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METAV 2012: Machine tools in miniaturised formats
In medical technology and the watch-making industry less is more
Frankfurt am Main, 15. February 2012. – From macro to mini – that’s the
bandwidth of special topics addressed at the METAV 2012 in Düsseldorf.
They include the special show entitled “Metal meets Medical”, which illuminates the entire process chain involved in making technical medical products,
for example. Miniaturisation, however, is a major focus not only in the field of
medical technology; small parts are the next big thing in numerous different
sectors. A prime example for high-precision machining of miniature mechanical components is the watch-making industry.
Less is often more – and even less is now hardly conceivable: solid-carbide
micro-milling machines with diameters of just three-hundredths of a millimetre,
even capable of milling hardened steels at HSC turbo speeds. Since medical
technology has started to boom, machine tools in living-room or even smaller
formats are increasingly in demand. The Darmstadt-based Datron AG, for instance, will at the METAV 2012 be showcasing its new high-speed C5 milling
machine for ultra-high-precision five-axis simultaneous machining of small
parts, in the fields of medical technology, for example, the watch-making and
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jewellery industries, or tool and mould manufacturing. All machinable materials
up to a diameter of 60 mm can be simultaneously machined in five axes, with
an option for milling ultra-complex geometries as well. The directly driven
rotary-swivel axis guarantees good reproducibility coupled with high process
dependability – and all this on a footprint of just 1 m².
Precision en miniature
Compact and as accurate as clockwork – the tradition-steeped watch factory
of Junghans GmbH & Co. KG in Schramberg, nestling in the middle of the
Black Forest, is once again relying on its in-house expertise for manufacturing
ultra-small mechanical parts as well: with a compactly dimensioned micromilling model from Haas Automation for high-precision machining of filigree
movement parts, it has revived the corporate tradition of exquisite wristwatches. After back in 1976 the firm had discontinued mechanical watch production
entirely and concentrated on quartz movements and radio clock technology,
the tradition-steeped enterprise in Schramberg was now keen to take knowhow and technology into its own hands.
At one vendor, Managing Director Matthias Stotz noticed the OM-2 micromilling machine from an American manufacturer called Haas Automation. Its
advantages included not only a good price-performance ratio, but also the
geographical proximity to the relevant machinery supplier and the Haas Factory Outlet, a firm called Dreher AG in Denkingen. The machine (OM stands for
Office Mill) is so compactly dimensioned that it could be ingressed easily and
without modification into the newly designed production premises and even
afterwards can be moved around as desired. Its performance data, says Managing Director Stotz, “are not only more than sufficient for our field of work,
which is manufacturing very small movement parts for mechanical wristwatches”, thanks to the standard high-speed spindle (up to 30,000 min-1) the machine is even “ideally suited for machining our small parts”.
A multitude of ultra-filigree small parts
The traditional materials used in watch-making are brass and steel. On this
compactly dimensioned high-precision machine, a multitude of ultra-filigree
small parts are nowadays being manufactured for the calibres of exquisite
upmarket wristwatches, such as brass parts that have to be machined on two
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sides, like gear bridges, balance bridges or calibre bridges. Plus gear parts
made of steel like crown wheels or ratchet wheels. A crown wheel, for example, with crown gearing and spur gearing, may exhibit a definitely complex
geometry. It is machined in the standard four-axis version of the model with an
indexing device.
All the high-precision parts produced on the Haas machine are then craftreworked or “finished”. This, says Stotz, differentiates value creation in sophisticated watch-making from general mechanical engineering: “What matters to
us is not the last second of the machine’s running time. Our primary focus is
on quality and precision.”
Watch-makers think and work in dimensions of hundredths, though accuracy
alone is not the most crucial factor – this is the miniaturisation of the parts involved – and this with tolerances of e.g. 5 to 8 µm for gear components. The
exquisite “Erhard Junghans 2” model, for instance, has a balance mechanism
developed in-house, featuring “wafer-thin wall thicknesses and a tiny screw
with a thread of 0.3 mm”. Dimensions like this are a genuine challenge for a
mechanical manufacturing process.
The tools used merit some special attention. In the case of miniature milling
machines featuring a high-speed spindle with diameters of “significantly under
one millimetre”, the useful lifetime is also an issue. Often solid-carbide tools
are used, preferably standard products available on the market. “We make
only a few specialised tools ourselves”, explains Stotz.
The batch sizes of the parts manufactured on the micro-milling machine are
currently between about 15 and 20. But for Junghans what’s important for mechanical upmarket watch-making is “less the quantitative considerations than
on developing and building up a fund of in-house expertise”. The four-axis
version fully suffices for the current production operations. Here the machinery
supplier Martin Dreher, Board Chairman of Dreher AG, interjects that a fifth
axis can be retrofitted at any time: “The control system has already been prepared for this in the factory.”
