It seems there’s always a need for general-purpose machine shops, wherever in the world they find themselves. These are companies, often family-owned, that make a specialization out of being generalists. Usually they don’t have their own product lines; they maybe don’t even have a preferred industry sector or a particular technology that sets them apart from other job shops. What they do have, however, is their reputation.

Italy has its fair share of such companies, and G-Tech CNC, based near Reggio Emilia, is one of them.

“We are here for what the market needs, when it needs it,” says Davide Gherpelli, company front man. “We can supply prototype parts in small quantities, or we can provide parts in high volume – large batches of series production. No particular sector; we think of ourselves as a 360 degree company.”

From the 1970s until 2011, Davide’s father, Giorgio Gherpelli, ran G-Tech. In fact, the company actually began with his father, Davide’s grandfather. It was 2004 when Davide joined and almost a decade later when they welcomed Mirko, his younger brother, whom they call the ‘mago’ (the magician), for his skill with the Haas CNC. Now, there are 5 employees at G-Tech. But between them, they run a very busy machine shop.

“We invested in our first Haas CNC machine in 2007,” remembers Davide: “An SL-10 turning centre. We then bought a Super MiniMill, an ST-10Y turning centre with live tooling, a VF-2SS high-speed mill, and a VF-1, which is our general-purpose machine. In fact, we have a Haas machine tool for almost all our machining needs. We have a very good selection!”

Davide claims that his early experience with Haas helped make up his mind about the capabilities of the machines, and their suitability for a growing job shop. “It’s not just me, though,” he says. “You can look around the workshop and see how much we all love these machines. We eat, sleep and breathe Haas!”

Projects vary as much in type and industry sector as they do in volume of parts required. The company’s Haas VF-2SS, equipped with an HRT210 is, says Davide, always busy. “We use this machine a lot for more complex parts – typically, prototypes. We use TopSolid CADCAM and programme off-line, whereas, with the ST-10, we usually programme at the machine. We’re currently using the ST to make bearing housings for the Airbus A350 and Ti rear wheel hubs for the Politecnico di Torino hyper-mileage car. The VF-1 is being used to machine parts for a drone used to measure contours of the land in 3D.”

Around the workshop are various other projects that the company isn’t at liberty to discuss openly. One component in particular looks like the inner part of a steering wheel for a high-performance sports car. “I can’t tell you

anything about that,” smiles Davide. “Secrecy is important for some of our customers.” Good reputations are hard to come by but very easy to lose. “We’ve built our reputation on delivering good parts on time,” says Davide, “but also for being trustworthy and discreet, at the same time.

“The automotive sector in particular is very sensitive, especially in this part of Italy. There are some big names nearby.” As proud Italians, that’s work the Gherpelli family intends to keep and may well be the key to the company’s future growth. “As our assignments become more complex, and we attract more big-name customers, we already know we will need more Haas machines; the UMC750, for example.”

For more than 50 years, five axis machining was simply too expensive for small to medium sized job shops like G-Tech CNC. Not anymore. “The UMC750 is an affordable 3+2 machine tool,” concludes Davide. “Like the Haas machines we already own, if we buy one it will allow us to expand and build our business for years to come.” And with its reputation preceding it, perhaps this family will stay in business for many more generations, as is the Italian way.

The VF-16, Haas F1 Team’s first racecar, has arrived! The car was revealed February 21st to the world motorsport press at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya, where it began pre-season testing, February 22nd.

Of all Haas machines with VF nomenclature, this four-wheeled, Ferrari-powered model has been perhaps the most eagerly anticipated since Gene Haas stated his intentions to enter the world’s greatest race series, less than 2-years ago. Haas Automation Inc., the company Mr. Haas founded in 1983, is Haas F1 Team’s principal sponsor and the genesis of the F1 venture.

“From an international standpoint, Formula One is the highest echelon of racing, and Haas Automation builds the highest-quality machine tools,” said Mr. Haas, who has grown Haas Automation Inc. into the largest machine tool builder in North America, with more than $1 billion in annual sales.

“When you hear the words Formula One you know exactly what they stand for: a global racing series that invests in the latest technology and attracts the best talent in engineering and design. Haas Automation has an excellent reputation in the United States – for reliability, innovation, and value for money – and I want that reputation to continue to grow worldwide. Connecting Haas Automation with F1 in name and in practice is the best way to grow our business, and elevate Haas Automation to a premium, global brand.”

