindoorscentdiffu-

sionsystemforlocalandlong-distancepublictransport.The

firsttrialshaverevealedastonishingeffects–andunexpected

side-effects.Accompanyingstudiesshowedthattheusersof

busesfeltnotonlymoreateasebutalsosaferasaresultof

thepleasantscent.“What’sspecialaboutourdevicesishow

theywork,”Rodererexplains.“Weatomisethescentsintheir

coldstate.”Byusingthisprocessknownasmicro-nebulisa-

tion,thescentcanbedispersedintheroomwithouttheaddi-

tionofalcoholorothercarriersubstances.Alsoimportantis

thedevices’highdosagequalitytoensurethattheairsmells

pleasantandnotoverpowering.ProverbialSwissprecisionis

obviouslynotconfinedtotoolmaking.

25yearsofprecisionwithMitsubishiElectric

AmiethasbeenworkingwithMitsubishiElectricEDMequip-

mentsince1988,althoughtheoriginalmachineshavelong

Thefullyassembledpunchingtoolreadyfordelivery

“Ourclaimtoqualityhassofarimpressedallofourcustomers,”saysHansRoderer.

FourMitsubishiElectricmachinescanbefoundinAmietAG’sEDMcentre.

solutionsforhigh-frequency,fibreopticsandlow-fre-

quencyapplications,andtheinternationallyactiveArbonia-

Forster-HoldingAG.Thequalityisalsoappreciatedby

Bühler,thetechnologyexpertinmachines,plantandser-

vicesfortheprocessingofstaplefoodsandfortheproduc-

tionofhigh-gradematerials.

Sinceproductionisgearedentirelytoprecisiontools,the

sceneatAmietAGisdominatedbyadvanced,high-techma-

chines.“Tosatisfythewishesofourcustomersandcarryout

ourjobswiththedesiredqualityandwithinthegiventime,”

saysownerHansRoderer,“wehavetooperatewithhigh

manufacturingdepth.Wecanmachinehardenedsteelsup

to64Rockwell.”Inadditiontotheclassicalformsofma-

chiningfortoolmaking,suchasturning,milling,diesinking,

wirecuttingandstartholedrillingplusallthegrinding

methods,thespecialistsinHerisauhaveperfectedthe

hardeningprocess.

Hardandfast

Inpurelyfinancialterms,thehardeningovensasoperatedby

Amietarenotparticularlyworthwhile.“Ourpurchaseofavac-

uumhardeningovenismoreofaresponsetonecessityoran

expressionofourpredilectionforqualityandperfection,”

Rodererexplains.Asaspecialistinhigh-gradepunching

tools,thecompanyusedtorepeatedlyhaveproblemsswiftly

obtainingproperlyhardenedtoolsteels.Thereareanumber

ofhigh-gradesteelsavailable,butwhenaftertoolbreakagea

machinemanufacturerneedsafullyfunctionalreplacement

within48hours,timesoonrunsoutorthequalityofthetool

steelemployedislessthanperfect.

“Ourownsmallhardeningshophassolvedtheproblem,”

Rodererexplains.“Wecannowprocessthetoolsonourma-

chineswithinashorttimeandthenindividuallyhardenthem

atacceptableexpense.”

We can now process the tools on our machines within a short time and then individually harden them at acceptable expense.

Unusualvisitorssometimescomeinthroughthereddoor.

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 15

EDMandmore

14 AmietAG

» For out -of-the-ordinary jobs, when we have to wire-cut

really awkward parts, we rely on the

experience of the Mitsubishi Electric

experts. «

vanishedfromHerisau.Today,the

companywire-cutsontwoMitsubishi

ElectricFX20-KPlatins,aMitsubishi

ElectricFA20andaMitsubishiElectric

MV1200R.“Thenewmachinesoperate

incrediblydependably,”Rodereras-

serts.“Inthelast15yearsthat

we’vebeenworkingwith

MitsubishiElectricEDM

equipment,aservice

technicianfrom

MitsubishiElectric

hasonlyevercome

toourcompany

once.Andthat

waswhenwe

overhauledour

FX20-Kmachines

andtreatedthemto

anupgrade.Otherwise

wemaintainandcarefor

ourwirecuttingmachines

ourselves.”

Forsuchlongperiodsofservice,they

stillneedtherightsupport,because

evenMitsubishiElectricmachinesneed

arevampfromtimetotime.Thisis

whentheMitsubishiElectricpartsser-

viceandhotlinecomeintoplay–anim-

portantpointforRoderer,becausehe

hasalwaysbeenabletorelyonthehot-

lineadvisers.Amiet’sstaffusetheser-

viceregularly,andnotonlywhenma-

chineoperationormalfunctionsand

repairsareconcerned.Whenperform-

ingtrickytaskstheycanalsobesureof

obtainingcompetentadvicefroma

MitsubishiElectricapplicationsengi-

neeratthedropofahat.“Practical

skillsareveryimportantforus,”says

Roderer.“Forout-of-the-ordinary

jobs,whenwehavetowire-

cutreallyawkwardparts,

werelyontheexperi-

enceofthe

Mitsubishi

Electricexperts.

Thisishowwe

quicklyachieve

optimumresults

withoutany

wastage.We’ve

faredwellwiththis

strategysofar.”

Turnforthebetterwithanextraaxis

TurningwithEDMisnotbasicallynew.

BypurchasingtheMV1200withanad-

ditionalrotaryaxisinNovember2013,

thecompanyisabletowire-cutrota-

tionallysymmetricalparts.Thedecisive

advantageforRodereristhatnocutting

forcesareappliedtothecomponents.

Verythin-walledandcomplex,rotation-

allysymmetricalpartscanthusbema-

chinedwithasurfacequalityRaofless

than0.2µm.Eventinypinswithanex-

tremelength/diameterratioof,say,20

to0.2mmcanbeproducedfree-stand-

ingwithoutsteadying.“Forourfirm,”

Rodereradds,“advancedEDMisthe

keytechnologyenablingustotapnew

fieldsofapplication.Wearetherefore

consideringreplacingoneofourma-

chineswithalargerMVfromMitsubishi

Electric–butbeforethatweshallhave

toinvestinanewmachiningcentre.”

www.amiet-ag.ch

AmietAGerodesnotonlypunchingandfollow-

oncompositetools,butalsoextrusiondies.

Professionals in Profile: Hans Roderer


AmietAG,Herisau,Switzerland

Foundingyear:

1964

Managingdirector:

HansRoderer

Numberofemployees:

13

Corebusiness:

Productionofcomplexpunchingand

follow-oncompositetools


Thepossibilityofmakingthingshappenanddiscoveringsomethingnew.


Deliveringnewspapers.


years ago?

TodayIhavemorehighlyskilledemployeeswhotakesomeoftheworkoff

myshoulders.ThiswayI’vegotmoretimetoturnmyideasintoreality.

Where do you see your company in five years’ time?

Punchingisbeingreplacedbynewtechnologies,butweshallcontinueto

serveourcustomersefficiently.WewanttoconcentratemoreonEDMand

positionourselvesasmanufacturersofcompletecomponentsandtools.

What was your biggest business success?

Wedevelopedourown,highlyefficientpunchingsystemforRaskinpunch-

ingmachinesthathadalotofthingsgoingforit.


Withmyhobbies.I’vegotanoldBeetledatingbackto1952andamotorbike

andIplaythetrombone.


Integrity,technicalcompetenceandgoodmanners.

What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

Myformerbossgavemethefollowingadvice:“Beboldandmakemistakes.

It’sbettertodosomethingthandonothing.Testyourlimits.”

AmietAGPräzisionswerkzeugbau

Schützenstr.24a

9100Herisau

Switzerland

Tel +41.71.35006.60

Fax +41.71.35006.65

[email protected]

www.amiet-ag.ch

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 17

EDMandmore

16 AmietAG

tomerssupportwhentheyreachedtheir

ownlimits.”Inadditiontoclassicalor-

dersurpluses,thesearemoreandmore

oftencomplexspecialjobsorpartsdif-

ficulttomachineandcallingforspecial

expertise.Future-TEChasspecialised

inthreeareas:classicaltool-and

mouldmakingwithinjectionmoulds,

bendingtoolsanddiecastingmoulds,

modelconstruction,andone-offand

prototypefabrication.Inthemouldsec-

tor,thefocusisontheproductionof

shape-imparting3Dcomponents.

Expertsinspecialtasks

Themachiningofgraphiteelectrodes

fordiesinking,forexample,callsforin-

depthknowledgeofthematerialandits

processing.Inmanycompaniestoday,

itisalmostastandardprocess,Kitzmann

explains,butanumberoftoolmakers

havenotyettakentheplungeandthere-

foreneedsupportinthisarea.“Another

positivefieldforourcompany,”

Kitzmannstresses,“isordersforthe

completeproductionofactivemould

When Sven Kitzmann and Armin Baur set up busi-ness with Future-TEC in Wutha-Farnroda in 1999, they knew precisely the policy they would adopt and which target groups they wanted to attract. The con-struction of complete tools was out of the question for them, as Kitzmann calmly explains seated at his desk, even if it would have been an appealing chal-lenge for the graduate engineer. But this would have meant taking on all the toolmakers in the region and competing for the same pool of jobs. And holding one’s own alongside the established top dogs is dif-ficult for a young, inexperienced start-up, particu-larly in a sector in which quality and reliability play such a huge role. Kitzmann knew that if they didn’t find sufficient customers for complete tools, they would soon go to the wall.

Onthebasisoftheseconsiderations

andaprecisemarketanalysis,the

youngentrepreneursmanagedtonar-

rowdowntheirtargetgroup.Future-

TECwouldbeapartnerandsupplierto

regionaltoolmakers.“Ourgoal,”

Kitzmanntellsus,“wastoservetool-

andmouldmakersratherthancompete

withthem.Wewantedtoofferourcus-

FUTURE-TEC

IndenletztenJahrenhatFuture-TECeinspeziellesKnow-howbeiderFertigungvon3-D-Werkzeugenaufgebaut.

At the end of the toolmaking chain

Inthelastfewyears,Future-TEChasbuiltupspecialisedskillsintheproductionof3Dtools.

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 19

EDMandmore

18 Future-TECGmbH

components.Wordofourcompre-

hensiveknow-howinthissectorandof

Future-TEC’shighstandardofquality

hasalreadyspread.”Allsidesbenefit

fromthissharingoftasks.“Sincethe

projectrestsonseveralshoulders,the

contractingtoolmakercanconcentrate

fullyondesignandassembly,whilewe

devoteourselvestothecompletefabri-

cationoftheshape-impartingparts,”

saysKitzmannsummingup.

Aclimateforquality

“Ifwecouldstartupagainwith

newproductionoperations,withanew

buildingonagreen-fieldsite,”Kitzmann

fantasises,“we’ddefinitelygoforafully

air-conditionedproductionshopwitha

constanttemperatureof21degrees

Celsiusallyearround,summerandwin-

ter.”Butmakingsuchdreamscome

trueisdifficultforasmallservicepro-

vider.“Atpresent,onlyourmeasuring

roomisair-conditioned,”Kitzmannre-

grets.Tominimisetheeffectsoftem-

perature,Future-TEChasmovedthe

heatsourcesawayfromproductionas

faraspossible.Sothataccuratelyma-

chinedtoolsalwaysreachthecustomer,

thecompanyhasaprecisecoordinate

measurementsystemthatisair-condi-

tionedandworksatprecisely21

degrees.

Noworkpieceleavesthecompanywith-

outameasurementrecord.Sincequal-

ityanddimensionalaccuracyareexis-

tentiallyimportantforsuppliersto

toolmakers,Future-TEChasrecruiteda

measurementtechnicianwhoisrespon-

sibleformeasuringalltheparts.The

datarecordedareusedbythecompany

notonlyforinternalqualitymonitoring,

butalsoasverificationofthede-

mandeddimensionalaccuracyvis-à-vis

thecustomer.Ifdesired,thecustomer

issuppliedwiththecompletemeasure-

mentrecordstogetherwiththework-

pieces.However,manycustomersdis-

pensewithfullworkpiece

documentationandtrustinFuture-

TEC’sproductionquality.

“Sincetoolsandmoulds

areusuallydesigned

forlongperiodsof

service,”

Kitzmannex-

plains,“wemay

becalleduponto

supplydataon

certaintoolseven

afteryearshave

passed.Sowear-

chivethedetailsof

eachjoblong-term.”