Author: Walter Frick, specialist journalist from Weikersheim
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Background:
Datron AG, Mühltal
Datron AG is an internationally operating mechanical engineering company listed on the stock exchange,
located in Mühltal-Traisa. Its core products are CNC machine tools for high-speed milling and 3D engraving,
dental milling machines for efficient machining of all the usual orthodontic materials in dental laboratories,
dosing machines for fast and accurate gluing and sealing, tools for high-speed machining and after-sales
services like training, customer support, accessory and spare part sales. Approximately 24 per cent of the
employees work in research and development, enabling the company to react swiftly to new market trends
and the machining of up-to-the-future materials. Datron AG has approximately 160 employees in Germany,
and a global sales network in more than 20 different countries. In 2010, the company achieved a turnover of
around 21 million euros.
Haas: a transparent sales concept
Haas Automation Inc. in Oxnard/California, USA, started off producing turntables and CNC lathes. Today,
the product portfolio includes about 90 different models of lathe and milling centres. The current monthly
output is approximately 1,200 machines, giving Haas a market share of about 48 per cent. Sales are handled on the HFO concept (Haas Factory Outlet). The HFO responsible for Junghans is Dreher AG in Denkingen as a licensed service and sales partner. Dreher buys machines plus accessories at Haas’ European
headquarters in Brussels, and markets them as an autonomous machinery trading company in line with
harmonised marketing, pricing and service support stipulations. In the south of Württemberg, Dreher provides support for about 1,200 machines at around 500 customers.
Junghans: 150 years of watch-making craftsmanship
The Junghans company was founded back in 1861 by Erhard Junghans and his brother-in-law Jakob ZellerTobler in Schramberg, Germany. While the company specialised at first in manufacturing individual parts for
watch production, by 1866 the first watches were already being designed and built by Junghans’ watchmakers, inspired by industrial watch manufacture on the American model. By 1903, Junghans was employing 3,000 people, selling three million watches a year – and was the world’s biggest watch factory. In the
1930s, the first models of the legendary “Meister” line were being produced. In 195 6, the Diehl Group in
Nuremberg acquired a majority shareholding. In 1970, the first German quartz wristwatch was unveiled: the
“Astro-Quartz”.
The quartz crisis of 1976 triggered a temporary demise of the mechanical Junghans watch, and a changeover to dedicated production of quartz models. Innovative emphases were highlighted in 1990 by the world’s
first radio wristwatch, the Mega 1. Other milestones included the first radio solar watch in 1993, the first
multi-frequency radio watch in 2004, and the resumption and expansion of the mechanical collection in
2008. At the beginning of the new millennium, the Diehl Group sold Junghans to the Egana-Goldpfeil Group,
headquartered in Hong Kong. In 2008, the parent company in the Far East had to file for bankruptcy, but by
January 2009 a family of entrepreneurs in Schramberg called Steim, co-proprietors of the globally operating
Kern-Liebers Group, Schramberg, took over the Junghans watch factory and made a fresh start with around
90 employees.
METAV 2012 in Düsseldorf
The next METAV will be held from 28 February to 3 March 2012 in Düsseldorf. In the even years, it has
firmly established itself as an important technology shop window for the entire gamut of manufacturing
technology and automation in Germany for manufacturers and customers from Europe. The METAV will be
showcasing the entire spectrum of manufacturing technology, focusing on machine tools, production systems, high-precision tools, automated material flows, computer technology, industrial electronics and accessories. The METAV’s visitor target group includes all major industrial sectors, particularly plant and machinery manufacturers, the automotive industry and its component suppliers, aerospace, the electrical engineer-
Page 5/5 · METAV 2012 · Machine tools in miniaturised formats
ing industry, the metalworking sector, medical technology and the craft sector. Approximately 620 exhibitors
from 26 different countries have meanwhile registered for the METAV 2012, on over 35,500 m2 of net exhibition area, aiming to showcase their products, solutions and services for the European trade public. The last
METAV in 2010 attracted approximately 45,000 trade visitors from 26 different countries.
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Your contact persons:
Datron AG
Andrea Schmidt
Marketing and PR
In den Gänsäckern 5
64367 Mühltal
GERMANY
Tel. +49 6151 14 19-107
Fax +49 6151 14 19-29
[email protected]
www.datron.de
Dreher AG
Haas Factory Outlet
Martin Dreher
- Board Chairman Wolf-Hirth-Str. 2
78588 Denkingen
GERMANY
Tel. +49 7424 95 83 83 00
Fax +49 7424 95 83 83 10
[email protected]
www.dreherwerkzeugmaschinen.de
Uhrenfabrik Junghans GmbH & Co. KG
Melanie Baier
- Marketing & PR Geisshaldenstr. 49
78713 Schramberg
GERMANY
Tel. +49 7422 18-243
Fax +49 7422 18-666
[email protected]
www.junghans.de
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