Long-term Strategy Makes AMADA MACHINE TOOLS A RELIABLE PARTNER for its Customers
PARTNERSHIP PROVEN IN GRINDING
As an international manufacturer of functional furniture fittings who wants to re-arrange the grinding processes in its Equipment
Manufacturing Department, Blum is not only
looking for a machine supplier but also for an assisting partner ready to accept the
challenges of the future together with Blum. Apart from offering reliable high-speed and high-precision machines, this partner should also be able to give a valuable impetus to further development. With the Japanese
grinding machine manufacturer Amada, the Austrian family-owned enterprise Blum has found its partner of choice who is able to satisfy the expectations. Today, Blum is working with several Japanese grinding
machines because there is accordance on the personal level, too, whereas Amada
appreciates the ambitious market demands which promote its own development.
“Before we opt for a new technology partner for our Equipment Manufacturing Department, we want to make sure they are efficient”, Gerhard Gorbach emphasises. "Advanced technical features of each machine are not the only things that count. It is just as important how a long-term partnership can improve our own competence", explains the Manager of the Equipment Manufacturing Department in plant 3 of Julius Blum GmbH. Nevertheless, the partnership between Blum and Amada began with one machine. In the beginning, the Vorarlbergian company got this machine as a test machine from the grinding professionals based in Haan near Düsseldorf, Germany. “Since we are pursuing a long-term strategy in the fields of surface and profile grinding machines and are proud to be able to present ourselves as a competent partner in this market, and since we wanted to extend our market share and permanently establish ourselves in the market, there wasn't any doubt when it came to providing Blum with a test machine to enable them to get acquainted with it”, Ben Scherr, Managing Director of Amada Machine Tools Europe, comments on the beginning of the business relationship in 2008. “In addition, we are positive about the precision and efficiency of our machines”, Product Manager Guido Mayer adds.
<< Figure 2: The Amada G3 enables complete machining to be performed on one single
machine and replaces two conventional grinding machines thanks to its universal capabilities. >>
Amada supports vertical range of manufacture with complete machining If more than a hundred employees are working in equipment manufacturing and in apprenticeship training and if they can resort to more than 300,000 up-to-date parts drawings, this implies a deep vertical range of manufacture. In fact, the members of Blum's Equipment Manufacturing Department in Vorarlberg are producing themselves a vast share of their production equipment, which is used by more than 5700 employees all around the world to produce successful high- quality products. Over the years, the smithy founded in 1952 by the blacksmith and carriage smith Julius Blum for the production of horseshoe studs to prevent horses from slipping has evolved into an international manufacturer of
functional furniture fittings. Even today, the company is a family- owned enterprise although by now, the sales volume has exceeded the one-billion-euros threshold.
24 | commercial micro manufacturing international Vol 6 No.6
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