In F1’s teams there are generally two groups of engineers working in parallel to refine the current season engines and also to already work on those for the next season. Both require very reactive sub-contractors capable of providing complex parts in exotic materials under very tight deadlines. Del West Europe located in Roche (Switzerland), at the gates of the Valais, works with all the motors providers and relies on the Miyano BNA-42DHY lathe for the realization of very demanding and (…)

Since its introduction in 2005, the range of Bumotec S191 machines has lived several developments and many innovations have emerged to deal with the very specific demands of its customers. We have reviewed the situation before EPHJ with Guy Ballif its commercial Director. What are the latest news? With more than 400 machines sold in the fields of watchmaking, medical and mechanical sub-contracting, the S191 machine is equipped with linear guides and thermal stabilisation that contribute to (…)

Tornos is continuing to expand its activities in the mid-range machines segment. In association with a machine-tool manufacturer established in China, the Group is investing there in the development of a range of automatic lathes, as well as in setting up its own production capacity. Tornos holds a majority stake in this future joint undertaking. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="492"] Tornos has already a sales subsidiary in Shanghai that offers a complete service, from sales to (…)

Last week about 2’500 visitors from over 1’000 companies were welcomed at the Hermle AG traditional in-house exhibition. During four days customers and prospects were able to discover 30 fully equipped machines and Hermle’s training center. The high proportion of international visitors from over 50 countries who are not afraid of traveling from the United States, Brazil, Korea, China, Russia, Israel and some other Asian countries is encouraging. Guests from almost all EU countries were well (…)

If the capture of movements (motion capture) was developed in the 1980s for the army and then for physiological and medical analyses, it is Hollywood and video games that have developed this technique for recording human movements through sensors to then recreate them in a virtual manner (as in Avatar for example). At EPHJ Crevoisier, the manufacturer of grinding and finishing centres, will present an articulated polishing robot that operates using the same technique. Crevoisier uses the (…)

In Baselworld Willemin-Macodel will unveil a world premiere - the new simultaneous 5-axis machining center type 408PA. This machine has been designed to machine parts of watch movements. The machine will be equipped for the machining on both sides of a watch base plate in one clamping. This method achieves unequalled accuracy compared to machines with partial and distributed machining on multiple points of production. To reduce costs and… The 408PA machine allows working with raw strips (…)

In our previous edition, we exclusively introduced the Tornos SwissNano machine (download it here). Since then, it has been unveiled for the first time at the Tornos open days in Moutier. We wanted to find out how it had been received by customers and hear about the results of this exhibition. Interview with Brice Renggli, marketing manager. "It was an exceptional success: We welcomed 340 visitors - a 30% increase on the previous year’s watchmaking days. We sold 25 machines in a week" (…)

Exciting news from LPKF’s process engineers: StencilLasers can now produce high-precision steps in solder paste stencils, given suitable process control. The process will be presented at SMT 2013 in Nuremberg by the Garbsen, Germany-based specialists in laser-based micromachining and is described in detail on the company’s website. A 110-µm step in a stainless steel foil of overall thickness 150 µm. The trend toward miniaturization in electronics is placing ever greater demands on (…)

“We put on a big spread for our visitors. Come visit us from May 22 to 24, 2013 in Rotkreuz. Take the opportunity to discover a representative sample of our wide range of high quality machine tools” says Pirmin Zehnder, CEO of Newemag. Kinematics of the new 10-axes turning center by Miyano: the BNA 42 GTY. Miyano BNA - 42 GTY - new: 10 axes and small footprint Visitors will be able to admire the Miyano BNA-42 GTY as European first. This new machine is designed with additional features for (…)

If the world of microtechnology is regularly under the spotlights by the arrival of novelties and business transformations, it is quite rare that a piece of news could change the competitive landscape in a radical way. This may well be a consequence of the strategic evolution of VFM Machines in Brügg (Switzerland). Meeting in the premises of the company with Mr. Natalino Valsangiacomo, one of the three founders and Mr. Roland Gutknecht who took over the management of the company at the (…)