The dark grey, light grey, and striking red-toned livery of the Haas VF-16 was derived from that of Haas Automation’s CNC vertical and horizontal machining centers, turning centers, and CNC rotary tables and indexers: a ‘complete’ line of high-productivity CNC products.

The Oxnard, California-based Haas Automation Inc. employs around 1300 people, and exports approximately 60% of its annual production to more than 60 countries. There are close to 185,000 Haas CNC machine tools installed around the world, supported by a network of 170 Haas Factory Outlets (HFOs) – independently owned sales and technical service businesses, dedicated to providing industry-leading support, wherever a customer is based.

The VF-16 demonstrates Haas Automation’s – and Gene Haas’ – commitment to technology and innovation to a passionate, global audience, many of whom are already Haas customers, or who perhaps work in the precision engineering and manufacturing sectors.

“Just as Haas Automation’s CNC machine tools evolve continually, becoming better and more efficient as time goes by, our methodology behind the VF-16 was to make it the best evolution of a good F1 car,” explained Guenther Steiner, team principal, Haas F1 Team. “As we’re a new team, we studied what the successful F1 teams were doing, so we had a strong baseline for the direction we needed to go with our design.

“We need to go out there and show that we can do the job – that’s our first objective,” states Steiner. “Then show we can finish races, that we are respected by the fans and other teams in the paddock and, of course, that we can score points. That’s the goal!”

The VF-16 is being tested on-track at Barcelona Feb. 22-25 and March 1-4, before its debut race, the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, March 20, in Melbourne.

A small but ambitious prototyping shop in Barcelona has invested in a Haas UMC-750 five-axis machining centre. The machine, which has cut set-up times dramatically, is producing complex parts to tight tolerances, from materials ranging from various aluminium alloys, to titanium and surgical-grade stainless steels.

It’s not easy to start a machining business. Often, success depends on bringing something new to the market. For their USP, the founders of Barcelona-based Blumeprot decided in 2011 to create a subcontract machine shop specialising in higher-value parts, particularly prototypes and small series pre-production batches.

The idea was inspired by the rise of 3D printed parts. While these are currently popular with engineering companies, designers are often frustrated at receiving parts that are not made from design-intent materials. Blumeprot seeks to address this issue with CNC machining. However, to keep up with the speed of 3D printing, the company relies on its Haas machine tools, the most recent addition to which is a UMC-750 universal machining centre.

“We already had one small, five-axis model from another machine tool manufacturer, so we were aware of the potential savings in set-up time, but we needed another with larger capacity,” explains company Director, Josep Marsol. “We were attracted to Haas because of the impressive quality-price ratio. We also discovered that not only is the Haas UMC-750 the perfect size for our requirements, but it also is quicker and more precise than many other machines on the market, and produces better quality surfaces. Some of our clients want aesthetics, others want accuracy; many want both.”

Around half of the output at Blumeprot is destined for customers in the medical device sector, including the likes of Grifols, a market-leading manufacturer of blood-plasma processing products. A further 20 percent of throughput is for the automotive industry, for clients such as VW and Seat, as well as motorcycle producers. Other sectors served include motorsport, aerospace, and science, to name but a few.

“Each application requires a different approach to manufacturing, and our mission is to advise clients with the solution that best fits their needs,” says Mr. Marsol. “We are always happy to help analyse the functionality of prototypes. We also collaborate with clients to study a redesign in order to achieve lower costs and maximise the benefits in subsequent volume production.”

The parts being machined on the Haas UMC-750 on the day the photos were taken were a batch of wheel hub components for a French rally car team. The complex parts, which are made from magnesium, require the production of numerous features, including scallops, ribs, bosses, irregularly shaped pockets, and inclined surfaces, some to tolerances of 0.02 mm.

Mr. Marsol says that the aim of Blumeprot is always to deliver very-high-quality parts quickly, at the right price. To help with this, there’s a seat of Missler TopSolid at every machine in the workshop, so each machinist has full responsibility. Shop floor staff here are clearly more than just operators.

“We are like a training school,” Mr. Marsol laughs. “All of our machinists are trained to a very high standard. We need them to be switched-on, so that we can meet our tight deadlines, especially since installing the UMC-750, which has already helped us attract more work.”

Research shows cellular machining utilising general-purpose CNC machine tools offers significant advantages over high-end, special purpose machines, with no loss of part accuracy or quality.

