On four Traub TNL 12 long turning machines, the dental manufacturer Dentaurum primarily manufactures dental implants, structures for prosthetic care and orthodontics products. Why are they working with these machines? Constraints for medical "We produce up to 200 different products on these machines, which means we have to be able to react to production changes very quickly," explains Klaus Merkle, head of production at Dantaurum. He continues: "flexible production machines are the (…)

Riveting technology, like anything else, needs to keep up with the constant trend toward miniaturization. With the radial riveting machine RN 181 “reduced,” for delicate rivet connections, BalTec has a cutting-edge solution for this challenge, as well. The subtly designed kinematics of this machine allow rivet joints using even very small diameter rivets made of aluminum and fiber-reinforced plastics. It is possible to locate the rivet start when lowering the rivet tool onto the rivet at a (…)

To realize this editorial, I rely on two comprehensive studies on media. The first one called "trends in communication in Europe" is based and a wide European study that took place during 2008. The second called "Media Focus" analyze trends in advertising expenses in Switzerland. What do we learn ? Press is important (!) According to the first survey, in 2008 the customer represent the most important target audience (not that a revolution) for communication and obviously professional press (…)

I went to interview Pierre-André and Etienne Meylan in a company called Piguet Frères at Le Brassus, Switzerland and I didn’t stop thinking about nexialism. In that company, the skills are cleary interdisciplinary and transverse. You need some technique from highly specialised polishing of watch industry to finish a part for a medical device? No problem, functioning in the company allow the specialists to share all these skills and apply them on the right place, even if that’s not "the usual (…)

Peter Wolters GmbH, a manufacturer of high-precision machine tools headquartered in Rendsburg, Germany, today announced the acquisition of the Micron precision CNC grinder range, which is currently manufactured in West Springfield, MA (USA). Peter Wolters boasts a 200-year history of supplying market-leading lapping, grinding, polishing and deburring products for fine-surface optimization of metal, glass, ceramics, plastics and nano-range semiconductor materials for computer chips and LED (…)

Exhibition Grounds fully booked: the world’s leading technology event presents 13 leading trade shows at a single venue. This year, Korea, Asia’s economic powerhouse, is the Partner Country. Boom in wind power continues: premiere of the new flagship fair «Wind». Spotlight on energy efficiency in industrial processes. The show unveils the future The ideas and solutions on show at the 13 flagship shows that make up Hannover Messe will combine to create a unique platform for innovation. Key (…)

The demand for ever smaller components in industry is constantly rising. Yet micromachining follows its own laws. Tolerances must be very tight. This places high demands on the machining tools. An exact run-out and repeatability of the processes are the keys to success. The user can achieve this with the new Rego-Fix ER microsystem. This innovative tool clamping system offers the overall system very high run-out accuracy and optimum vibration dampening. A decisive effect The Rego-Fix ER (…)

It is like a birth, the delivery will be done on time! This new issue is not completely different than the previous ones, but we worked a lot to change things for more simplicity and user friendliness. The content is as follow: Medical General information about the market Medical Cluster Success stories in Switzerland and USA Cleaning Tooling Lubrication In this part of the magazine we emphasize the fact that medical is not that different than any other field... nevertheless, some (…)

Small, compact, energy-efficient, fast, vibration-free, precise .... the high-frequency spindles deliver a hand full of trump cards as they take their place on the precision machining marketplace. Why use spindles of this kind? A meeting at Meyrat SA with Mireille Barras, the Head of Marketing and Christian Walther, the Director of this company. Particular conditions Use of the high-frequency spindle is frequently determined by usage conditions. First case to highlight: machining which (…)

According to a widespread profitability analysis for CNC machining, the value of tooling represents up to 3% of the total value (see chart). Yet, a simple change at this level may have consequences worth several dozen percentage points in profitability. For a better grasp of this phenomenon, we spoke to Didier Auderset, CEO of PX-Tools, located in La Chaux-de-Fonds, home of microtechnology (Switzerland). Calculable consequences To illustrate the example which is the title of this article, (…)