ToolmakersneedEDM

“Until2012,wewereunabletoprovide

ourcustomerswithanyservicesinthe

wirecuttingsector.Weeithercon-

tractedtheworkoutorturneddownthe

job.Neitheroptionwassatisfactoryfor

usinthelongterm,”saysKitzmannout-

liningthesituationasitwas.“We’d

beenwantingtointegratewirecutting

inourcompanyforyearsbecauseit’s

anelementaryprocessintoolmaking.”

Inmid-2012,Future-TECtookthede-

cisiontoinvestinanewEDMmachine.

“Sinceweweretotallynewtowirecut-

tingatthetime,wewereopentoallof-

fers,”thebusinessownerexplains.

“Likewithallotherinvestments,the

overallpackageoftechnology,service

andpartssupplyandofcoursema-

chineoverheadswasdecisive.”

TherangeofEDMmachinesonthe

marketisprettydiversified.Thecom-

panythereforetookacloselookatthe

marketinadvanceandapproached

severalmanufacturers.“Inparticular,”

Kitzmannexplains,“wewantedto

knowwhichsizeofmachinewouldsuit

usandourproductionactivities,which

manufacturercouldofferusnewcom-

ersgoodtechnicalsupportand,last

butnotleast,whohasahotlineworthy

ofthetermandcangivequickandex-

pertadvice.”

Benefitingfromfellowtoolmakers’experience

“Goodcolleagues–atermthatIcan

happilyapplytomostofourcustom-

ers,”Kitzmannreports,“usuallytell

youtheunvarnishedtruth.SoIasked

themabouttheirexperiencewithEDM.

Howreliableareyourmachines,how

satisfiedareyouwiththemandwhat

abouttheaftermarket?”Thisway

Future-TEChasbenefitedfromtheex-

perienceofitscustomers.“Ifacol-

leaguetellsmehisexperiencewithhis

wirecuttingmachine,Itakeitseriously.

AndthedecisionsItakearebasedon

suchfindings,”Kitzmannadds.

ThisishowMitsubishiElectricarrived

ontheshortlistwithitsMV2400S.This

erosionmachinethenpickedupfurther

pointswithFuture-TEC–amongother

things,withitstrainingcentrein

nearbyEisenachandwithitsinte-

gratedprogrammingsystem.For

Kitzmann,thisisa“five-digit”argu-

ment,becausefortheshortlisted

Thevisualdisplayofthemeas-

ureddatadocumentsandillus-

tratesthestandardofquality.

MeasurementtechnicianJürgenKretzschmarandSvenKitzmannex-

aminetheworkpiecetogether.

Kitzmannalsoworksatthemachineinhisoveralls.

» Our goal was to become a partner to tool-

and mouldmakers and not a rival. «

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 21

EDMandmore

20 Future-TECGmbH

machinesithadtobepurchasedin

addition.

Ayearoftrouble-freeEDM

InKitzmann’sview,therearemachines

thatmaybebetterthantheMitsubishi

ElectricMV2400Sonthisorthatcount,

butthereisnonethatisequaltoit

wheneverythingistakenintoaccount.

TheMVhasbeeninoperationat

Future-TECsinceDecember2012and

hassincebeenrunningtrouble-free.

“Theonlyproblemswe’veeverhad,”

Kitzmannexplains,“wereoperatinger-

rors,wehavetoadmit.Supportviathe

hotlinewassometimesnecessary.

Otherwise–andI’mnotsayingthisto

flatterMitsubishiElectric–we’revery

happywithourMV2400S.It’sex-

tremelyreliable,cutsquicklywiththe

desiredprecisionandyieldsoutstand-

ingsurfacequality.Wehaven’tregret-

tedthedecisiononeinstant.Theover-

allpackageisjustright,thecost

structureisaswell,andthemachining

resultsarefullyinlinewithour

expectations.”

Withthenewwirecuttingmachine,

Future-TECcannowrespondbetterto

growingdemandandofferitscustom-

ersanextendedrangeofservices.The

customerbenefitsdirectlyfromthis,as

theleadtimeshavebecomeshorter.

“Asaproviderofservices,we’reatthe

endofthechainandthedeadlinepres-

sureispassedontous.We’reawareof

thisandcanlivewithitaswell,”ex-

plainsKitzmann.“Andwiththenew

MV2400Sourliveswillbethatbit

easier.”

Professionals in Profile: Sven Kitzmann


Future-TECGmbH,Wutha-Farnroda,

Germany

Foundingyear:

1999

Managingdirector:

SvenKitzmannandArminBaur

Numberofemployees:

12

Corebusiness:

Future-TECisaserviceproviderto

tool-,mould-andmodel-makersanda

producerofone-offsandprototypes.

Nameofinterviewee:

SvenKitzmann,Manager;alsointhe

picture(left):ArminBaur,Manager


As a designer of textile cleaning machines.


I still enjoy the job even after 15 years – with all its imponderables.


years ago?

I’ve got the experience to be more relaxed and calm about taking

decisions.


We shall continue to have highly advanced equipment and be on the look-

out for new technologies and methods.


We’ve always achieved our goal of investing in advanced technologies on

a major scale every two years.


I can relax best at home in the greenery of my garden.


Honesty, the ability to think independently and the willingness to accept

responsibility.

What’s the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?

To sleep on important decisions that have to be taken.

Future-TECGmbH

AnderAllee7

99848Wutha-Farnroda

Germany

Tel +49.36921.234-0

Fax +49.36921.234-23

[email protected]

www.future-tec-gmbh.de

www.future-tec-gmbh.de

This erosion machine then picked up further points with Future-TEC – among other things, with its training centre in nearby

Eisenach and with its integrated programming system.

TheMV2400ShasbeeninoperationsinceDecember2012andhassincebeenrunningtrouble-free.

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 23

EDMandmore

22 Future-TECGmbH

Betheyinballpointpens,carseats,

pictureframesorpressuresensors,

springsplayanimportantroleinevery

branchofindustry.Andeachspringhas

tobedesignedforitsspecificapplica-

tion.“Aspringisveryoftenthefinalpart

inadesignandthere’sonlyacertain

placeavailableforit.Manyusersfindit

difficulttoestimatetheforcethatsuch

aspringhastowithstandandhow

muchspaceitneeds,”saysGerald

Fischer,responsiblefortoolmakingat

HirschKG.“Designingthespringpre-

ciselyfortheseconditionscallsforalot

ofthoughtandcreativity.”

Specialeyeletwithnewforcedistribution

ThecompanyinMarktredwitzoutputs

over200millionspringseachyear.But

itisnotsomuchthenumberasthedi-

versitythatisimpressive,asthecom-

panynowhasover40,000different

springsinitsproductrange.“Wealso

produceone-offs.Fortrulyspecial

casesweevenhaveafabricationde-

partmentwherespringsarebentby

hand–westillcultivatethiscrafttoday,”

Fischerexplains.Thespectrumranges

fromcompressionandtensionsprings

totorsionspringsandleafspringsinall

shapesandstrengths.Evensurface

treatmenttoextendservicelifeispossi-

ble.Anothermainsourceofbusinessis

bentwirepartsandCNCturnedparts.

Forparticularlytrickyjobs,internalre-

searchprojectsfortheconstructionof

machinesandtoolsareregularlyper-

formedandcooperationprojects

launched,e.g.withKemptenUniversity

ofAppliedSciences.

Thecompanyisparticularlyproudofits

latestproduct,theHiSo®eyelet.Ona

tensionspring,theeyeletsareusually

theweakestpoint.Asaruleofthumb,

theeyeletscanbeassumedtowith-

stand70percentofthespringbody’s

maximumload.Dynamicapplications

reducethisvaluebyroughlyafurther

30percent.Withastrokeofdesignin-

genuity,thiseyelethasnowbeende-

signedsothatthemainforcesacton

thespring.Thecostofproductionhas

beenkeptvirtuallyunchanged,andthe

weightperspringhasbeenreduced.

“We’veregisteredtheHiSo®eyeletfor

patenting–there’sbeenahugere-

sponsetoit,”Fischerexplains.

Nolessvariedthantheshapesandde-

signsofthespringsarethecustomers

ofthefamilybusiness,spreadamong

allsectorsofindustry,fromwindtur-

binesandtheautomotiveindustryto

electronicsandmedicaltechnology.

“Sometimeswedon’tevenknowexactly

wherethespringendsup,”saysFischer.

Whattheyallhaveincommonisthat

thestandardsofqualityandflexibility

haverisenenormouslyinthelastfive

years.“We’vealwaysbeenknownfor

ourswiftresponseandspeed,butone

cantellthattheworldisnowspinning

faster,”Fischercontinues.Andtool-

makinghastokeeppacewiththesede-

mands.Planningandproductionthere-

foreproceedhandinglove.Inthe

contextofprocess-controlleddevelop-

ment,thenecessarytoolsaredesigned

andfabricatedinthecompany’sown

toolshop.Intooldesign,advancedsoft-

warelikeCADandInventorfrom

AutodeskandFEM-basedcalculations

areemployed.

There is hardly a vehicle in Germany that does not have springs from Hirsch KG fitted in it. But this does not mean that they are standard products. For a spring has to be designed precisely for the conditions in which it is used. This calls for plenty of ingenuity in its development – and the utmost precision during its production.

HIRSCH FEDERN

DieMV2400wirdimmerdanneingesetzt,wenn

dieKonturenbesondersfeinwerdenmüssen.

Full of the joysof springs

TheMV2400Sisalwaysusedwhenextra-finecontoursarerequired.

Profile07.2014 25

EDMandmore

24 HirschFedernKG

EDMandmore

Prideandjoyofthemachinepark

Fischer’sdepartment

producesabout400

toolsperyear,andit

takesaboutfour

weeksforatoolto

reachmass-production

maturity.Inadditionto

grindingandmillingma-

chines,therearefourEDMma-

chines–theMV2400Shasbeenthe

prideandjoyofthemachineparksince

March2013.“We’vebeenworkingwith

EDMformorethan20years,butthisis

ourfirsttimewithMitsubishiElectric,”

Fischercandidlyadmits.“Untilnowwe

haven’tneededthehugefunctionality

ofMitsubishiElectricmachines,sowe

didn’tgivethemanyattention.”But

sincethelaunchofthenewMVSeries

in2013,thesituationhaschanged

fundamentally.

TheMVSeriesofferscustomerswith

modestpurchasingbudgetsthehigh

productivity,qualityandflexibilityprevi-

ouslythepreserveofhigh-endma-

chines.Whatismore,theaccuracyre-

quiredintoolmakinghasrisen

considerablyinthelastfewyears,par-

ticularlyintermsofsurfaceroughness,

geometricvariationandtolerances.

“Withthewirecuttingmachinesfrom

MitsubishiElectric,adiecanbeaccu-

ratelyprocessedtothenearest5,000th

ofamillimetre–wenowneedthisfor

thefinecontoursofourtools.”Whereas

furthersurfacetreatmentsusedtobe

necessaryinsomecases,cuttingis

nowsoaccuratethattheycanbeomit-

ted.Butnotonlythetoolsbenefitfrom

higheraccuracy,butalsothesprings

madewiththemshowfewersurface

blemishesowingtothebettersurface

qualityofthetools.Butthiswasn’tthe

onlyfactor:“Wewereimpressednot

onlybythetechnology,butalsoby

theeconomics.Owingtothe

machine’ssuperiorac-

curacy,wecannow

entirelyleaveout

aprocessstep,

thatofglass

beadblast-

ing,”says

Fischerout-

liningthe

reasonsfor

hischoice.

Thecontrolmakesallthe

difference

Themachineisnowinoperationforan

averageof13hoursperdayandthus

hasplentytodo.90percentofthetools

producedarepunchingandbending

tools,mostofwhichareusedin-house.

95percentofthepartsaremadeof

stainlesssteel,andthetensilestrength

isashighas2,000N/mm².Thestrip

thicknessrangesfrom0.1to2.5milli-

metres,andthestripwidthsfrom3to

100millimetres.