Haas Automation has long-since argued that customers who invest in multiple, affordable CNC machine tools vs high-end, special purpose machines benefit from greater flexibility, lower investment and running costs and, ultimately, lower cost-per-part. Now, the company’s claim is supported by a recent, independent study on lean machining at the Technische Universität (TU) Darmstadt in Germany.

Research shows cellular machining utilising general-purpose CNC machine tools offers significant advantages over high-end, special purpose machines, with no loss of part accuracy or quality.

Zaventem, Belgium. October 20th, 2014: A recent report from the Technische Universität (TU) Darmstadt in Germany demonstrates that the use of several, modestly priced CNC machine tools arranged in a cellular configuration can offer significant benefits over the use of more expensive special-purpose machines configured for ‘done-in-one’ operations. The cell-configuration studied at the university features two Haas Super Mini Mill 2 CNC machining centres and a Haas SL-10 CNC lathe.

The TU Darmstadt report, entitled ‘Cellular Manufacturing to enable Lean Machining’, was prepared by Stefan Seifermann, Jörg Böllhoff, Eberhard Abele and Joachim Metternich at the university’s Institute of Production Management, Technology and Machine Tools (PTW). Dr. Sven Bechtloff, who has since left the university, was also a key member of the study team.

The idea for the research was based on a perceived absence of the principles of lean manufacturing applied in widespread machining operations in manufacturing companies of all sizes. Although deployed widely in assembly and process engineering environments (typically in the volume automobile manufacturing sector), the principles of flow as a central element of lean manufacturing have not often been transferred successfully to machining operations, and are rarely to be found at all in Europe.

In essence, cellular manufacturing is the grouping of heterogeneous equipment (in this case, CNC machine tools) to manufacture a family or group of similar parts. Typically, the concept involves the arrangement of machines in a U-shape to aid flow and balance work-in-progress with ‘takt’ time (the average unit production time needed to meet customer demand).

To demonstrate the potential advantages, a com reference production line has been established at the PTW’s Process Learning Factory (CiP). The ‘done-in-one’ line features two, high-specification machine tools: a four-axis CNC horizontal machining centre with tombstone fixture, and a CNC multi-axis automatic turning centre. The competing line, a machining cell, features two Haas Super Mini Mill 2 three-axis machining centres and a Haas SL-10 two-axis CNC lathe, as well as two, general purpose CNC machining centres and a CNC lathe supplied by another machine tool manufacturer. The report notes that the investment for the two machines in the ‘done-in-one’ line totaled €780,000, while that for the six CNC machine tools in the cell configuration was just €340,000.

An economic comparison between the two machining line configurations (based on 2000 parts per week, and one worker on each line) drew startling results. The ‘done-in-one’ line required 15 shifts to complete the 2000 parts. The lead-time was 35 minutes, while the unit cost of each part (without material) was calculated at €3.95. Using a cellular machining configuration, however, it took just 12.6 shifts to finish the 2000 components to an identical specification, lead-time was reduced to 10 minutes, and unit cost to just €2.55.

As an alternative scenario, if two workers are deployed in the machining cell the unit price climbs slightly to €3.10 as a result of the additional labour cost (but still far cheaper than the €3.95 unit cost of the ‘done-in-one’ line), 12.6 shifts are reduced to 9.8, and lead-time is cut from 10 minutes to just 7.

Using a capacity comparison based on 15 shifts, the ‘done-in-one’ line will complete 2000 parts; the cell with one worker will finish 2377 components (a 19% increase); and the cell with two workers will complete 3064 parts (a 29% increase).

In all cases, the study ensured part accuracy and quality standards were maintained and that the less expensive, general purpose machines were able to produce to a similarly high standard as the special-purpose machines.

Future costs could also be taken into consideration when comparing the different approaches. In the case that the production line needs to be expanded, introducing a new machine to the cell will be considerably cheaper than introducing a machine to the ‘done-in-one’ line due to the large disparity in their individual purchase prices.

Italian firm Vamec is a market-leading designer and manufacturer of carburetors for racing kart teams. The company has grown as karting has evolved from a pastime for weekend hobbyists into a globally competitive motor racing formula. During that evolution, Vamec has improved and expanded its range of products, in spite of owning some ‘challenging’ production equipment. Things are looking up, however. Lately, the company has invested in Haas CNC machine tools, including a UMC-750 universal machining center, and is benefitting from new levels of speed, accuracy and efficiency.

