Dogged determination

Switzerland-based cylindrical grinding machine specialist Fritz Studer, part of the Korber Schleifring group of companies (www.schleifring.net), held its annual 'Studer Motion' meeting in late January – an event where the company underscores business and product developments to an assembled group of international press and sales agents. It is held at the company's Thun location (about 20 miles south and 10 miles east of Bern), at the west end of lake Thunar See – Interlaken is at the eastern end. As is the norm, the company - this year via Stephan Nell, chairman of the board of directors - opened with a commentary on the business situation, allied to an explanation of the motto for the event. In fact, the motto was an image – a St Bernard dog. Why? Because the breed is, variously, strong, powerful, motivated, courageous, reliable intelligent and has endurance, all attributes that Studer assigns to itself, especially in these challenging times. STILL INVESTING The company, he explained is still investing in its facilities and in product development, and is still looking to the future, planning for the long-term. "The company is almost 98 years old; it has seen many crises and will withstand this one," he emphasised. The company saw order volume drop by 50 per cent, but this was far less than the market as a whole, he added. The company had not gone in for price cutting, so saw it market share fall, with saw sales shrinking by 40 per cent – "smaller than the order drop, due to the backlog." But the company made no loss, it was stressed. Image: Studer's headquarters in Thun, Switzerland As for this year, the market is predicted to recover by 20 per cent, but Mr Nell offered that Studer would increase its market share and see orders grow by 25 per cent. However, the rise in sales will be smaller, as the company suggests the market recovery will take place in the second half of the year, so some orders will not be delivered till 2011. A sustained recovery is expected in 2011, although Studer's 2007 sales level will not be achieved until 2013, the chairman of the board revealed. But, extending the St Bernard metaphor a bit more, he concluded by saying: "2009 has been a cold winter, but our cask is well filled. In a year's time, we will shake off the snow and celebrate success again." In the meantime, the company has reacted, explained Michael Horn, managing director, production. Two years ago, an analysis of commodity and value flows was undertaken at Studer, with this laying the basis for a concept for optimising processes and commodity flows, as well as realigning assembly and logistical resources. As a result, at the beginning of 2008, a larger project was undertaken in Thun, which concerned expanding the site's capacity. At the end of 2008, a new warehouse and shipping building was opened, equipped with latest logistics technology and processes, including state-of-the-art RF data transmission technology. A new assembly hall was finished at the end of 2009, with this covering an area of 2,000 m² and will be used, in the future, for the assembly of standard machines and machines with customer-specific solutions. As with the warehouse, latest technologies and assembly procedures are employed here. The investment made over the past three years in support of these developments is, at CHF20 million (£12.4 million), the largest made by the company in last 10 years, underlined Mr Horn, while there's another CHF5 million (£3 million) investment planned for this year – this will see a Waldrich portal grinding machine and Dixi machining centre installed. Studer is one of three sites where Korber Schleifring is concentrating component manufacturing (WKU, Czech Republic, and KSMS, China, are the other two), with its other companies becoming 'system houses' where machines are assembled and customer engineered solutions finalised – Studer, Schaudt, Mikrosa, Blohm, Ewag, Jung and Walter. Image: New assembly hall opening – L to R: Stephan Nell, chairman of the board of directors; Michael Horn, managing director, production; Fred Gaegauf, managing director, technology CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT In support of greater efficiency in manufacturer and assembly, Studer is also involved in a continuous improvement initiative, PULS, which commenced last year. This sees planning in 2009, with the application of 5S, kanban, culture change and RF data transmission; implementation/cascading this year, having the objective of achieving flow-line assembly for two machines (S22 will be one), improved OEE (overall equipment efficiency), reduced setting times (SMED - single-minute exchange of die), improved quality, improved supply chain management and lean logistics; with, in 2011, the outcomes, in business metrics terms, including a 20 per cent reduction in processing time, 30 per cent reduction in delivery time, 95 per cent on-time delivery, and a 5 per cent reduction in working capital. Moving onto machine development, Fred Gaegauf, managing director, technology, emphasised that Studer was a leader, not a follower. He instanced the company's introduction of white base colour machines in 1985 - with this subsequently becoming standard in the industry - while its S33 cylindrical grinding machine is also much mimicked (700 delivered between 2003 and 2009) – "There is nearly no competitor not making use of this concept, even Indian companies have substantially copied the original". And the company underlined the development of this model in its latest guise, which was first unveiled at Europe's biennial manufacturing technology show, EMO, held in Milan last year (see box item, below), with the model's increasing