TheMV2400Salsorunsatweekends

withouthavingtobemonitored.“Ifthey

havelongcontours,there’salwaysa

riskofthewireaccumulatingandcaus-

ingashortcircuit.WithMitsubishi

Electric,thewirechoppersolvedthe

problemtoperfection.Stoppagesdue

tothebuild-upofwirehavebeenvirtu-

allybanished,”saysFischerreporting

fromexperience.Heandhisworkmates

arealsoimpressedbythesimplicityof

operation.Sincetheywereentirelynew

toMitsubishiElectricmachines,they

weresurprisedhowlittletimelearning

theropestook.“Thecontrolwasanim-

portantreasonforpurchasingthema-

chine,assomeofouroperatorshad

hadover20yearsofexperienceonthe

oldmachineandwewantedassmooth

achangeoveraspossible.”Butthecau-

tionwasunwarranted.“Thelayoutof

thecontrolisbrilliant,”saysanenthusi-

asticFabianKohelwhoworksatthe

MitsubishiElectricmachineonadaily

basis.“Justtwomouse-clicksand

you’rereadytogo–thisisnewcom-

paredtoouroldmachines.Andopera-

tionissointuitivethatwefeltcomforta-

blewiththeprogramafterjusttwoor

threedays.”Theergonomicsofloading

themachinetablewentdownparticu-

larlywell.“Wesometimeshavetopush

20kiloblocksin,andthisiswherethe

ergonomicsmakesapositiveimpres-

sion,”Kohelconfirms.

Nolosingthethread

Evenafterayearinoperation,thewire

threaderhasnotlostanythingofitsfas-

cination.Thewireisheatedand

stretchedintheprocess,whichyieldsa

barelyperceptiblebutsufficientreduc-

tioninthediameter.Thenawaterjetis

directedatthelowermachinehead(30

centimetresfurtherdown)thatisafew

millimetreslargerthanthewirediameter

andthreadsthewire.Digitalmotors

feedthewireforward,withtheprocess

undergoingcontinuousmonitoring.“To

behonest,Iwasscepticalatfirst,which

iswhyIcloselyinspectedthesystem

andtesteditexhaustivelyinRatingen,”

saysFischer.Butthesystemforauto-

maticthreadingofthecuttingwirehas

impressedhimnotonlyonthetestset-

up,butalsonowinpracticeandpartic-

ularlyathighspeedsandonlarge

blocks.

Thebottomline

Itwasnotonlyduringcommissioning

thatthecompanyfeltwelltakencareof

byMitsubishiElectric.Fischerand

Kohelareunanimousthatquestionsare

alwayscompetentlyandquicklyan-

sweredonthespotbythehotline,“al-

thoughwewillonlybeabletogiveade-

finitiveverdictafterfiveyearswhen

suppliesofreplacementpartshave

goneintotheequation.”However,since

goingintoaction,themachinehasbeen

runningwithoutahitch–andthere’sso

farbeennoneedtosquanderathought

onreplacementparts.

Thetool(inthebackground)forthefinercontoursofaphosphorbronzecomponentthatlaterhastobe

coiledandinstalledinapressuresensor.

» Stoppages due to the build-up of wire have been virtually

banished. «

GeraldFischerisdelightedwiththepreci-

sionofworkpiecemachining.

www.hirsch-federn.de

StefanReichl,designengineer,FabianKohel,operator,andGeraldFischer,toolshopmanager,worktogetheronthedevelopmentofnewspringsandthe

toolsrequired.

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 27

EDMandmore

26 HirschFedernKG

Professionals in Profile: Reinhard Himmer


HirschFedernKG,Marktredwitz,

Germany

Foundingyear:

1954

Managingdirector:

ReinhardHimmer

Numberofemployees:

120

Corebusiness:

Productionandsaleofindustrial

springs


As a school kid I played the church organ and earned my first money; later

music stayed an important source of income for a long time.


There is always something to improve or new challenges to master.


years ago?

I personally don’t do much differently, but the demands have increased re-

markably in the last few years – for instance in terms of speed, perfor-

mance and documentation. It’s up to us to respond accordingly of course –

and we’ve done just that.


We want to increase our market shares. An important part will be played

by our new HiSo® eyelet that really helps customers to cut their costs and

improve their quality.


Like our springs – by returning to a state of rest.


Fairness, honesty and a good team.



Bending wire and strip the way the customer wants it.

HirschFedernKG

Haag17

95615Marktredwitz

Germany

Tel +49.9231.6699-0

Fax +49.9231.63031

[email protected]

www.hirsch-federn.de

Under the KERN brand, MARPOSS produces high-precision measuring instru-ments. One of these is used by the company itself to precisely align and clamp workpieces on its own wire cutting machine supplied by Mitsubishi Electric.

MARPOSS

Focus onprecision

MARPOSShasuniteditsthreeFrenchcompaniesonasinglesiteinChelles.

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 29

EDMandmore

28 HirschFedernKG

Goodreputation

AskedwhyheoptedfortheMV1200S

Tubular,LesotstressesMitsubishi

Electric’sgoodreputation.Thedecision

toinvestatallinawirecuttingmachine

wastakenbecauseofthelargevolume

ofworkinthisfieldofmetalworking.

Whatismore,deliveryproblemshad

arisenamongsubcontractors.The

companyisnowautonomousand

achievesbetterdeliveryqualitybyhan-

dlingtheworkinternallyratherthanre-

lyingonoutsidejobbers.Astotheper-

formanceexpectedofthemachine,itis

dimensionalprecision,positionalaccu-

racyandpreciselymachinedcontours

thatmattermosttoLesot.Thisevenap-

pliestocomplexgeometries.Healso

appreciatesbeingabletocutangleson

theMV1200STubular.

Lesotopensuphislaptopandscrolls

throughtheordersofrecentfewweeks.

“Theserecordsdemonstratethatthe

machineoftenrunsatnightandat

weekendsunmannedandthusboosts

ourefficiency.Thisisonlypossiblebe-

causeMitsubishiElectrichasimproved

itsautomaticwirethreader.”

MARPOSSalsobenefitsfromthead-

vanceddriveofthemachinewithtubu-

larshaftmotorsandtheOpticalDrive

Systemandfromthetotallydigital

ADVANCECNCcontrol.Accordingto

Lesot,themachinethuscutswith

greateraccuracyandachievesbetter

surfacequality.Inaddition,healsoex-

pectsthewirecuttingmachinetolasta

longtimeandsustainitshighprecision

throughoutitsservicelife.Atthesame

time,theMV1200STubularcanbe

Againstthebackgroundofthe

growthinbusiness,theinvestment

intheMV1200STubularhasbeena

pioneeringstepforMARPOSS.

PhilippeChandivert,operatorofthe

MV1200STubular,hashadthepleasure

ofanattractiveworkplaceinabright,

light-floodedshopsinceMay2013.

ThiswaswhenGROUPEMARPOSS,

whichhas2,900employeesandoper-

ates79officesin23countries,united

itsthreeFrenchcompanies,KERN,

TRACEandMARPOSSFrance,ona

singlesite.ThecustomersofKERNand

TRACEhavebeenpooledasaresultso

thattheycanbeservedbettercollec-

tivelyfromacentrallocation.

FabienVincentz,Presidentoftheunited

company,opensupGoogleMaps.“We

nowhaveourheadquartersherein

Chelles,atownontheMarnewitha

populationofover50,000ontheeast-

ernoutskirtsofParis.Thisalsomeans

thatwearewellservedbytransport

linksandeasytoreach.Ourcompany

hasbeenoperatinginFrancesince

1968,butinitiallyonlysoldproducts

thatMARPOSSproducedinitshome

countryofItaly.However,wewantedto

buildupproductioninFranceaswellin

ordertobroadenourproductrangeand

satisfydemandforFrench-made

goods.”MARPOSS,theworld’sbiggest

supplierofprecisioninstrumentsfor

measurementandcontrolinproduction,

ismaintainingthepreviouslyindepen-

dentKERNandTRACEbrands.Under

theKERNbrand,theFrenchcompany

producesmechanicalmeasuringinstru-

mentsfortheautomotiveandaero-

spaceindustries,whileTRACEisre-

sponsibleforleaktestequipmentfor

theautomotiveindustry.

Betterprecisionandsurfacequality

FrédéricLesot,Productionand

PurchasingManageratMARPOSSin

France,watchesPhilippeChandivert

clampingaworkpieceintheMV1200S

Tubularandplacingameasuringgauge

ontheworkpiece.“Onthissystemwe

mainlyproducecomponentsforcontrol

gaugesanddrives.”Thematerialused

byMARPOSSiscementedcarbide

measuringabout10to200millimetres.

Machiningtimevaries.Dependingon

thesizeoftheworkpieceandthede-

mandedquality,itcanbeanythingfrom

30minutesto10hours.Thesamecom-

ponentsarealsomachinedby

MARPOSSonanEA12-VAdvancedie

sinkingmachinefromMitsubishi

Electric.

Lesotlooksovertheshoulderoftheop-

eratorwhohasmeasuredthework-

piecesurfacewiththegauge.Onthe

basisofthedataindicatedbyhishand-

heldterminal,itispossibletocompen-

sateforthewire’sangleofinclination

andadaptittotheexactworkpiece

length.“ByusingtheMV1200STubular,

weachievebetterprecisionandsurface

quality.Previously,weusedtoaward

suchworktojobshopsordidthemour-

selveswiththeaidofajigboringma-

chine.Theadvantageofthechange-

overisthatwecannowhandlelarger

productionvolumesperunitoftime.We

cannoweasethepressureonthejig

boringmachineandspreadourwork-

loadmoreefficiently.”

Thehigh-precisionmeasuringgaugeproduced

byMARPOSSisusedformeasuringthesurface

oftheclampedworkpiece.

Individualcomponentsarewire-cutonthisassemblycarouselfortheaerospaceindustry.

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 31

EDMandmore

30 MarpossS.A.S

operatedcomfortablyandwithease,

hestresses.

Cost-effectiveinvestment

Toillustratetheworkingofanassembly

carouselfortheaerospaceindustryon

whichindividualcomponentsarewire-

cut,Lesotgivesthecarouselapush

andletsitturn.“Wecommissionedthe

MV1200STubularattheendof

December2013andexpectittopayfor

itselfinfiveyears.Wechosethisma-

chinebecauseofitshighqualityand

thedependabilityofMitsubishiElectric.

Wealsoaskedfellowwirecuttersfor

theiropinions.”

Theprice/performanceratiowasalso

attractive.Althoughtheenergyeffi-

ciencyoftheMV1200STubular,permit-

tingupto55percentenergysavings,

wasnotdecisiveforMARPOSS,the

machine’sverylowoperatingcosts

yieldplentyofbenefitsfortheowner.

Filtercostsarecutbyupto45,wire

consumptionbyamaximum

of42anddeionisation

costsbyupto25per

cent.Therearealso

appreciablesav-

ingsonfiltercar-

tridgesandion

exchangemedia.

Thesearedueto

reduceddielectric

flowandtheopti-

misedgenerator

technologyofthe

MV1200STubularthat

makeitpossibletofilteroutthe

erodedmaterialmoreeasily.Vincentz

expandsonthis:“Ourcompany’sexcel-

lentperformanceinthelastfiveyears

pavedthewayfortheinvestmentina

wirecuttingmachine.Ultimately,the

purchasewasin-

evitableforeco-

nomicreasons

alone.Thanksto

ournewstruc-

tureandequally

newproduction

shop,we’vesub-

stantiallyincreased

ourproductioncapacity

inanycase.We’renowreceiv-

ingagrowingnumberofordersthatwe

canhandleentirelyonsitehereand

we’rerecordingincreasingsalespartic-

ularlyfromtheaerospaceindustry,an

areathatwe’rekeentoexpand.Butto

comebackagaintothewireEDMma-

chinefromMitsubishiElectric,Ihaveto

saythattheinvestmenthasbeenapio-

neeringstepinthelightofthegrowthin

ourbusiness.”

Onhishandheldterminal,

PhilippeChandivert,opera-

toroftheMV1200STubular,

readsoffthedatameasured

bythegauge. Professionals in Profile: Fabien Vincentz and Frédéric Lesot


MarpossS.A.S.,Chelles,France

Foundingyear:

1952inBologna,Italy

Managingdirector:

FabienVincentz

Numberofemployees:

2,900

Corebusiness:

Measurementandcontrolequipment

How would you describe in a sentence what your company does?

Fabien Vincentz: We develop and produce measuring instruments for

industry.


Frédéric Lesot: In a large supermarket.


Frédéric Lesot: My work is my passion.


years ago?

Frédéric Lesot: In addition to purchasing, I’m now responsible for produc-

tion as well.