Vamec srl is based near Bologna in a region famed for its motorsport heritage. The city of Modena, the birthplace of Enzo Ferrari and home to Maserati and Lamborghini, is just up the road, while the legendary Imola F1 circuit and the Torro Rosso F1 team are both neighbors.

The Vamec office walls are adorned with photos of young karting stars – one time customers of the firm, who went on to become World Championship winning F1 drivers, including Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna no less.

Racing is in the blood at Vamec. In his day, founder Vincenzo Vannini was a passionate kart competitor who first took to the track in 1968. After subsequently becoming a preparer and mechanic for various international teams, he established Vamec in 1994 with the intention of manufacturing purpose-designed components for a sport that had previously relied on non-specific parts such as those found on motorcycles, tractors and lawnmowers.

Some 20 years later, with Vincenzo’s sons Matteo and Fabio running the workshop and business administration functions respectively, Vamec has become a world leader in the development and manufacture of components, accessories and equipment designed specifically for competition. Its Tryton carburetor series, for example, is used by both national and international kart racing teams.

In recent years, the sport of karting has moved up several gears to become as competitive and professional as the upper echelons of motor racing to which its drivers aspire. The potential rewards for talented young drivers who reach F1 are there for all to see. It’s a shot at fame and riches in which many are prepared to invest heavily.

Vamec has also invested with the sport, purchasing numerous CNC machine tools and adding components to its catalogue, including various engine and chassis parts, pit stands, jigs and tools, which are supplied to teams and individual racers all over the world. More recently, the company also made engine parts for Moto 3 motorcycle racing, and has even remade parts for a collectable Ferrari F1 car owned by a Californian enthusiast.

Vamec’s goal, according to its founder, is to be as close to the customer as possible. This approach is an insider’s strategy, after all, Vincenzo knows what it’s like to race and to run a team – he understands how valuable good support can be. “There are lots of companies that make and sell standard, replacement parts, but we want to develop our relationship so we can support customers as much as possible,” he says.

For many years, Vamec bought well-known, far-eastern CNC machine tools, until in 2013 Vincenzo placed an order for the newly launched Haas UMC-750 universal machining center. “We couldn’t believe the value offered by the UMC,” he says. “We’d heard very

good things about Haas machines, so we placed an order even though we knew the machine had only just been launched and the delivery date was quite a way off.”

In the meantime, Vamec looked at other Haas machines to see if they also offered similar value and performance. The company quickly decided to invest in a VF-2SS super speed vertical machining center, mostly for one-off, three-axis work. “All of our other machines were busy, so we needed another,” says Matteo. “Again, the price and claimed performance of the VF-2SS were very attractive. As soon as it was installed we moved one or two jobs from the adjacent Japanese machine. We had to make some very minor modifications to the program so it would run on the Haas control, but that was straightforward. The first part we made, well, we just couldn’t believe it! The Haas did the job better than a machine that cost a lot more. The surface finish was better and the cycle times were shorter.”

A little later, in July 2013, the company took delivery of its UMC-750, and soon, Matteo says, the machine was making 70-80 different parts, mostly one-offs.

“Thinking in five axes was new to me,” he recalls, “so I took it slowly to start with. It’s not that the machine is difficult to use – on the contrary, the control is the same as the VF-2SS, so it was immediately familiar. It’s the CADCAM part of the process that is different and took a little longer to understand. Of course, our need for accuracy and capability will only increase over time, but we are in a very good position now that we have access to an affordable, very good machine like the UMC.”

Despite Vamec’s successful efforts at diversification, karting will for the time being remain its core business. The company has an impressive roster of 250 clients worldwide, with countries such as the USA and Brazil providing more recent opportunities to grow its business.

“Karting has gone from being a low cost, amateur sport to being technology led and very well financed,” says Matteo. “It’s certainly not the industry my dad started in, all those years back.” Indeed, it’s not even the industry in which the likes of Senna and Schumacher began their careers. Today karting is regulated by the FIA, which means new products must be homologated. Of course, this adds cost, just like US medical companies making products under the watchful eye of the FDA, for example.

“Fortunately, Haas machines give us the technology to do what we want to do, quickly and cost effectively,” concludes Matteo. “Furthermore, there’s no need to lease the machines or get a big loan from the bank; they’re affordable and reliable.”

Matteo may have studied electronics, but he has steadily nurtured his passion for mechanics; the latest Vamec carburetor is all his own design. He’s self-taught and a good example of how ingenious, hard-working individuals can be vital to the health and success of an industrial nation’s economy, providing they have access to the right technology.

