The need for Krenhof AG, an Austrian forgings manufacturer, to produce an increasing number of modular dies for the automotive industry has led to the purchase of two Alzmetall mill-turn centres equipped with Heidenhain TNC 640 controls. They are the first first-axis machining centres in the Köflach factory and were purchased along with a new CAM system.

Franz Krammer, toolmaking manager at Krenhof, says: “Customers in the automotive industry want the 10,000th forging to look exactly like the first, so quality as well as price is increasingly important. One factor helping us to maintain high standards is our use of modular carriers with replaceable die inserts, enabling optimum tools to be used in our forging process to guarantee precision. The universality of the Heidenhain TNC 640 CNC system is also important in achieving top quality standards, as it controls both milling and turning operations on the machining centres.
“Dynamic, precise motion control provided by the TNC 640 CNC exploits the potential of the machine to the full,” he continues. “The control is also convenient to use. Downloading the NC program from the CAM system, for example, is quick and easy via Heidenhain’s TNCremo Windows-based communication software.”
The TNC 640 simplifies the structuring of sub-routines, allowing complex programs to be assembled and run. Krenhof’s young team found no difficulty programming on the shop floor in Heidenhain’s Klartext conversational language. The operators are particularly keen on the availability of numerous canned cycles, such as those for drilling, which are simply and quickly parameterised.
For further information www.heidenhain.co.uk

The 190-employee Knarr Group, located in Helmbrechts, Germany, is a tool and mould maker that manufactures standard parts through to complete mould bases using the HyperMill CAM system from Open Mind Technologies.

Head of department Marco Mergner highlights the importance of HyperMill to the business: “HyperMill not only meets our requirements but plays a decisive role in ensuring that we keep pace and continue to develop. The technical performance of the individual machining cycles with options for multi-axis and five-axis machining, deep-hole drilling, automation and measurement technology, is and remains a decisive factor. Another factor is the user-friendliness of the system, plus the service offered by Open Mind.”
Today, the Knarr Group has a double-digit number of HyperMill licences in various departments. Employees use the software to program mould plates, which can include complex features and freeform surfaces. The mould plates are often machined complete from six sides in two set-ups.
Knarr has demonstrated the significant benefits offered by the tangent machining strategies within HyperMill’s MAXX Machining package using conical barrel cutters at a number of recent invitation events. For this purpose, the company constructed a 96 mm-thick mould plate with a rectangular, conical breakthrough featuring a 1 mm corner radius. Mergner and his team used all three modules from the MAXX Machining package for complete processing on a five-axis DMG machining centre.
“Typically, line-by-line milling with a ball mill would have taken 12 hours, but using the CAM strategy and conical barrel cutter we were finished in just 60 minutes and still achieved optimum surface quality, even in the corners,” concludes Mergner.
For further information www.openmind-tech.com

After seeing a decline in the precision grinding market in recent years, Nadjar company director Renaud Nadjar has expanded his Villeurbanne, France-based shop to take on a variety of other machining processes.

Nadjar’s first investment was in milling. Unimpressed by the programming software embedded in numeric control systems, Renaud Nadjar decided to equip the company with standalone programming software. He wanted to program more complex parts and undertake programming in the background while the machine was operating. He knew by talking to other subcontractors that there were problems with some of the solutions available on the market. Wanting to avoid those pitfalls, Nadjar decided to meet with several CAM software developers to help him make the right decision.
Nadjar discovered that the partnership between machine manufacturer Haas and Esprit CAM software made it possible to purchase both in a package deal. “Thanks to this partnership, we were able to start with certified post processors and error-free CAM,” he explains. Nadjar subsequently made an initial investment in three Haas machines with corresponding Esprit licences.
This successful initial experience led Nadjar to quickly buy an NC lathe with another Esprit licence and then another milling machine. However, the demand for 3D machining prompted the company to purchase the Esprit 3D milling module. It was a new challenge, but several months on, Nadjar is delighted with the investment: “As the software calculates everything, it prompts with coherent values, and we save an incredible amount of time. And of course, the results obtained are outstanding.”
The company has already exceeded its revenue forecast and plans to invest in five-axis milling and three- and five-axis turning next. “We are limited by our machines, but there’s no limit with Esprit CAM,” concludes Nadjar.
For further information www.espritcam.eu