Fabien Vincentz: For the KERN brand, the aerospace industry will remain

an important development factor. In France and internationally. The same

applies to the TRACE brand that, through its branches, today achieves 80

per cent of its worldwide sales abroad.


Frédéric Lesot: I’m a self-made man.


Frédéric Lesot: At the weekend in the country.


Frédéric Lesot: Honesty.



Frédéric Lesot: I cut metal with wire the same way as others cut cheese.

MarpossS.A.S.

ZACdelaMadeleine

3,5,7RuedelaTuilerie

77500Chelles

France

Tel +33.1.757321.22

Fax +33.1.757321.40

www.fr.marposs.com

www.fr.marposs.com

» By using the MV1200S Tubular, we achieve better

precision and surface quality. «

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 33

EDMandmore

32 MarpossS.A.S.

notsoimportantwhetherheproduces

aone-offorapartinasmallseries,for

itisthequalitythatisalwaysimportant.

Tomeetthedemandedhighstandards,

PWRexclusivelyemploysskilledme-

chanicswhoundergoregularfurther

trainingandarethereforealwaysright

uptodate.

It’stheclimatethatcounts

Precisionisalwayscloselyassociated

withconstanttemperatures.Tobeable

todeliverthisstandardofqualitytoits

customers,PWR’sproductionfacilities

arefullytemperature-controlled.To

makedowithjustanair-conditioned

measuringroom,likemanycompetitors,

isnotanoption.Ofcourse,thishasits

price.Someareaslikethemillingde-

partmentthereforehavetobecooled

all-year-round,evenintheicySwiss

winter.InareasdevotedtoEDMand

grinding,thecostofconstanttempera-

turecontrolisnotquiteashigh.

Noteveryoneintheindustryappreci-

atesthatprecisionrequiresadefined

temperature.Evenexpertsinlarge

companiesaresometimesunawareof

this.“Sometimeago,”Rüeggtellsus,

“weproducedatoolandhaditsentbya

forwardertothecustomerinthe

evening.Thiswasinthewinter,andthe

toolwasstoredovernightinanun-

heatedvehicleshedanddeliveredthe

nextmorning.Onarrival,thecustomer

putthetoolstraightontothemeasuring

machine–withouttimeforacclimatisa-

tion–andcomplainedofdimensional

inaccuracy.About24hourslaterandat

atemperatureof21degreesCelsius–

surprise,surprise!–allthedimensions

werespot-onwithmicrometre

precision.”

WhentheFormulaOneracecarsviefor

pointsandvictoriesinthe2014/15se-

ries,precisionpartsfromPWRinRüti

arealwaysoutonthecircuit.Some

yearsago,whenSauberteamedup

withBMWinFormulaOne,theSwiss

companyspecialisedinengineand

transmissioncomponentssuchasdif-

ferentials,shiftdrumsandshiftforks.

Now,sincethereorganisationofthe

Sauberraceteam,itismainlyhigh-pre-

cisioncomponentsforchassisadjust-

mentthatleavethecompany.For

Rüegg,ManagingDirectorofthecom-

panywithits30-strongworkforce,itis

“When a Swiss toolmaker says ’precision’, he’s talk-ing about micrometres,” Thomas Rüegg tells us. Maximum precision for him is more than a slogan, for it is the key to success for the innovative com-pany from Rüti in Switzerland. For years, the produc-tion of precision tools was the main activity of the company founded in 1963. Today, PWR sees itself more of a maker of precision parts in small and me-dium series. Its customers come from many sectors. Top of the list is motor racing with the Sauber Formula One team, which, together with customers from the automotive industry, aerospace and medi-cal technology, keeps the production shop ticking over. Classical mould- and toolmaking for machine manufacturers, the plastics sector and packaging industry is no longer as important at PWR as it used to be.

PWR

Specialists in small, high-precision series

Profile07.2014 35

EDMandmore

34 PWRPräzisions-WerkzeugeAG

EDMandmore

Precisionunderhighdeadlinepressure

Ifyouwanttostayintherunningin

FormulaOne,you’vegottobequick,

andnotonlyonthetrack.Fromitscom-

ponentsuppliers,theindustryexpects

notonlymaximumprecision,butalsoa

gooddealofflexibility.Ifapartisdam-

agedduringtraining,areplacementhas

tobesuppliedvirtuallyonthespot.The

wholecompanyisthenunderpressure

andhastoworkintotheeveningand

nightandatweekends.“Thecustomer

justifiablyexpectsareplacementpart

thatisfabricatedspeedilybutalsowith

absoluteprecision,”saysRüegg.

Tocarryoutsuchworktoperfection,a

companyneedsnotonlyadvancedand

adaptableequipment,butalsoskilled

andcommittedemployeeswhoidentify

withwhattheydo.Rüeggrelieson

highlyskilledmechanicsforwhomreg-

ularfurthertrainingisamatterofcourse,

asPWRdependsforitsexistenceonits

highstandardsofworkmanship.“Our

goal,”saysRüegg,“isalwaystobea

noseaheadofthecompetition,and

that’swhyweinvestregularlyinnew

technology.”

Theproductiondepartmentisthusdom-

inatedbyhigh-techmachines,starting

withuptofive-axismillingmachines

throughtoadvancedCNC-controlled

turningandgrindingcentresforcoordi-

nate,cylindricalandeccentricgrinding,

lappingandpolishing.Wirecutting,die

sinkingandstart-holedrillingmachines

arealsoincludedinthebatteryofhigh-

grademachinery.And,finally,thereisa

3Dmeasuringmachine,whichisabso-

lutelyessentialinacompanywhose

ethosofprofessionalismentailsmeas-

uringandrecording.

MitsubishiElectricEA12VAdvance

PWR’smostrecentacquisitionisthe

MitsubishiElectricEA12VAdvance.The

all-roundmachineinstalledattheendof

2013istechnicallyhighlyadvanced.

“We’veagainturnedtoMitsubishi

Electric,”Rüeggexplains,“becauseour

experienceovermanyyearswiththe

companyanditsEDMmachineshas

beennothingbutexcellent.Ourconfi-

denceinMitsubishiElectrictechnology

hasthereforegrown.”

“BeforeweinvestedinourfirstMitsubishi

Electricwirecuttingmachine,ourcus-

tomerSaubergaveusanudgeinthe

rightdirection,”Rüeggcontinues.“The

employeesatSauberwereenthusiastic

aboutthemachinesandcertainlyinflu-

encedourdecision.”Withoutthe

FormulaOneconnection,PWRmaynot

havelookedascloselyattheMitsubishi

Electricmachines,asitsexperience

withwirecuttingmachinesfromother

manufacturerswasalsoencouraging.

AreferencevisittoSauberduring

whichPWRwasabletotryoutanFA-

20SAdvanceitselfandproducea

numberofsamplepartssoonswayed

Rüeggsenior.“Thequalitywasright,

theworkingspeedwasimpressiveand

thepeopleatSauberwerefullofpraise

forMitsubishiElectric,”JosefRüegg

enthuses.“Andweweresohappywith

thefirstFA-20Sthatweorderedasec-

ond,identicalmachinewithinayear.”

Forthemostrecentinvestmentdeci-

sion,thoseresponsibleatPWRagain

choseaMitsubishiElectricwirecutting

machine,thistimeanEA12VAdvance

with3RWorkpartnerAutomation.They

wantedahigh-performance,high-tech

machinethatsuitstheirproductportfo-

lio.Itwassoonclearthattheywanted

tobuildontheirpromisingexperience

withMitsubishiElectric.Sincethe

EA12VAdvancehasonlybeeninoper-

ationforafewweeks,PWRdoesnot

yethavemuchpracticalexperience

withthemachine.Butthefindingsso

farhavebeenencouraging.

Programmingandexecutionfromasinglesource

“Specialistsnotonlyachievetheexcep-

tional,buttheyalsoneedresponsible

tasks,”saysRüegg.“Althoughwehave

acentraljobschedulingdepartment,

wedon’thaveourownprogrammer.”

AtPWR,eachmachineoperatorpro-

gramshisownjobhimself.Andeach

employeehashisownwayofgoing

aboutthis.“Wesetthegoal,”saysthe

boss,“andthemechanicsthemselves

decidehowtogetthere.”Theem-

SothatthedriversinFormulaOnecanbringthe

engine’sfullpowertotheroad,theshiftforksare

precisionwire-cuttowithinafewmicrometres.

Themoreaccuratelythegearwheelsinthegear-

boxaretuned,thelowerthepowerloss.

ShiftdrumofaFormulaOnevehicle.Gearsare

shiftedateachcam.

ployeeprogramshispartshimselfand

getsdowntoworkatthema-

chineassoonashe’sready.

Thisway,thejobsarenot

onlymoreinteresting,

buttheemployee

bearsfullre-

sponsibilityfor

theprogram-

ming.“PWR

hashadnoth-

ingbutposi-

tiveexperience

withthisexact-

ingwayofdoing

things.It’salsoone

ofthecornerstonesof

ourqualityandprecision,”

saysRüeggsummingup.

Win-winsituationthankstoclearidentification

PWRaspirestobetechnologically

aheadofthecompetition.ForThomas

Rüegg,thisismadepossiblenotonly

byhigh-techproduction,butalsoby

qualitycontrolandlogistics.“Inthe

EuropeanUnion,everycowhas

itsownuniqueIDclipped

ontoitsearssothatits

pathfromitsbirthto

theabattoircanbe

traced,”Rüeggex-

plains.“Intoolmak-

ing,thetoolisusu-

allyaccompanied

bythemeasurement

recordanddata.

However,uniqueiden-

tificationonthetoolit-

selfistheexception.”

Thisqualityshortcomingwastherea-

sonforthecompanytoinvestinalaser

printersometimeback.Sincethen,

eachworkpiecegetsitsownfabrica-

tionnumberandisthusunmistakably

andpermanentlymarked.“Thecon-

sistentapplicationofthistechnology

benefitsbothsides,usandthecus-

tomer,”Rüeggexplains.“Thecustomer

canclearlyidentifyeachpartevenafter

severalyearsandwecanquicklyfish

thecompleteproductiondataoutof

thearchiveandproduceanidentical

replacementpartifneedsbe.”

www.pwr.ag

Inthelastfewyears,PWRhasdevelopedintoamakerofprecisionpartsandofsmallandmediumseries.

» The employeesat Sauber were

enthusiastic about the machinesand certainlyinfluenced

our decision. «

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 37

EDMandmore


Profile07.2014 39

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35


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27Full qualityCaleffi

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Professionals in Profile: Thomas Rüegg


PWRPräzisions-WerkzeugeAG,

Rüti,Switzerland

Foundingyear:

1963

Managingdirector:

ThomasRüegg

Numberofemployees:

30

Corebusiness:

Productionofsmallseriesofprecision

partsandtoolmaking

How would you describe in a sentence what your company does?

We make highly complex components.


Cleaning windows as a schoolboy.


My family and the pleasure of my work.


years ago?

It takes me longer to lose my cool.


We shall automate our processes and produce more high-end parts.


The integration of ADAXYS Solutions AG in our company at the turn of the

year 2011/12.


With my family, mountain-biking and skiing.


If they can stay flexible and still be purposeful.



I run a company.

www.pwr.ag

PWRPräzisions-WerkzeugeAG

Neuhofstrasse10

8630Rüti

Switzerland

Tel +41.55251.44-00

Fax +41.55251.44-09

[email protected]

EDMandmore


TYROLIA

When it comes to wire cutting, TYROLIA, the trendsetter in ski bindings, places its faith entirely in the MV-R Series from Mitsubishi Electric.

Cutting edge

HTMSportGmbHandtheTYROLIA

brandhavebeensynonymouswithin-

novationintheskibindingsectorfor

over80years.Thecompanyfoundedin

1847as“WienerMetallwaren-,

SchnallenundMaschinenfabrik

Ges.m.b.H.”inSchwechat,Austria,has

beenmakingskibindingssince1928.

With1.1millionbindingsetsproduced

eachyearandamarketshareofover30

percent,HTMSportistheworldmarket

leader.About90percentofitsoutputis

exportedto32countriesaroundthe

globe.Withaworkforceof210employ-

ees,TYROLIAgeneratedsalesofEUR

40millionin2012.In2001,TYROLIA

becamethefirstcompanyintheski

bindingindustrytoobtaincertification

toISO9001/2000.

