machines. This year the company has invested over £6 million on new equipment and has extended the factory area by 2,000m².
But it’s not just PCD
manufacturing that is handled by the department. Guhring has developed a number of coatings
that it uses across its entire range – from HSS drills through to carbide fluteless taps – and this is applied via the company’s own coating machines. A new development in this area is the Signum coating – a TiAlSi nitridic coating that exhibits hardness values of 5,500
Vickers. Originally developed for cast iron, the coating has been used very effectively for milling applications on stainless steel and interestingly, composites. Originally unveiled at EMO in September, the coating will be available in the UK early in 2012 directly from Guhring UK.
Erix Automatic Back Spotfacers…
• Cut machining time up to 90% on back spotfacing/ chamfering operations
• Eliminate manual hand- ling of the cutting tool
• Standard sizes rang- ing from 4.5 mm through 69 mm hole diameter
• Well proven and patent- ted design
• Back and front spotfacing can be performed with the same tool
It’s easy to forget that behind almost every tooling product is scientific theory. All tooling applications are different and at the advanced end of the scale, R&D is essential to establish optimum cutting performance and efficiency.
New
catalogue available
Unique Operation. While rotating counterclockwise, the cutting wing folds in when pass- ing through the hole. Wing opens automatically when spindle rotates clockwise to begin spotfacing.
INTERNET:
http://www.erixtool.com
HK Technologies Ltd, Unit 7 Hadrians Way, Glebe Farm Industrial Estate, Rugby CV21 1ST, Tel (01788) 577288, Fax (01788) 562808,
www.hktechnologies.com
R&D is therefore very high on Guhring’s agenda and as previously mentioned it allocates 5% of its annual turnover to R&D activities. This is money well spent. With many of its customers involved with highly complex machining operations, the capability of using the latest technology to develop new tools and solutions is invaluable. Headed up by Immo Garm, the R&D department is where things really get interesting. Establishing reasons for tool failure and wear patterns is one of the most challenging tasks for any tooling manufacturer but Guhring has an impressive arsenal of techniques at its disposal including chip formation simulation, thermal imaging, high speed cameras and an all important Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) that can provide up to 100,000x magnification. We’re talking micro-geometry analysis here and the SEM is vital for not only measuring tool wear and the existence of built-up layers, but also establishing the chemistry of the wear.
The R&D department is also home to a number of machine tools from Heller, Grob and DMG used for development and investigative purposes. With Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) becoming more popular in advanced machining applications, all machines in the R&D area are fitted with MQL systems from Bielomatic, Lubrix and Vogel.
Guhring’s newest acquisition in terms of premises is the machine building facility at Onstmettingen. Purchased in 2009, the operation handles the assembly, servicing and development of all Guhring’s branded multi-axis grinding machines – both hardware and software. In this regard, the
company is somewhat unique – the machines are only used within the Guhring organisation and not sold externally. This is also the case with its coating machines.
Guhring has 500 machines installed globally (including 11 in the UK facility) so keeping these running in tip-top condition is no mean feat for Tilo Wissenbach and his team of 80 multi-skilled engineers and technicians.
The UK Government should take a long hard look at the way German companies nurture, develop and encourage their young engineers and manufacturing in general. The skills gap in the UK is becoming a problem and that’s largely due to respective governments neglecting manufacturing – opting instead for an economy based around the financial and service sectors. Now this neglect is coming home to roost and it’s very difficult to recruit staff of the required calibre.
Many UK companies have risen admirably to the challenge, taking it upon themselves to recruit apprentices and take responsibility for their training, but what’s needed is much more top level action from the Government to redress the economic equilibrium through a commitment to manufacturing. At the moment it’s making lots of noise but doing very little. Guhring recruits around 70 apprentices a year of which 65 are manufacturing-based. It has a dedicated training school at Sigmaringen-Laiz where apprentices learn the foundations of engineering practices covering everything from hand filing and machining (manual and CNC), through to CAD and gear cutting. It used to be like this in the UK. Promising students have the opportunity to study for an engineering degree, sponsored by the
company, on completion of their apprenticeships.
In the UK, 60-employee Guhring has enjoyed its best year on record and in November the company had its most successful month ever in terms of sales. “Demand this year has been phenomenal,” enthuses sales manager Dave Hudson. “At any one time we have approximately £3 million of standard products in stock but we’re also seeing a significant rise in demand for stocking bespoke customised products.” “We’re very much an application-led company and whilst our standard product business is doing very well, where we really come into our own is when we’re asked by our customers to provide bespoke tooling solutions,” he adds. “Like Guhring in Germany, we’re very strong in the automotive sector and work with a number of automotive manufacturers on large projects in the UK. We get excellent support from our German colleagues.”
Guhring’s UK manufacturing facility is home to 11 Guhring 9-axis grinding machines with four more on the way in 2012. “We manufacture solid carbide tools here in the UK and also offer a regrinding/ recoating facility. We’re very excited about the new Signum coating developed in Germany and look forward to unveiling it at MACH 2012,” Mr Hudson concludes.
Currently Guhring UK has four apprentices working in the company with plans for further recruitment in 2012.
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