GRINDING & SURFACE FINISHING TECHNOLOGY
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Precision in motion
The annual ‘Motion Meeting’ held recently by grinding machine specialist Studer at its
Solutions
Report
manufacturing base in the Swiss town of Thun provided an opportunity to demonstrate some
Simon Lott
of the latest advances in its technology and how it is improving production efficiency.
T
aking place at the end of January 2010, Studer’s annual hall has also recently come into operation, which will be used for the
gathering of press and international sales partners is assembly of standard and customer specific machinery. Going into
typically a chance for the company to inform people 2010, investment will now focus on expanding core competences in
about recent and forthcoming developments throughout production, with Studer’s parent company, the Körber Schleifring
the company. Group looking to exploit synergies across its operations.
This year, being of the philosophy that investment and intelligence As a result, Studer will increase the level of its supply of machines
are ever more important during tough times, the focus was on two and platforms to the rest of the group. In order to achieve this
key areas: machine innovation, including the recently launched new expansion and streamline material flow, the next step will be the
generation universal S33 and modular S22 grinding machines; and transfer of a 16m long Waldrich portal flat grinding machine, capable
the internal progress being made through its PuLS (Precision and of machining slides, tables and machine beds with the necessary
Passion) concept. precision; and a Dixi milling centre for machining small, cubic
Metaphorically alluding to the company as like a ‘St Bernard in a precision parts, to the Thun facility.
snow storm’ during the current recession, Studer’s managing director
and chairman of the board Stephan Nell described how the company
Research benefits
had been affected. Despite the admission of a decline in orders of Finally, Studer is also investing substantially in several research topics
roughly 50% (in line with the wider market) and the loss of some in order to establish a range of technical foundations for the future.
market share, Mr Nell insisted that this was normal for any company axis with 1° Hirth serration is also available. The S33 is operated One such area is the machining of brittle materials such as ceramics,
not willing to get involved in ‘discount wars’ to generate volume. through the StuderWIN interface, installed onto a Fanuc 0i-TD control glass or hard metals. The problems being addressed include:
Comparing Studer with the attributes of the famed breed of dog, he with integrated software modules available from the StuderGRIND ultrasonic assisted grinding at high speeds; spark erosion dressing of
also described how it has the strength, both financial and through its offline programming facility, and the machine’s PCU control unit has metallically bonded grinding wheels and the development of efficient,
700 strong staff; the courage to invest; reliability in its machinery; the also been updated with a larger colour display. diamond coated wheels; hard turning and peel grinding as a
intelligence to make considered long term decisions; and the A further upgrade is the integration of a Dittel 6000 series contact technological task for new fields of application; and the development
endurance to weather crises such as this one. He concluded: “2009 detection module available in two variants – simple, with two passive of specific machining methods for long, slim workpieces.
was a cold winter, and a long one that will last into 2010, but our coat or active sensor inputs; and high end with four inputs. Also on A second research group covers new approaches to mechanical
is thick and our cask well filled.” display at the event was Studer’s updated smartLoad handling engineering, and this includes: the huge potential of drive and control
The road to recovery
system with a double gripper, which reduces piece change time from systems; low cost and performance spindle technologies; reducing
18 down to eight seconds. energy consumption to comply with new EU energy legislation;
The company’s prediction that a recovery may not occur until 2011 Studer’s other big hitter for 2010 is its S22, which with its modular simple machine concepts for the Far East; and innovation in mineral
and that 2007 levels of sales may not be re-established until 2013 design, places the application at the centre of a customer’s casting for machine bases. This latter area will be further explored
anticipates that there is still some way to go before it can clear this production solution with the machine specified around the through a joint venture with Swiss mineral casting manufacturer,
difficult period, so what has it got in its cask to ensure that it workpiece. A large distance between guideways, highly dynamic axis Renocast, with whom the company has been using an innovative
remains competitive? drives, rigidly constructed cross slides, short reaction times and material formulation for maximum rigidity for some time.
For starters there is the next optimised traverses form a basis from which many aspects can be Taking all of this into consideration it would seem that on face
generation S33, an all new version customised. Featuring an available grinding length of up to 800mm, value Studer has not only a large cask, but also a fairly full one as it
of the company’s most successful a centre height of either 175mm or 225mm, a wheel diameter of up to seeks to bounce back in 2010. While innovation is clearly an area in
Studer has sold over
‘all round’ grinding machine, 610mm, and many wheelhead options and ballscrew or linear motor which the company should continue to be strong, a renewed focus
100 of its S33
launched at EMO Milan last year. cross slides, the machine has already been sold into a variety of on addressing the central production process also promises to reap
Studer has sold over 100 of these large projects. benefits that it will be able to pass on to its customers. Thus, like
machines each year
machines each year since the first
generation was originally launched
Confidence booster
many companies that have been challenged by the recession, Studer
looks set to emerge more efficient and more ambitious.
since the first
in 2003 and with an even more New products are not the only source of confidence
ambitious target for 2010 of 119, however. Following an extensive analysis of commodity
generation was
has made some key technical and value flows, Studer has developed the proprietary
improvements. PuLS optimisation process, which has the ultimate aim
originally launched
The new S33 will be offered with of reducing assembly and set-up times in order to
frequency controlled drives as increase availability for customers. The company
in 2003 and with an standard so that customers can perceives that the most important assembly process to
adjust cutting speeds continuously develop in this context is flow line, or paced assembly,
even more ambitious
and optimally to suit the needs of requiring a high degree of process standardisation
their applications, powered by an where the value creation constituents of individual
target for 2010 of
11kW motor. A new universal assembly cycles must be precisely coordinated with
119, has made some
wheelhead has been fitted with one each other in order to ensure a constant flow, delivering
internal and two external grinding measurable improvements. Already, for example, the
key technical
spindles. Both external grinding leadtime on a standard S33 machine has been cut from
wheels, with diameters of 500mm, 15 to 10 days.
improvements
are arranged on the right and the As far as investment is concerned, a new warehouse
head can be manually positioned and shipping building was built in 2008, incorporating the > STUDER
every 2.5°, although an automatic B latest RFID technology, and a new 2,000m² assembly www.studer.com
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16 March 2010 • Production Engineering Solutions
www.pesmag.co.uk
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