Onthemove

Ofcourse,thisdidnothappenover-

night.Uptothepresentdaytheski

bindinghasundergoneconsistentde-

velopmentandrefinement,makingit

thehigh-techproductwell-knowninthe

skiingworldtoday.Thereismoretoa

skibindingthanmeetstheeye.Well

over100individualpartshavetobeas-

sembledtoproduceacompleteunit.

HTMproducesvirtuallyalloftheparts

requiredforaskibindingitself–only

thescrews,boltsandspringsare

boughtin.Theresultantshortdistances

meanthatthecompanycanrespond

swiftlytochangesinthemarketanden-

suresmoothandcost-effectiveproduct

development.“Therearealotofadvan-

tagesinhavingourownmodern

toolshop.Ourtasksincludesample

construction,cuttingtools,jig&fixture

constructionandtheproductionofin-

jectionmouldingsaswellasthesuper-

visionofotherdepartmentslikethe

printshopandassemblyactivitiesinthe

CzechRepublic,”explainsRaimund

Premauer,ToolshopManager.

SothattheSchwechatlocationcan

holditsowninternationallyandsatisfy

therequirementsofsuchbig-name

brandsasHEAD,FISCHERandELAN

whoseproductshavebeenbenefiting

foryearsfromTYROLIA’sknowledge

andskills,severalfactorsareimportant,

Premauerbelieves:“Outstandingman-

powerandanadvancedandflexible

machineparkareessentialforouraspi-

rations.”TYROLIAhasbeentakingre-

sponsibilityforthequalityofitswork-

forceforyears,withastrongemphasis

ontheall-roundabilitiesofitsemploy-

ees.“Theworkloadofourtoolmaking

capabilityhasbeensteadilyrisingover

theyears.Contractingoutsurpluswire

cuttingjobsisnotagoodideainour

business,”saysPremauer.Thisiswhy

TYROLIAhasbeencontinuouslyinvest-

inginnewmachinetechnologies.

Revolutionaryprecision

Sincethetoolsforbindingproduction

arebecomingincreasinglycomplexand

intricate,onlythebestandmostad-

vancedsolutionsareacceptableto

TYROLIA.Itthereforepurchasedtwo

MitsubishiElectricwirecuttingma-

chinesoftheMV-RSeries(anMV1200R

andanMV2400R)thissummerthat

haveimmediatelymadetheirmarkwith

theirrevolutionaryfeatures.“We’veim-

provedagainonouralreadyhighpreci-

sionbyusingtheOpticalDriveSystem

incombinationwiththeTubularDirect

Drivesandtheisolated,hardenedta-

bles.And,additionally,thenewma-

chinesrunmuchmoreefficientlyand

withlowerresourceconsumption,”

Premauerreports.Thisnotonlymeans

fasterwirecuttingduetotheelimina-

tionofacuttingcycle,butalsosignifi-

cantsavingsinenergyandconsuma-

bles–afactthatishighlygratifyingnot

onlyfromtheeconomicpointofview,

TheTYROLIAproductrangeincludeshighlyfunctionalskibindingswithuniquesafetyfeatures–

adaptedtothediversifiedneedsofskiers.

Thefirstskibindingwasproducedin1928.

Industrialproductiongotunderwaytenyearslater.

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 41

EDMandmore

40 TYROLIA

... or at least your neighbour’s does. Worldwide, one car in three is equipped with PET safety components from the world market leader. Wiesauplast attaches special importance to accuracy. For only a flawless injection mould can produce flawless plastic com-ponents that satisfy the highest standards and the needs of func-tion and component safety. The company’s own mouldmaking ac-tivities therefore play a crucial role. For production of the moulds, high-precision and dependable machines are required.

Thearchitectureisinitselfstriking.Thecompany

Wiesauplastislocatedinamodern,light-flooded

buildingsurroundedbymeadowsandforests.

“Peoplesimplyenjoyworkinghere,”saysAlbertS.

Zitzmann,ToolshopManagerandinchargeof

mouldmakingatWiesauplast.Butofcoursethe

workitselfisalsoexciting.“Theproductsthatwe

makeforourcustomershavetobehighlyprecise

andforthisweneedimmaculatemouldsproduced

withextremeaccuracy.”Wiesauplastistheworld

marketleaderwithsensitivePETsafetycompo-

nentsforbrakesystemsandequipsmorethanone

carinthreeworldwidewithhigh-precisionplastic

parts.Foramouldforoneoftheroughly60injection

mouldingmachinestobefabricatedandcomplete

alltheroundsofapproval,ittakesallof

WIESAUPLAST

Your car runswith Wiesauplast ...

forminimisedresourceusageisalso

goodnewsfortheenvironment.

Strongsupport

AnotherfeaturethatTYROLIAalsoben-

efitsfromistheimprovedwirethreading

oftheRSeriesthatmakesitpossibleto

threadupto100mmwithoutawaterjet

andhencetothreadinthekerf.“Our

dealerHaraldUmreichGes.m.b.H.not

onlygaveusexcellentadviceduringthe

investmentdecision-making

process,butalsodida

greatjobofworkwith

machineerection,

installationand

stafftraining,”

says

Premauerforwhomthe

partnershipwith

Umreichwasanim-

portantfactorinthe

achievementofthe

plannedquality

goalsinwirecutting.

“Theguyshaveprac-

ticalexperienceand

reallyknowwhat

they’retalkingabout,

andanyquestionswehad

werereliablyandcompetently

answered.Byconsultingwiththem,we

haverepeatedlyachievedfurtherim-

provementsinourfieldsofapplication.”

Asatrendsetterinfunctionality,tech-

nologyanddesign,TYROLIAhastrans-

formedtheskibindingintoahigh-tech

productthatcompetitiveskiersprefer.

Itsclaimtosuperla-

tivequalityand

uniquesafety

featureslike

thediagonal

toesandheel,

theTRPtoe

system,ABS,

FreeflexPro

Systemandinte-

gratedsystems

likePowerRailand

LiteRailhavesecured

TYROLIA’spositionastheNo.1inthe

industry–andthecompanyin

Schwechatnowalsotrustsinthetech-

nologyandprecisionoftheMitsubishi

ElectricMV-RSeries.

RaimundPremauer,ToolshopManageratTYROLIA,andHaraldUmreich,ManagingDirectorofMitsubishiElectricdealerHaraldUmreichGes.m.b.H,in

frontoftheMV1200R

www.tyrolia.com

» Outstanding manpower and an

advanced and flexible machine park are essential for our

aspirations. «

Withtheirmetalslidingelement,theTYROLIA

“AAAmbition”bindingsensureconstantreleasevalues

whilealsoyieldingabroadersupportsurface.

Profile07.2014 43

EDMandmore

42 TYROLIA

EDMandmore

achievethesamesurfacefinish,

Königreckons.Therearealso

savingsinwireandpower

consumption.Thiswhere

optimisedwirerunning

speedsfordifferentma-

chiningconditionsonthe

newMV2400Rreducewire

consumptionbyasmuch

as45percent.Awide

rangeofmaterialsarepro-

cessedonthemachine,rangingfromhardened

steelandaluminiumtocopperandgraphite.In

additiontoslidesandguides,copperandgraph-

iteelectrodesareproducedontheMV2400R.

Thedrivesystemisalsoimpressive:“Itwasimpor-

tantformenottohaveanyrotatingspindles.”The

TubularDirectDrivesarepositionedinthecentre

ofthemovingweightforsmoothaxismovement.

Theidealpositioningoftheglassscalesintheim-

mediatevicinityoftheworkingareaensureshigh

precision.Thankstothevirtuallyloss-freeannular

magneticfieldastheeffectivedrivingforce,power

consumptionisreduced.Thedesignpermitshigh-

precisionaxialmovementswithoutbacklash.

Wiesauplastisverytakenbytheautomatic

threadingofthecuttingwire.

Whatevertherequirement–sub-

mergedbreakpointinsertion,

threadinginthekerforthread-

ingafterinterruptionsinstart-

holedrilling–thefurtherre-

finementoftheIntelligentAG

threadingsystemhassur-

prisedevenseasonedusers,

asKönigadmits:“Brochures

canpromisealot,butthisis

Justoneofthework-

piecesmachinedon

theMV2400R

HaraldKönigthreadingthenew

wire–noproblem

thankstoautomatic

wirethreading.

32weeks.“Urgentinquiriesaresometimespro-

cessedfaster,”saysZitzmannsmiling.

Suchamouldconsistsofupto150individual

partsthathavetofittogetherperfectly.Sothatthe

customers’highqualitystandardsarecomplied

with,absoluteprecisionisdemanded.“Wehaveto

geteverythingright,downtothetiniestdetail,”

Zitzmannexplains.“Manycomponentsandsys-

temsthatwemakelaterperformsafety-relevant

functionsinthecar.”

Thecompanymanufacturesamongotherthings

controlhousingsforbrakeboosters,high-preci-

sionplasticpartsforABSandEPSsystemsas

wellasfunctionalassembliesforairconditioning

systems,clutchactuatorhousingsandhybridsys-

temsofmetalandplastics.Anothersourceof

businessissolutionsfortheautomationindustry

andmedicaltechnology.Itsfunctionalpartsand

housingcomponentscanbefound,forexample,

insubassembliesforoutpatientmedicaltreatment,

suchassyringepumpsforpaediatricandneonatal

applications.Anotherfocusisonthedevelopment

ofsolutionsforthesubstitutionofmetalwith

plastics.

Precisionfromtheoutset

Thepreconditionsfortheeconomicsuccess,func-

tionalsafetyandseriesqualityofacomponentare

establishedrightatitsinception.Wiesauplast

thereforeworkscloselywiththecustomersothat

anoptimallydesignedplasticpartistheoutcome.

Oneofthemostimportantactivitiesinthiscontext

isin-housemouldmakingwhichnotonlymakes

useofhypermodernmouldingmachines,butalso

ensuresthenecessaryexactitude.Afundamental

prerequisiteforthisisthehighlevelofautomation

inproduction,furtherprocessingandassembly.

“Thisalsoappliestomouldmakingofcourseand

hencealsotothewirecuttingmachines,”

Zitzmannexplains.Standardisedinterfacemod-

ules,forexample,areasinequanonforZitzmann.

Mostrecently,theCAD/CAMsystemsinthecom-

panyhavethereforebeenharmonisedtofacilitate

rapidandsecuredatainterchange.Finally,theex-

perienceoftheemployeeswhohavebeenworking

forthecompanyformanyyearsformsafurther

cornerstoneofsuccess.

Unbeatableprice/performanceratio

Thecompanyhasbeenmakinguseofthewire

cuttingprocessforover30years,andanFA30

fromMitsubishiElectrichasbeeninactionatthe

plantsince2004.“Obviously,itdoesn’tdisplay

theaccuracyandspeedofthenewmachine,but

itisstillrunningdependablyandsmoothly,”con-

firmsHaraldKönig,whoservicesthismachine

andthemostrecentaddition.Newtothemachine

parkfromsummer2013isanMV2400R.TheR

variantcomeswithmanyexcitingfeatures.The

hardenedfour-sidedframetableensuresthat

largemouldplatescanbeaccuratelyclamped.

Askedaboutwhythismachinewaschosen,

König’sreplyisconciseandtothepoint:“The

price/performanceratioisunbeatable,”adding:

“Whatcountsmostformeisprocesssecurity.It’s

nousetomeifthemachinerunsperhapsalittle

faster,butthewirebreakseverytenminutes.”The

highmachiningqualityalsospeaksforMitsubishi

Electric.“Themachine’saccuracyandhighero-

sionrateareequallyimportant.Thisiswherethe

MitsubishiElectricreallyscores.Farfewerpost-

cutsarenecessaryandthesurfacequalityofthe

workpieceshasrisenconsiderably.”Comparedto

theoldmachine,onecutlessisnecessaryto

PrecisioncountsatWiesauplast.

44 WiesauplastGmbH&Co.KG

» It was important for me not to have

any rotating spindles. «

44

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 45

EDMandmore

Professionals in Profile: Albert S. Zitzmann


WiesauplastDeutschland

GmbH&Co.KG,Germany

Foundingyear:

1958

Managingdirector:

HansR.Ammer

Numberofemployees:

330

Corebusiness:

Productionofinjectionmouldingsmade

ofengineeringplasticsand

mouldmaking


As an apprentice to become a plant fitter with a monthly wage of

108 German Marks.


Having fun with my staff and the pleasure of dealing with people. I also

enjoy jointly identifying challenges and working out solutions.


years ago?