Italy has a long and distinguished heritage in motor racing and high-performance road cars, which began with passionate and talented individuals. With Haas CNC machine tools in their workshops, the latest generation, like Matteo and Fabio Vannini, could ensure the country’s motorsport industry also has a long and distinguished future.

Model Name 
VF-1

Month-Year of MFG
Dec-07

Month-Year of rebuild
Sep-14 (Expected)

Technical Specification

• Vertical Machining Center;
• 20″x 16″ x 20″ (508 x 406 x 508 mm),
• 40 taper,
• 20 hp (14.9 kW) vector drive,
• 7500 rpm,
• 20-station carousel tool changer,
• 1000 ipm (25.4 m/min) rapids,
• 1 MB program memory, 15″ color LCD monitor,
• USB port,
• Rigid tapping,
• 55-gallon (208 liter) flood coolant system.

Processor: CF-II

• S/W Version: 16.xx
• LCD: 15″
• Memory: 1MB
• Spindle: 7500 rpm belt drive

Expected Sale price 
INR 2,500,000.00

For More Details Contact:
CNC Servicing and Solutions India Pvt. Ltd, Plot no W-225, Khairane MIDC,
TTC Industrial Area, Thane Belapur Road, Koparkhairane, Navi Mumbai,
Maharashtra – 400 705
Email id- refurbished.india@phillipscorp.com

Haas Automation, Inc., America’s largest machine tool builder, will race into IMTS this year with 18 machines in 10,000 square feet of booth space. There will be plenty of exciting things to see in Booth S-8119 in the South Hall of McCormick Place, including the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS that Kurt Busch drove to victory at Martinsville Speedway in March.

Of the 18 machines on display and cutting parts in the Haas booth, eight will be all-new since the last IMTS, with four products actually debuting at this year’s show: the DM-1 40-taper drill/mill center, the ST-55 large-through-bore turning center, the UMC-750SS high-speed universal machining center, and the TRT100 high-speed dual-axis rotary table. A number of new options and operator convenience features will also debut at the show, including a coolant tank oil skimmer, a mist extractor, a minimum-quantity lubrication system, and more.

In addition to checking out the wide selection of high-value Haas machines running demos, visitors to the Haas booth can also pick up a collector’s pack of limited-edition Haas trading cards, featuring special Haas machine cards, and all of the Stewart-Haas Racing NASCAR drivers. Some of the packets will contain special winner cards that can be redeemed for a variety of collectible items, like an actual race suit worn by Kurt Busch during the 2014 Cup Series, one of Kurt’s race helmets, die cast models of the No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet, and limited-edition No. 41 T-shirts and hats. One lucky visitor will even win an on-track ride-along with Kurt Busch! All told, Haas will give away 1700 T-shirts, 1200 hats, 20 die-cast cars, 2 race suits, 2 helmets, and 1 ride-along during the show. That’s a lot swag!

To ensure there’s enough NASCAR to go around, a second Stewart-Haas Racing No. 41 Haas Automation Chevrolet SS will be on display in the Today’s Technology Center in West Hall. Visitors will see how Stewart-Haas Racing is implementing the latest advancements in manufacturing technology to gain the winning edge. SHR drivers Kurt Busch, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, and Danica Patrick make up the most intriguing team competing in Sprint Cup racing, and show attendees can get up close and personal with one of the racecars they routinely drive at more than 200 mph!

Haas Factory Outlet (HFO) – Phillipscorp, CNCSSIPL division, is pleased to announce two Haas Demo Days’ for India in September, 2014. The two event will take place in Ludhiana (8th and 9th, September) and Kolhapur (24th and 25th, September).

The first of the two events will take place in Ludhiana at the Research & Development Centre for Bicycle & Sewing Machines. Between 10am and 6pm on both days, visitors to the event will be able to witness cutting demonstrations on various Haas CNC machine tools including a VF-2 vertical machining centre and an ST-10Y, latest generation Haas CNC lathe with Y-axis.

Haas experts from the local HFO will be on-hand to guide visitors through the demonstrations and will also answer questions regarding the machines. Demo tours are scheduled for 11.30am-12.30pm 1.30pm-2.30pm, 3.00pm-4.00pm, and 4.30pm-5.30pm.

