Helleris 130 years old

130 years ago, Hermann Heller opened a trading and manufacturing company for patented products and watchmaking tools in Nürtingen, Germany. With the business selling tools of all kinds, the engineer laid the foundations for the long-term success of the company, which entered the mechanical engineering sector in 1898 with the production of cold circular saws, blade skiving machines and thread cutting machines. In 1900, Hermann Heller’s brother Ernst, a trained tradesman, joined the company, marking the birth of ‘Gebr. Heller Werkzeug- und Maschinenfabrik’ (Heller).

Manufacturing state-of-the-art CNC machine tools, Heller today maintains the spirit of a family-run business with a strong sense of tradition. Since 2016, all shares in the group have been wholly owned by the family. Dr Thorsten Schmidt (CEO), Andreas Müßigmann (CFO), Dieter Drechsler (COO) and Peter Weber (CSO) currently manage the group.

For further information www.heller.biz

BMA opts for Uniport 6000 machining centres

For over 170 years, BMA AG has been a well-known developer and manufacturer of machinery to perform all of the core processes involved in sugar production. In addition to its headquarters in Braunschweig, Germany, BMA has subsidiaries in China, Tunisia and the USA.

“As well as manufacturing our own products, such as centrifuges, we make our comprehensive fleet of machinery available to other companies on a contract manufacturing basis,” explains Jens Dohnalek, the production manager for mechanical machining, mechanical engineering, drum manufacturing and electrical and control cabinet construction at BMA.

The CNC machines from Unisign are also located in his department. BMA purchased its first Unisign machines in 1993, a Uniport5 and a Univers6. Two years later, the company took delivery of its first Uniport6 machine, which just like the Univers has been in operation ever since. In 2018, BMA expanded its fleet of machinery once more with the purchase of two Uniport6000 machines.

BMA machines large quantities of various components made of steel, stainless steel (or duplex stainless steel) and cast materials on its Uniport6000 machines.

“The workpieces that we produce include items such as centrifuge components, housings, scaffolding trestles, tube plates, support plates and tubular shafts, and these machines are also able to accommodate larger components,” says Dohnalek. “That’s very important, as it enables us to machine welded assemblies complete. That wasn’t the case before. We had to do the mechanical machining first and the welding afterwards, which was a big disadvantage.”

As a final point of note, BMA made a conscious decision to purchase Uniport6000 machines that offer pendulum machining, so the company can operate using parallel set-ups.

For further information www.unisign.com

Dugard machine is an ace in the hole

Sussex-based Sink Golf, a manufacturer golf putters, has invested in a Dugard 760 machining centre to produce its bespoke products.

Discussing how the Littlehampton business started, company founder Olly Longlands says: “Four years ago I was living in New Zealand and got into CNC manufacturing. I loved it so much that when I returned home to the UK, I bought a 2008 Dugard machine at auction – and I didn’t even know how to turn it on. I called Dugard and they were absolutely unbelievable.With their help and learning from YouTube videos, I managed to get my business up and running.”

Explaining the arrival of the latest Dugard 760 machining centre, Longlands adds: “When I decided to start running the business full-time it just went from strength to strength. I got so busy that I couldn’t keep up with orders using just one machine, so I bought a new one: it wasn’t going to be anything else other than Dugard.”

The company is machining two types of material, 303 stainless steel and mild steel. Now that Sink Golf has two machines, it is possible to perform the first operation on the new machine and undertake facing on the older machine.

“Some clubs have around four hours of machining time, although we also just produced a Damascus club [a process where multiple metals are joined in layers under extreme heat] that took more than 32 hours,” explains Longlands.“Although processing time varies, the rigidity of the new machine enables us to run the tools faster and harder while improving our surface finishes and tool life. This makes us 40% more productive and secondary manual finishing times are reduced.”

For further information www.dugard.com

Variant-rich small batch production with LPPs

Zhengzhou Hengda Intelligent Control Technology specialises in the development, production and sales of key components for intelligent control systems in coal mining.

To produce the often-large components in such a way that they meet the high safety requirements of mining, Zhengzhou Hengda uses machine tool technology from DMG Mori.There are now 14 NH 5000 DCG horizontal machining centre on site,all withlinear pallet pools (LPPs), which play a decisive role in production.

Initially, DMG Mori automated six models in 2018 using an LPP with 48 pallet positions and three set-up stations. The existing two machines were integrated as well. This was followed in 2020 by another LPP with 48 pallet positions and two set-up stations. Here, four automated NH 5000 DCGs were put into operation. The satisfaction with these solutions is reflected in the latest investment.

“In 2022, we purchased another four NH 5000 DCGs with LPPs, which arrived at the end of 2023,” says Wang Haipeng, head of machining at Zhengzhou Hengda. “When it comes to orders for major projects, especially in the area of R&D, we can rely 100% on machines supplied by DMG Mori.”

Zhengzhou Hengda is satisfied with what DMG Mori has accomplished in recent years. Notably, the management team is impressed by the customer-oriented consulting and on-time implementation of projects. Even more important, said the company, was the handling of individual requirements.

“In particular, the integration of existing machines into a new LPP and the associated change in production layout were a major challenge that DMG Mori mastered perfectly.During the adaptation and commissioning, which took almost 20 days, almost all machines remained in normal operation, so production capacity was not affected.” For further information www.dmgmori.com

Starrag HD can cutcycle times by 30%

Now available from Starrag Heckert, the STC1250 HD is the latest addition to the STC series for the machining of the most demanding aerospace structural parts, multi-blades and casings. Starrag says the STC1250 HD machining centre provides excellent static and dynamic properties, as well as a tried and tested rotating head, ensuring its suitability for the heavy-duty machining of titanium and Inconel parts in the aerospace and power generation industries.

Commenting on the machine, Lee Scott from Starrag says: “This is a five-axis machine with a B-axis table that holds the component and an Aaxis on the head; you can actually have an A and C-axis head as well. The new HD is predominantly a machine for optimised roughing and high surface generation finishing of exotic materials.”

The STC1250 HD machining centre offers a 1.25 x 1.25m pallet with a large work envelope for accommodating workpiece loads up to 5000kg. Complementing this capacity is X, Y and Z-axis travel of 2.2 x 1.5 x 2.1m, with a swing diameter of 2.2m.

Discussing reports that the new features of the STC1250 HD can reduce cycle times in titanium machining by more than 30%, Scott adds: “At Starrag’s Aerospace and Turbine Competence Centre in Rorschach, we saw a 63mm deep cut with a porcupine cutter where buckets of swarf continually fell into the base of the machine. Traditionally, what would have been three or four passes with a tool can now be done with a single pass. The machine may draw more power in that single pass, but overall, it has a significantly reduced cycle time when compared with the previous method of multiple passes.”

For further information www.starrag.com