I try to take a more holistic approach so that I can then work out the best

solution.

Where do you see your department in five years’ time?

I hope that the course that I’ve plotted will be successfully continued. The

goal is to achieve even higher efficiency in the development of moulds.


Getting together with friends and during competitive shooting.


A positive attitude and being able to think for oneself – coupled with

cheerful composure.



I create the conditions in which my staff can produce better moulds.

WiesauplastDeutschland

GmbH&CoKG

AmIndustriepark1

95676Wiesau

Germany

Tel +49.9634.88-0

Fax +49.9634.88-55

[email protected]

www.wiesauplast.de

trulybrilliant.I’mparticularlyimpressedby

submergedbreakpointinsertion.Weusedtolose

alotoftimedrainingthewater.Buteventhread-

inginthekerfisquick.Thisiswherewereally

savetime.”

Flyingstart

Acclimatisingtothenewmachinetookjustafew

days,astheoperatorswereusedtotheoldcon-

trolsystem.“Thecontroliseasytohandleand

wehadagraspoftheprocessaftertwo,maybe

threedays.”Theywerehelpedinthisbythe

quickanddirectassistancefromservicein

Ratingen.MitsubishiElectrichasonceagainim-

provedtheuser-friendlinessofthealreadyexem-

plaryAdvancecontrol.Directprogrammingand

thechoiceoftechnologyparametershavebeen

simplifiedsothattheuserreacheshisgoalin

fewersteps.ButWiesauplastalsodiditshome-

work.Asaresultofthestandardisationmeas-

ures,datacompatibilityhadalreadybeen

achievedontheoldFA30–andthisnowproved

usefulwhentransferringtheCAD/CAMdatato

thenewwire-cutEDMmachine.

Conclusion

Wiesauplastisthoroughlyhappywithitsnewin-

vestment–theonlypointofcriticismbeingthe

suboptimallighting,inthemouldmakers’view.But

thatproblemwasquicklysolved,withadditional

LEDlightingbeingfittedduringinstallation.The

verdictoftheseprecisionloversisunequivocal:“If

themachinecontinuestoperformsowell,then

therearegoodchancesofourturningagainto

MitsubishiElectricnexttimearound,”says

Zitzmann.

Lookslikenew,buthasbeeninoperationsince2004:theFA30isstillhighlytreasuredforitsaccuracyandreliability.

www.wiesauplast.de

46 WiesauplastGmbH&Co.KG46

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 47

EDMandmore

ProfessorDr.MichaelMaskos,Directorof

FraunhoferICT-IMMandpreviouslyManaging

DirectorofInstitutfürMikrotechnikMainzGmbH,

isthoroughlysatisfiedwiththeplannedintegration.

“ForusatICT-IMM,thisisawatershedandproof

thatwe’vebeendoingagoodjobofworkoverthe

years.”ThewaywaspavedbytheLandRhineland-PalatinateandtheFraunhofer-Gesellschaftto

whichtheresearchanddevelopmentinstitute

launchedin1990willbeadmitted.Thegoalissuc-

cessfulevaluation.Until2018,integrationwillbe

activelysupervisedbytheFraunhoferInstitutefor

ChemicalTechnology(ICT)inKarlsruhe-Pfinztal.

“TheIMMwasfoundedtosatisfythedesireinthe

regionforapoolingofprecisionmachiningexper-

tise.Implicitinitsfoundingwastheintentionto

supportsmallandmedium-sizecompaniesthat

areunabletoconductresearchinthisfieldthem-

selvesbecauseoftheassociatedhighcost,”says

Maskoslookingback.“Sinceourlaunch,weat

IMMhavebeengivingpotentialuserstheopportu-

nitytofindoutabouttheadvantagesofdifferent

processesonourpremises.”Thisalsoappliesto

wirecuttinganddiesinkingmachinesfrom

MitsubishiElectricthatIMMhasbeenusingsince

2007.Thiswaswhentheinstituteestablishedits

EDMCompetenceCentreandinvitedMitsubishi

Electrictoparticipateasanactivecooperation

partnerformicromachininginwirecuttinganddie

sinking.Thegoalistoexpandtheknowledgeand

technicalpossibilitiesofbothsidesandmaintain

therespectiveleadingpositionsinthemarket.

Aboveall,theyaimtojointlyhelpuserstooptimise

existingstandardtechnologiessothattheycan

transcendtheirownproductionboundariesand

thusexpandconsiderablytheirrangeofproducts

andservices.

Qualityratherthanquantity

ThebranchesofindustryforwhichFraunhoferICT-

IMMconductsdevelopmentworkinthemicropro-

ductionsectorincludetheautomotiveandaviation

industryandmedicaltechnology.Theinstitute

wishestorefinetechnologiessoastoshortenma-

chiningtimeandimprovequalityandprocessse-

curity.Qualityratherthanquantityiscalledfor.

Withover15yearsofexperienceinmicromachin-

ing,FraunhoferICT-IMMisabletoachieveout-

standingresultsintandemwithitshigh-perfor-

mancepartners.Maskospointsupintheair:

“Componentsfromourinstitutecanbefoundon

Mars–forinstance,aparallelisationsystemfor

X-rayspectrometers.”Microproductiontechnolo-

giesarerequiredwhenit’saquestionoftheeffi-

cientdevelopmentandproductionofindividual

precisionparts,subassembliesandcomplexsys-

tems.FraunhoferICT-IMMworkswithalmostall

typesofmaterials,fromplasticstohigh-alloy

steelsandhardmaterials.Forthis,theinstitute

usesabroadrangeofproductiontechnologies,

whichitcanflexiblycombineinanyorder.

FraunhoferICT-IMMcanthuscreateabasisforthe

developmentofmachiningstrategiesandextend-

ingthescopefortheproductionofmicrocompo-

nentsand-structures.Inadditiontothis,bypool-

ingresearchanddevelopmentexpertiseonthe

onehandandproductionknow-howontheother,

theinstituteoffersitspartnersaccesstocustom-

isedmicrosystemtechnologysolutionstranscend-

ingcommerciallyapplicablestandards.Inaddition,

bycombiningmethodsandprocessesfromdiffer-

entfieldsoftechnology,furtherandunconven-

tionalapproachescanbeexploredforthedevel-

opmentofapplications.Allinall,Fraunhofer

ICT-IMMcoverstheentirespectrumofservices–

fromadvice,designandengineeringthroughto

productionandassembly.Astricteyeiskepton

ProfessorDr.MichaelMaskos,

DirectorofFraunhofer

ICT-IMM,seesthe

plannedintegrationin

theFraunhofer-

Gesellschaftasproof

ofthegoodjobof

workthathisteamhas

doneovertheyears.

FRAUNHOFER ICT-IMM

AtICT-IMM,potentialuserscanfindoutabouttheadvantagesofdifferentprocesses,e.g.wirecuttinganddiesinking.

48 FraunhoferICT-IMM

The ink on the contract has dried and Mainz Institute of Microtechnology (IMM) is on its way to becoming an independent Fraunhofer Institute. And also in-volved is Mitsubishi Electric. At the institute’s EDM Competence Centre, the company is one of the cooperation partners for micromachining in the wire cut-ting and die sinking sector.

A good job of

work

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 49

EDMandmore

Proudofitsachievements

Maskosemphasisesthat

Fraunhoferhasverystrict

rulesfortheadmissionofa

newinstitute.Soheisjusti-

fiablyproudtoseehisIMM

onitswaytobecominga

FraunhoferInstituteinitsown

right.“We’veworkedhardto

buildupthenecessaryconfidence.

Forinstance,byfounding18newcompanies,16

ofwhicharestillgoingstrong.Weestablishstart-

upsfrominternalunitsassoonastheybecome

profitable.Thisishowwe,asanon-profitinstitu-

tion,alsocreatehigh-gradejobs.”Againstthis

background,Maskosandhisteamarelookingfor-

wardtointegration.WiththesupportofFraunhofer

andtheLandRhineland-Palatinate,theinstitute

planstoextenditspremisesin2016andthus

broadenitstechnicalcapability.Theywillthen

havemorespacefortheirworkandwillbeableto

achievemoreintheEDMsectorinthelongterm.

Allthepartnersoftheinstitutealsoultimatelyben-

efitfromintegrationintheFraunhofer-Gesellschaft.

Theadvantagesincludealiveliertechnologicalex-

change,anabundanceofconceivablenewcoop-

erativeventuresandthemodernisationandexten-

sionofinfrastructure.Maskos:“Wearealso

extendingourcorecompetencesandourspec-

trumofservicestomakeusmoreattractivefor

newcustomers.”

(ThenextissueofProfilewillincludeasupplemen-

taryarticleonFraunhoferICT-IMM’scooperation

withMitsubishiElectricwhichwillshedlightonthe

technicalaspectsofcooperation.)

» In our cooperation with

Mitsubishi Electric, we have been engag-ing in a successful, close technology partnership for many years. «

feasibilityandcost-effectivenessatallstepsin

theprocess.Akeycontributiontosuccessisalso

madebytheexperiencedemployeesoftheinsti-

tutewiththeirinterdisciplinaryoutlook.

Successfultechnologypartnership

“InourcooperationwithMitsubishiElectric,we

havebeenengaginginasuccessful,closetech-

nologypartnershipformanyyears,”Maskos

stresses.“Thishasinvolvedputtingthecompany’s

newEDMmachinesthroughtheirpacesbefore

theirmarketlaunchinEuropeand,intheborder

areaofmicrostructuring,technologicallyassess-

ingthemachinesfortheirmarketabilityandrelia-

bilityintestsandapplications.Thisiswherewe

haveworkedatlengthontechnologytables,ex-

ploredthetechnologicalboundariesand,inajoint

effortwithpartnersfromJapan,rolledthese

boundariesback.It’sexcitingtoseetheperfor-

manceandprecisionthatcanbesqueezedoutof

themachinesoutsidestandardapplicationswith

skilfulprocesscontrol.”In2013,IMMagainreiter-

ateditsaspirationtobeattheforefrontoffuture

themesofrelevancetosocietyby

establishingitscompetencearea

MicrostructureTechnologyforNanoparticles

(Micro4Nano).“Bytakingthisstep,weareplotting

agrowthcourse.Inotherwords,wearesecuring

jobsforhighlyskilledpeopleandpossiblycreating

furthernewjobsinthemediumterm,”Maskosex-

plains.Inthenanotechnologyfield,itisfor

FraunhoferICT-IMMprimarilyaquestionofnano-

particlesinsolutions.Reproducibleresults,

achievedbytheinstituteinspeciallydeveloped

processes,areachallengeinthisfield.Oneofthe

stepping-stonesismicromachining.“Butwe’rein-

terestednotonlyininventingthings,butalsoin

puttingthefindingsintopractice,”saysMaskos.

“Wethereforemakefulluseofthediversityofex-

pertiseinourteam,whichisoneoftheuniquefea-

turesofourinstitute.”IMMcanbeproudofwhatit

hasalreadyachieved.Maskos:“Weareaheadof

thefieldinmanytechnologicalareaswherehigh-

precisionpartsareconcerned.Examplesofthese

arethecomponentsforaresearchsatellitewitha

detectionaccuracyof30mwhichisdueforlaunch

in2016.”

Thankstoalivelier

technologicalex-

change,Mitsubishi

Electricwillalsobene-

fitfromIMM’sintegra-

tioninthe

Fraunhofer-

Gesellschaft.

Attheinstitute’sEDM

CompetenceCentre,

MitsubishiElectricis

oneofthecooperation

partnersformicroma-

chininginwirecutting

anddiesinking.

50 FraunhoferICT-IMM

www.imm.fraunhofer.de

50

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 51

EDMandmore

HereinAnnecyintheFrenchAlpsiswhereitall

beganin1947.Foundedasafamilybusiness,

Salomoninitiallycraftedskisandlaterthematch-

ingbindingsinasmallworkshop.Sincethen,

Salomonhasevolvedintoasportsequipment

manufacturerthathasmadeanameforitself

mainlyinwintersports.GillesHeritier,inchargeof

wireEDMinSalomonSA’sdevelopmentdepart-

ment,runshisfingeroverthemetalpartsofaski

bootthathavebeencutontheMV2400STubular.

“Weusethemachineforproducingprototypesof

themetalpartsthatweneedforski

bootsandbindings.Bothofthese

areproductsofourswithalong

tradition.”