The Haas ST-10Y is one of the latest-generation, high productivity machines from the Haas ST range of completely redesigned CNC turning centres. Equipped with C-axis and live tooling, customers can turn and mill complex parts and perform multiple operations in one set-up, increasing throughput, reducing handling and improving accuracy. The Haas ST-10Y CNC lathe has a 229 x 356 mm max capacity, 413 mm swing, ±50.8 mm Y-axis travel, can accept 44 mm bar, and uses a 11.2 kW vector drive to give a top spindle speed of 6000 rpm.

The second event will take place in Kolhapur at Shri Mahalaxmi Auto Components, on 24th and 25th September. Opening times are also 10 am to 6 pm and the Haas machines being demonstrated will include the hugely successful Haas DT-1 Drill Tap machine. The Kolhapur Demo Day will have the same format as the Ludhiana event, with demo tours held by Haas experts at 11.30am-12.30pm, 1.30pm-2.30pm, 3.00pm-4.00pm, and 4.30pm-5.30pm.

DT-1 with new 15,000 rpm spindle
This year, Haas Automation has boosted the spindle speed of its successful DT-1 drill/tap center from 12,000 rpm to 15,000 rpm, giving customers the ability to run higher feedrates for small tools and quick-turn machining operations. The DT-1 is a compact, high-speed drill and tap machine with full milling capabilities. The machine features a generous 508mm x 406mm x 394mm work cube and 660mm x 381mm T-slot table, while maintaining a very small footprint.

Want to witness the Live Demo and learn about the latest CNC technologies? Register Here 

Haas Automation Europe is reporting an impressive 30 percent growth in European machine tool sales in the first two quarters of 2014, in comparison with the same period last year. This is in stark contrast to the two percent growth predicted for 2014 by CECIMO, a European organization that brings together 15 national associations of machine tool builders, and covers 98 percent of the total machine tool production in Europe.

During CECIMO’s annual general assembly, which took place in Prague on June 24, the organization’s economic  committee confirmed that, while European machine tool production increased to €22.8 billion from €22.7 billion last year, growth prospects remain modest in Europe. CECIMO therefore states that the outlook for considerable gains in 2014 remains low.
An increase in machine tool consumption of two percent in 2013 leads CECIMO to conclude: “companies are finally upgrading their production facilities.”

It’s clear that manufacturers in Europe “shop around” for their machine tools, far beyond national boundaries. “The 30 percent European growth enjoyed by Haas in the first two quarters of 2014 is little short of remarkable,” says Mr. Jens Thing, Haas Automation Europe managing director.

“We would like to thank our customers for their confidence in Haas Automation and in our 37 Haas Factory Outlets in Europe,” he says. “Our customers appreciate how the Haas product and support are meeting their exact needs in terms of value, capability, and reliability, even when they have the choice of machines built by strong, domestic suppliers.
CECIMO’s imports declined five percent to €8 billion last year, so the organization concludes that “the companies investing in machine tools mostly used their domestic suppliers.” And yet, Haas Automation has witnessed strong growth in France, Spain, Italy, southern Germany, Poland, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Denmark.

“We are well on target to reach our goal of having 20 percent more sales this year than in 2013,” adds Mr. Thing, “so we will beat all economic estimates. The reason is because Haas Automation combines rigorous, reliable, tried-and-tested, pragmatic technology with quick spare parts delivery, low maintenance costs, and competitive financing solutions. This is providing our customers with far lower long-term costs, and is helping many of them stay competitive. That is our priority as a partner.”

Haas Automation Europe is strategically located in Brussels, Belgium, to provide customers throughout Europe with the best sales, applications, and service support in the industry, via a multilingual team of factory-trained and Haas-certified support personnel. To facilitate quick delivery throughout Europe, Haas maintains a 3000-square-meter warehouse and spare parts facility in Brussels, with additional machines warehoused in Antwerp, ready to ship.

The Haas Automation Europe distribution system is based on the highly successful Haas Factory Outlet (HFO) concept – a network of locally owned distributors dedicated exclusively to the sales, service, and support of Haas products. Every HFO fields a service department staffed with factory-trained personnel, and houses an extensive inventory of service spares. Technicians are dispatched locally in Haas service vehicles fully stocked with the parts and tools needed to successfully repair machines the first time – more than 90 percent of the time.

Building on its position of strength in the European market, Haas will maintain a high profile for the remainder of 2014. The company will be present at several exhibitions, including AMB in Stuttgart, Germany (September 16 – 20), and BIMU in Milan, Italy (September 30 – October 4).