capability and sophistication since first introduced the main point of emphasis. The modular S22 platform (production grinding – plain, form and thread grinding, high-speed grinding or heavy-duty applications with 160 mm wide wheels) and combined process S242 (hard turning and grinding) machines were similarly highlighted as demonstrating technology leadership. "Studer is the best brand in the industry, without doubt. Others measure themselves against us, and that is only possible if you invest, even in hard times." And the company continues to invest in technology development, as Mr Gaegauf highlighted through reference to current research projects. The first group of topics deals with the problem of machining brittle materials, such as ceramic, glass or hard metals, for example, and includes: ultrasonic assisted grinding at high speeds (research concluded this year); spark-erosive dressing of metallically bonded grinding wheels (working with GF AgieCharmilles); hard turning and peel grinding as a technological task, aimed at identifying new fields of application; and the machining methods for long, slim workpieces; in particular, very slim shaped parts. The focal point of the second group of research involves new mechanical engineering approaches: linear motor plus hydrostatic drive and control system – StuderGuide – with a machine under development; high speed, low cost spindles; energy efficiency; simple machine concepts for the Far East; and improvements in its mineral cast machine base. So, this year's Studer Motion event was more about underlining the company's financial strength and investment in manufacturing and product development than actually revealing any brand new machines or developments. It was a message convincingly delivered, however, and appropriately underlined by the chosen event motto/image. Box item The new S33 – building on success Launched in 2003, the company has typically sold over 100 machines/year, although last year that was below, with the target for 2010 at 119 machines. The new S33 will be offered with frequency controlled drives as standard. This means that customers can adjust the cutting speed continuously and optimally to the application. In addition to the production wheelhead, which can be used at 0° and 30°, the new universal head can be fitted with two external grinding spindles and one internal grinding spindle. Both external grinding wheels - 500 mm diameter by 63 mm width (80/110 mm Form 5) - are arranged on the right. The universal head can be manually positioned every 2.5°, or is available with automatic B-axis with 1° Hirth serration. HF spindles are exclusively used for internal grinding. Image: The new S33 Image: The new wheelhead arrangement Image: Example magnetic rotor, electric motor application Image: Example shaft application Image: Example holding fixture application application The design of the S33 allows Studer to achieve up to 1/3 extra grinding length, in comparison with its competitors, it was highlighted. The StuderWIN operator interface on the 15" touch screen is a standard feature. Maximum user-friendliness is ensured by the simple dialog programming on the Fanuc 0i-TD with integrated software modules. An integrated PC offers communication via USB interface. Image: The control system, featuring StuderWIN On the Studer S33, integrated StuderGRIND software modules are available, while StuderGRIND CAM is available for offline programming. New on the S33 is the integration of the software module StuderTechnology. This supports the automatic generation of optimised grinding parameters and provides error checking capability prior to machining. The Studer hand-held PCU control unit has been optimised and now boasts a larger colour display, and offers even more information. This makes handling during set-up and semi-automatic machining more efficient. Image: The handheld unit A further upgrade is the integration of the Dittel 6000 series, in relation to contact detection. Two variants are available. For a simple variant, Studer S6000 pure cut-in detection (Sensitron) features: StuderWIN screen used for operation and display; two possible inputs for active and passive sensors - only one input can be evaluated at a time; individually definable frequency ranges; and Studer software for air gap elimination, based on contact detection with selection of the sensor input and programmable responsiveness. The high end variant is the Dittel AE6000 with electrical contact detection and trend monitoring that features: StuderWIN screen used for operation and display (trend); four active and passive inputs, but once again only one input can be evaluated at a time; and Studer software for sensor selection, programming of responsiveness and air gap elimination on the basis of contact detection. For active length positioning, Studer offers a standard solution from Heidenhain, which is in-process-gauging-independent. At the suggestion of Studer Research & Development, Heidenhain has developed an active length positioning probe specifically for wet applications. This has better repeatability precision. In parallel with the new S33, Studer equipped the smartLoad handling system with a gripper for un-machined and finished parts. This reduces part change time from 18 sec to around 8 sec. A double gripper is used on each unit for longer workpieces. However, it is also possible to define only one individual gripper per unit. The magazine can hold 36 pieces of up to 30 mm diameter. The maximum workpiece dimensions are 100 mm diameter by 300 mm in length. The original variant with only one gripper and a part change time of 15-18 seconds is still available, however. Image: SmartLoad system