Backinthemid-Sixtiesof

thelastcentury,thecom-

panydevelopedskibind-

ingswithanautomaticre-

lease,alsoknownassafety

bindings.Thiswasaninnova-

tionthatcatapultedSalomon

toworldleadershipin1972

withsalesofoveramillion

bindings.ForskimanufacturerZaiin

Graubünden,thecompanylistedontheLyon

StockExchangeproducesspecialskibindings

thatareanastonishing350gramslighterthanthe

conventionalalternatives.ThefirstSalomonski

bootwassuccessfullylaunchedin1980.Today,

Salomonistheworld’sbiggestskibootmanufac-

turer.However,thelion’sshare,about60percent,

oftheworkontheMV2400STubularisfororders

fromMavic,amakerofqualitycyclesandcycling

accessoriesthat,likeSalomon,belongstothe

FinnishAmerSportsGroup.

Theoperatorcutssmallpartsonitduringtheday.

Forbulkierworkpieces,thecompany,whichhas

alsobeenproducingsummersportsequipment

since1984,runsthemachineunmannedatnight

andatweekends.Inadditiontotheprototype

componentsforskiboots,skibindingsandcycles,

theMV2400Salsomachinespartsusedinthefab-

ricationofend-products.Theworkpiecesmeasure

anythingfromafewmillimetrestothesizeofthe

machine’sfullworkspace.

Highprecisionatshortnotice

Theprojectmanagerplacesaprecisionpartonthe

table.“It’simportantforustocutasaccuratelyas

possible.Afterall,wewanttoachievehighvisual

qualityandaboveallsafetyfortheathlete.Inview

ofthis,weattachimportancenotonlytoaccuracy,

butalsotosurfacefinish,parallelismandcontour

trueness.Highmachiningspeedisalsoimportant.”

Aprerequisiteforthedesiredprecisionisthema-

chine’sdriveconceptwithitstubularshaftmotors

andtheOpticalDriveSystem(ODS).Withinthe

ODS,datainterchangeishandledbyanoptical

network.Theadvantageofthisisthat,byusing

opticalwaveguides,MitsubishiElectric’s

ODSfacilitatesmuchfasterand

moreefficientcommunication

betweentheCNCcontrol,

servoboostersandTubular

DirectDrives.

GillesHeritierstressesan-

otherpointthatisimportant

forhiminhisdailywork.“We

needwireEDMsothatwe

canrespondswiftlytourgent

orders.Wecanmasterthisspe-

cialchallengewiththeaidofthe

MV2400STubular.We’reconsequentlyin

apositiontokeeptothetightdeadlinesthatwe’re

confrontedwithonadailybasisandnolonger

havetofarmoutwork.”Thetightdeadlinesmainly

arisebecauseofnewlydevelopedprototypesor

becauseofmodificationstothesecomponents

thathavetobeimplementedatshortnotice.And,

asHeritiernotes,thefirstmanufacturerwitha

productonthemarkethasanadvantageoverthe

competition.

Consistentfurtherdevelopment

However,inchoosingthemostsuitablewire-cut-

tingsystem,Salomontookitstime.Thecompany

investedinthemachinetoreplaceonefromthe

competition,andthenegotiationstookovertwo

andhalfyears.TheMV2400STubularwentinto

operationatthebeginningofDecember2013

afterallthecompetitorsparticipatingin

thebiddingprocesshadbeenelimi-

natedoneaftertheother.Heritier

tapstheframeofthewire-cutting

system.“MitsubishiElectric

buildsexcellentmachines.

Thisisdemonstrated

When you visit Salomon, you enter a world of sport. You can mar-vel at the high-class products and glossy photos of athletes in action on show. And you can also marvel at a MV2400S Tubular wire-cut EDM machine from Mitsubishi Electric.

SALOMON

World of sport

RolandFavre,GillesHeritierandAlainColomb(fromtheleft,)infrontoftheMV2400STubular

» Mitsubishi Electric builds

excellent machines. This is demon-

strated by our tests in which the

MV2400S came out on top. «

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 53

EDMandmore

52 SalomonSA

www.salomon.com

byourtestsinwhichtheMV2400Scameouton

top.Thedecisivefactwasthatthemanufacturer

hasconsistentlyfurther-developedthemachine

andwebenefitfromtheresultingrefinements.”

MitsubishiElectrichasalsosystematicallyim-

provedtheautomaticwirethreadingsystem.This

isessentialforalastingboostinworkingefficiency

–anadvantagethatrevealsitselfparticularlyunder

difficultconditions.Forinstance,whenthreading

inthekerfonthickworkpiecesorthreadingafter

interruptionsinstart-holedrilling.AlainColomb,

operatorofthewirecuttingmachine,loadsanew

spoolofwireinthewirestation.“Today,rethread-

ingtakes15seconds–aprocessthatusedtotake

twoandahalfminutes.”

Adifferencelikedayandnight

Heritierseesadifferencelike

dayandnightinrunningcosts,

astheyhavefallensignificantly

thankstosignificantsavingson

filtercartridgesandionex-

changemediaasaresultofre-

duceddielectricflow.Thanksto

thiscombinedwiththeoptimisedgeneratortech-

nologythatmakesiteasiertofilteroutthesludge,

Salomonclaimsonlyatenthoftheformerexpense

inthisarea.Deionisationcostsandwireconsump-

tionhavealsobeencut.Andtheoperatorisalso

highlysatisfiedwiththehighenergyefficiencyof

theMV2400STubularthatfindsexpressioninen-

ergyconsumptionslashedbyupto55percent.

TakingtheoperatingcostsofthewireEDMsystem

asawhole,theyareonlyaboutafifthofthoseof

itspredecessor.

Toclamptheworkpieces,Colombusesclamping

accessoriesthatMitsubishiElectricsuppliesas

optionalextras.Henowstartsthecuttingjobfor

thecomponentdisplayedonthemonitoratthe

controlpanel.“Ipersonallyloveworkingatthema-

chine.It’ssomuchmoreenjoyablethanwriting

CADprograms.I’vegotusedtotheMV2400S

Tubularveryquickly,asit’seffortlesstooperate.”

Programmingisalsoastraightforwardprocess.

RolandFavre,mouldmakingmanagerforskiboots

andinjectionmoulding,pointstoamonitor.“We

usetheCADsoftwareGo2camtowritethedesired

cuttingprogramonthebasisofthedrawing.”The

finishedprogramisthentransferredstraighttothe

totallydigitalADVANCECNCmachinecontrol.Itis

alsoworthmentioningthatFavre,likeallofhis

workmates,enjoysworkingforSalomon.Forthisis

whereemployeescancombinetheirworkwith

sportandbenefitfromtheirallegiancetothecom-

panyintheirfreetimeaswell.

Themetalpartsofthisskibootarewire-cut

ontheMV2400STubular.

Gearpunchwithwire-

cuttoothing

Professionals in Profile: Gilles Heritier und Alain Colomb


SalomonSA,Metz-Tessy,France

Foundingyear:

1947

Managingdirector:

Jean-MarcPambet

Numberofemployees:

900

Corebusiness:

Sportsequipment


Gilles Heritier: As a car mechanic.


Gilles Heritier and Alain Colomb: Sport.


years ago?

Gilles Heritier: We’re more computerised than we used to be. The work-

places are more modern in general today.


Gilles Heritier: As the No. 1 in all areas of sport.


Alain Colomb: Having the chance to work for Salomon.


Gilles Heritier and Alain Colomb: In the mountains.


Gilles Heritier: Honesty.

What failings in others do you find easiest to forgive?

Gilles Heritier: Errare humanum est.



Gilles Heritier: We fabricate objects with electric sparks.

www.salomon.com

SalomonSA

LesCroiselets-Metz-Tessy

Cedex9

74996Annecy

France

Tel +33.4.5065.4141

Fax +33.4.5065.4260

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 55

EDMandmore

54 SalomonSA

When accuracy, durability and user-friendliness are demanded from EDM machines, numerous companies turn to Mitsubishi Electric in the certainty of obtaining heavy-duty and reliable machines.

SALS.r.l.isacompanyinBesozzo,Italythatproducessheet

metalpartsforvariousbranchesofindustryandparticularly

forthehouseholdappliancesandautomotiveindustriesas

wellasforelectronicequipment,electricmotorsandfurni-

turecomponents.Thecompanyhasitsownproductionde-

partmentcontainingnumerouspressesandashopinwhich

mouldsandtoolsarefabricated.SALwentintobusinessin

1960,theyearinwhichItalyachievedthehighestGDPinits

history,asSALitselfnotes.Householdappliancesmadein

Italywereatthetimethebest-knownandbiggest-sellingin

Europe,andelsewhere.Todaythesituationisentirelydiffer-

entandproductionhasbeenrelocatedtocountrieslikePo-

land,Romania,TurkeyandRussia.Anditispreciselyfor

thesecountriesthatthemouldsdevelopedandproducedby

SALaredestined.Exportsaccountforover80%ofsales.

Valuableservices

Washingmachinedoorsanddrums,couplinghooks,engine

covers,stampedcircuitboards,beltspringsandseatbelt

heightadjusters,connectors,seatcomponents(guiderails,

backrestsandseats):thesearejustsomeoftheSAL’smany

products.Thedegreeofdifficultyinvolvedintheirproduction

ismoderatetoextreme.Thecompanystrategynotonlyfo-

cusesonthesupplyofbasicprocesseswheretheinterna-

tionalcompetitionisatitsstrongest,butalsoincludesser-

viceswithhighvalueaddedbecausethesearecapableof

givingitscustomersacompetitiveedge.

DavidePaolillo,ManagingDirectorofthecompanyinLom-

bardy,explains:“We’redirectsupplierstoalmostallhouse-

holdappliancemanufacturersandcomponentsuppliersto

theautomotiveindustry.Toextendouroffering,wehavere-

structuredthecompanyovertheyears.Wefirstestablished

ourowninternaldepartmentforthedevelopmentandpro-

ductionofthevariousmouldsandtoolsthatarenecessaryfor

producing,incooperationwiththecustomer,finishedprod-

uctsandnotjustsimple,stampedparts.Afterthis,wesought

cooperationwithaspecialistintheautomationandrobotics

sector.Thismeansthatwecannowoffersheetmetalprod-

uctsaswellasthetoolsrequiredforthisandeventheauto-

mationofanentireproductionline.Orallthreeservicescom-

bined.Weareonthelookoutforcustomersabroad,since

littleworkisgeneratedathomeinItaly–thecountryisnot

currentlyattractiveforinvestors.Atanyrate,inalltheseyears,

exceptbusinessyear2013,wehaverecordedinsomecases

stronggrowthinsales.”

Tostaybuoyantinanincreasinglycompetitivemarketenvi-

ronmentthatalmostparadoxicallyseeksthebestqualityand

thelowestprice,itisabsolutelyessentialtorespondatten-

tivelytocustomerneeds.Thequalitymanagementsystemof

theLombardiancompanythusextendstoalldepartments–

butnotonlytothese.Forexternalsuppliersarealsocalled

upontoactconsistentlyinaccordancewiththisoutstanding

qualitystandard.“Thisistheonlywaywecanmasterchal-

lengesatthehighestinternationallevel.Itisourclaimtobea

genuine,reliablepartnerthatmakesitsoftendecisiveexper-

tiseavailabletothecustomerforthedevelopmentandrefine-

mentofitsproducts.Ourresearchcoverseverythingfromde-

signtothecreationoftechnology,projectandprocess

solutions.Ourcustomersincreasinglyrequesttheplanningof

alltherequiredplant,whichoftenencompassesentirepro-

ductionlines.Wesometimessetupsuchaproductionlineon

ourownsitesothatproductioncanstartwithoutdelaybefore

theplantcanbeinstalledonthecustomer’spremises.”

SAL S.R.L.

Brightsparks

EDMandmore

56 SALS.r.l. Profile07.2014 57

EDMandmore

serviceandsalesinItaly,

becausetheteststhatwe

havecarriedoutwiththem

overtheyearshaveallbeen

successful–withoutexcep-

tion.Timehasshownthatour

loyaltywaswellplacedbecause

we’veneverhadanyproblems

whateverwiththispartnership.Trueto

ourprincipleofalwaysusingthelateststateof

technology,werecentlyinstalledthelatest

MV2400Rmodel–averyheavy-duty,high-per-

formanceandflexiblemachinethatisidealforthe

machiningofahugerangeofparts.Yetagain,all

ofthemachine’spledgedpropertieshavebeen

confirmedinourdailywork.”

EDMatitsfinest

ThebusyNorthItaliancompanybenefitsenor-

mouslyfromtheautomaticwirethreader.Although

theolder-generationmachinesalsohadthisfunc-

tion,ithasbeenperfectedontheMV2400Rto

suchanextentthatwirethreadingisnowpossible

inthefulldielectrictank.ForSALthismeansbig

savingsoftime.Fortheproductionofsuchcom-

ponentsaswashingmachinedrums,alarge

numberofholeshavetobe

cut.Thankstowirethreading

inthefulltank,oneholeafter

theothercannowbecutun-

mannedwithoutthetankhav-

ingtobeemptiedandrefilled

everytime.“It’sonlyafewmin-

utesofsavedtimeineachcase,but

theysoonadduptohours.Theincreasein

productivityistrulyremarkable.Thisfeatureis

somethingwereallycan’tdowithoutanymore.”

Atagivenspeed,themachinealsoshowsmuch

improvedprecisioncomparedtothepreviousver-

sion.TheItaliancompanyalsomuchappreciates

thesuper-finishfunctionthatensuresasurface

roughnessRaof0.1.Themorepreciseand

smootherthecutprofile,thelongerthetool’sser-

vicelifeinthepress.Thelowertheangularand

surfaceaccuracy,thebluntertheedge(lackof

sharpangles).Thisoutstandingsurfacefinishhas

beenachievedthankstobettercontrolofconstant

electricaldischarge.

ThenewMV2400Ralsofeaturesanumberoffur-

thertechnologicalcharacteristics.Thehousing

madeofMeehanitecastironensuresalongser-

vicelifeandunchangingprecisionevenonheavy

» The increase in productivity is truly

remarkable. «

TheMV2400Rfrom

MitsubishiElectricin

action

The Italian company also much appreciates the super-finish function that ensures a

surface roughness Ra of 0.1.

Starttofinishonasingleproductionline

SAL’sspecialityisthedevelopmentoffollow-on

compositetools.Tooptimisetheproductionpro-

cess,makebetteruseofresourcesandtechnolo-

gies,simplifytoolmakingandofcoursecutcosts,

thecompanyhasrecentlybeentargetingsolutions

thatautomateproductionasfaraspossibleand

eliminatetheneedforfurtherproductionstepson

othermachines.Thisisthereasonwhyfollow-on

compositetoolsareontheadvance–complete

systemswithslides,ejectorsandmanyotherjigs

andfixtures.Theprocessstartswithconventional

stampingwithfollow-oncompositetools,by

meansofwhichthesheetmetal,withoutleaving

theconveyorbelt,ismachinedataseriesofsta-

tions.Onlythefinalmachiningstage,suchasedg-

ing,perforating,beadingetc.,ontheindividual

itemtakesplaceontransferlines.Thecompany

wantstospecialisefurtherinordertointegratethis

finalstepaswell,creatingacompletesystemin

whichacoilisfedinatoneendandthefinished

productcomesouttheother.Automationcanof-

tenincludepackaging.Insuchcases,theoperator

onlyhastomonitorloadingandunloadingaswell

asthetrouble-freeoperationofthemachinesthat

runcontinuously–duringtheday,atnight,at

weekendsandonpublicholidays.

TheSALworkshopisequippedwithanabundance

ofmachinetoolsofallkinds.Oneofthemostfre-

quentlyemployedtechnologiesiswire-cutEDM

withwhichthevariouspartsoftheramsandbol-

sterplatesareproduced.ThecompanyinLom-

bardychoseMitsubishiElectricasitssupplierfor

thistechnologymanyyearsback.“Weselected

thismanufacturerandOvermach,itsagentfor

58 SALS.r.l.58

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 59

EDMandmore

workpieces.Thestainlesssteeltank

displayssuperlativeresistancetodi-

electric-andsludge-induceddegrada-

tion.Thelineartechnologymakesuse

ofthetubularshaftmotorsinwhicha

high-performance,360°magneticfield

reducesenergyconsumptionwhilethe

specialconfigurationpermitsprecise

axismovementswithoutbacklash.The

non-contactforcetransmissionfacili-

tatesstableandaccurateaxismove-

ments.Themotorsaresituatedpre-

ciselyinthecentreofthemoving

weight,thuspermittingextra-smooth

axismovement,whilethepositionof

theoptoelectroniclinearscalecloseto

theworkspaceensuresprecisioninall

operatingstates.

Themachinecontrolisentirelydigital.

TheOpticalDriveSystem(ODS)uses

opticalwaveguidesforcommunication

betweenthecontrolunit,servobooster

andmotorsforevenhigherprecision.In

short,thismeanshigherproductivity

withthesimplesthandling.Allofthe

featurescombinedcontributepositively

toenergysavingsandreductionsin

runningcosts.Therunningcostsare

muchlowerthanthoseofconventional

machines,fromtheelectricitybilland

wireconsumptionto–thankstotheau-

tomaticcontroloffiltration–filter

consumption.

Afinalword

DavidePaolillosumsup:“We’vebene-

fitedfromtheinnovations,whichwas

whyweboughtthenewmachine.The

otherwirecuttingmachinefrom

MitsubishiElectricinourshopisthe

FA20SAdvancethatstillperformsflaw-

lesslyandisstillhighlyefficient.We

rarelyhaveaneedfordiesinking.Butin

thesecasesaswell,whichcallforpre-

cisionandreliability,wetrustin

MitsubishiElectricbecauseourpre-

ferredsupplierstocksmachinesfrom

theJapanesemanufacturer–evenifit

isnotjustaroundthecorner.”

Therearealsonocomplaintswiththe

technicalservicefromOvermach.

“Mostoftheassignmentswereforother

equipment.We’veneverhadanyprob-

lemswiththewirecuttingmachines.

Nevertheless,we’vefoundthecus-

tomerservicetobeexcellent.Webe-

lieveOvermachisoneofthebestpro-

vidersofmachinesandservicein

machinemanufacture.”

www.sal-italy.com

60 SALS.r.l.

SALS.r.l.

ViaTrieste,81

21023BesozzoVarese

Italy

Tel +39.0332.77761

Fax +39.0332.7776111

[email protected]

www.sal-italy.com


SALS.r.l.,BesozzoVarese,Italy

Foundingyear:

1960

Managingdirector:

DavidePaolillo

Corebusiness:

Machinemanufactureandplant

engineering

SAL also designs and produces finished products like mini-ovens and

pasta cookers. In addition, the company has developed, marketed and

patented an invention of its own called Ecodiger. This appliance is used

for the disposal of residual waste (inclusive of biodegradable substances)

in large undertakings (canteens, hospitals, restaurants etc.). It works on

the electromechanical principle: “We developed the entire process our-

selves, drawing our inspiration from nature but accelerating the process

enormously mechanically and chemically (patented process). The com-

post resembling coffee grounds takes just a few hours compared to the

several months in nature.”

SAL developed and produced this appliance without any outside support.

“Many other countries would have funded such a project. Even the United

States would have supported it because it qualifies as an ecological and

innovative project. In Italy, on the other hand, there was not yet any appre-

ciation of the project’s importance.”

Not only tools

TheprovinceofVareseinLombardy,NorthernItaly

60

EDMandmore

Profile07.2014 61

EDMandmore

long-concealedtruth.You’realready

awarethatanEDMmachineisnotjust

anymachinetool.

Butfillingthegapbetweenthetooland

theworkpiececallsformorethan“just”

technicalproficiency.Don’tletanyone

tellyouotherwise!

Aries(21.03.–20.04.)

TheSunnowmovesintothesignofAries.

Andthisgivesyouanewburstofvitality.

You’rebubblingoverwithideas.How

aboutanewlasercuttingsystem?You

certainlyknowhowtohandleit.Butal-

wayskeeptoyourbreaks–youdon’t

wanttoburnout.

Taurus(21.04.–20.05.)

Venusiscurrentlyresponsibleforplenty

ofsensualityandsocialisinginthesignof

Taurus.Eventhoughyouasaskilled

communicatoralwayshavefriends

throngingaroundyou,thingscanget

evenbetter.Butcautionisadvised!Too

manysparkscancauseafire.Sodon’t

takeriskswithwireEDMandweargog-

gleswhenlasercutting.Asurprisemay

awaityouattheendofthemonth.Anew

romance?

Gemini(21.05.–21.06.)

JupiteriscurrentlyinthesignofGemini.

Youcannowstopyourenemiesdeadin

theirtracksandamazethem.Notonly

withyourincrediblelasercuttingabili-

ties,butalsoinyourtreatmentofthe

workpiece.

MakeuseofthepowerofJupiterout-

sideworkaswellandbroadenyourho-

rizons.Howaboutyoga,meditationor

TaiChi?

This month’s horoscope

CAnCEr (22.06.–22.07)

TheMoonasyourallyrestoressufficientpeaceandsecurity

toyourlife.WithbriefvisitsfromtheSunandVenus,you

canwellandtrulyrelax.Butyoushouldstillmaintainyour

concentration.Anddon’tskimponcleaningeither.

ThoroughnesshashelpedmanyanEDMmachinisttokeep

hisgearinperfectshape.

Leo(23.07.–23.08.)

EDMmachiningisnotforeveryLeo.But

oncetheKingoftheJunglehasbeen

wonover,nothingcantearhimaway

fromit.Atpresentyouclaimthelion’s

shareforyourselfwithyourgoodman-

nersandeasy-goingnature.Butacting

likeadivadoesn’tgodownwellwithyour

workmates.Makeafewmorecompli-

mentsinsteadandoneorotherofyour

mateswillrevealhimselftobeatrue

friend.

Virgo(24.08.–23.09.)

Makeuseofyourimpulsivenessand

thatofPlutoandMars.WithMarsbe-

hindyou,youcannowdiscardallthe

rejectpartsfromyourlife.Howabouta

shortbreakorawellnessweekend?

Thiswillnotonlyrechargeyourbatter-

ies,butwillalsorevitaliseyourgrey

cellssoyoucanconcentratebetteron

yourworkpiece.

Libra(24.09.–23.10.)

InthesignofLibrayoucancurrentlyfind

Saturnastone’sthrowbelowMars.This

bringsyoustrengthandenergyaswell

asnewchallenges.Ispromotioninthe

offing?Orisanewwirecuttingmachine

onitsway?Beready,becauseevena

balancedLibracangolopsidedsome-

times.Sotreatyourselftoarelaxing

breakeverynowandthenandbesureto

unwindwhenyoufinishyourwork.

Scorpio(24.10.–22.11.)

Youdon’tdothingsbyhalves.Andcer-

tainlynotasfaraselectricaldischargeis

concerned.Currentlyundertheinflu-

enceofbelligerentMars,youcanbe

prettypoisonousfromtotime.Tryalittle

gentleprecisionandcalmcomposurein-

stead.Thiswilldelightyourbosswho

willrewardyouforyourindustry.Anun-

expectedopportunitymaybecoming

yourway.

Sagittarius(23.11.–21.12.)

TheMooninthesignofSagittariusups

yourproductivity.Yourworkpiecesarea

classapart.You’realsounbeatableat

wirethreading–butnotasdeftinyour

dealingswithpeople.Restrainyourself

andgetabitmoreexercise.Thisburns

offunhealthyexcessenergyandre-

storesyourconcentrationatthelaser.

Capricorn(22.12.–20.01.)

Don’tjustwork,think!Bestofall,about

whatmakesyouhappy.Underthesway

ofUranus,youexamineyourimageand

findoutwhichofyourfeaturesdeserves

recognition.

Apigheadthatshattersrockandmasters

thearciscalledtohigherthings.Lookfor

achallengeandmovewiththevibesof

alternatingcurrent.

Aquarius(21.01.–20.02.)

You’restillfullofdrive.Thismaybedue

notonlytogettingplentyofsun,butalso

toworkinghardatyourEDMmachine.A

livewirelikeyouisalwayspopularat

companypartiesandwithyourwork-

mates.Butgiveyourhomelifesufficient

attention.Ahealthywork-lifebalancewill

sustainyourenergylevels.

Pisces(21.02.–20.03.)

Plutobringsabreathoffreshair.

Perhapsyoucannowuncovera

User horoscope

FunFun

62 Profile07.2014

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Gooddayformakingmoney

Extra-luckydaysintherespectivecategories

Gooddayforventuresofallkinds

Luckatwork

Profile07.2014 63

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