Since the preparation for the most awaited exhibition Bi-Mu is on full swing, tell us more about this edition of the show (number of participants, country participating, area covered, etc)?
Third in the international exporters ranking and fourth in the manufacturers ranking, Italy can boast BI-MU as one of the historical and most qualified international events dedicated to the Italian industry of machine tools, robots, production systems and auxiliary technologies. Promoted by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, the association of Italian manufacturers of machine tools, robots and automation systems, BI-MU is organised by EFIM-ENTE FIERE ITALIANE MACCHINE.

After the extraordinary success of EMO MILANO 2015, Italy returns to the spotlight, in the schedule of the worldwide sector operators, with 30.BI-MU. On scene in October 2016 at fieramilano, the biennial machine tool exhibition is ready to reap the benefits of the upswing of the Italian and international markets, which, since the end of 2013, are experiencing a steady growth with regard to production and demand.

The applications to exhibit at 30.BI-MU have increased by 30% compared with the trend of applications in the same period of the past edition. This really considerable growth follows the positive trend of Italian consumption of machine tools, which reached 3,595 million euro (corresponding to a 31.3% rise versus the previous year).

What are the new things visitors/exhibitors will observe during this edition of Bi-Mu?
A novelty of the 2016 edition of 30.BI-MU is the special area called “FLUID POWER”, dedicated to oil-hydraulic and pneumatic systems.

The only exhibition area officially promoted by ASSOFLUID, the Italian Association of Manufacturing and Trading Companies in Fluid Power Equipment and Components, “POTENZA FLUIDA/FLUID POWER” will show the best of the sector, which is, by its nature, complementary to the machine tool industry and also shares its technological evolution and its user sectors.

Exactly the possibility of sharing common customers between the machine tool sector and the oil-hydraulic and pneumatic ones makes BI-MU an unmissable event for the enterprises that will exhibit in the” POTENZA FLUIDA/FLUID POWER” area. At their disposal there will be the wide and heterogeneous public, which usually visits the biennial exhibition, representing the whole manufacturing world, but there will also be machine tool manufacturers, who are among the main users of power systems, capable of improving efficiency, profitability and eco-sustainability in the achieved solutions.

Also created in response to the interest shown by a part of the public involved in BI-MU, the “POTENZA FLUIDA/FLUID POWER” area will be completed with workshops, conferences and events of “technological matching”.

In order to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving market, from this year on BI-MU will take place together with SFORTEC INDUSTRY, the new interpretation of SFORTEC, which dissolves its exclusive connection with the machine tool sector by expanding its technological repertoire to the whole manufacturing industry, gaining the title of “INDUSTRY”. Besides its new product range, the exhibition proposes itself in an unprecedented format: 3 exhibition days, from Thursday to Saturday, and a new, entirely and specially dedicated hall.

In this way, the organizers of the biennial machine tool exhibition intend to offer the widest range of products to the public visiting the trade show, who will be able to choose between two parallel visit routes: the “Make” of BI-MU, for those who design and build, and the “Buy” of SFORTEC INDUSTRY, for those who buy services, outsourcing a part of their business.

How many countries are participating and what would be the number of country pavilions in the show?
In 2014, the last edition of BI-MU/SFORTEC, the biennial machine tool, robotics and automation exhibition, had proposed the product ranges offered by 1,060 exhibiting companies, of which 47% from abroad, coming from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, South Korea, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, India, Israel, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Principality of Monaco, Czech Republic, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, USA.

29.BIMU had covered a total area of 90,000 square metres and had registered 61,926 visits. 4% of the visits were by foreign operators, representing 75 countries.

I think that this year, also following the positive wave of EMO MILANO 2015 and thanks to the new economic-political leading position regained by Milan with EXPO 2015, 30.BI-MU will be able to achieve much higher figures than those mentioned above.

How many participants are there from India and what’s the plan to attract more Indian visitors?
The data regarding the applications are not available yet, but we know that for several years India has been among the represented countries, with regard to exhibitors as well as to visitors.

In order to attract foreign visitors to BI-MU, according to tradition, the organizers of the exhibition are planning a well-structured activity aimed at welcoming the foreign delegations.  Qualified delegations of foreign users coming from the countries that show the highest growth and development rates will be invited to visit the exhibition. Organized in co-operation with ITA-Italian Trade Agency, the initiative aims at expanding the spectrum of operators visiting BI-MU, also including end users from emerging countries, besides the users who usually participate in the event. The presence of qualified buyers meets the need to support exhibitors in the activity they are already carrying out autonomously, thus increasing the number of contacts they may activate in the five exhibition days.

How can this event help Indian companies enhance their business in European market and vice versa?
India is the eleventh destination market of the Italian exports in the sector; in particular, according to the last survey referred to the period January-December 2015, the Indian country bought machine tools from Italy for an amount of 79 million euro. The Indian market is particularly interesting for the Italian enterprises of the sector. Today India is considered as one of the leading manufacturing industries worldwide, but nevertheless it still has unexpressed large potentials which can and must be developed, also in cooperation with Italy. The Indian machine tool production has adequate standards for many types of machining, especially for machines having medium-level technology. We, the Italians, can and must propose ourselves more and more to work in the Indian market and foster its development and growth. Between India and Italy there is a continuous collaboration aimed at improving the mutual market advantages and at establishing a sharing of intents with a long-term view.

What’s the role of Bi-Mu in the Italian Machine tool industry? Over the period how has it helped the Italian companies in business?
BI-MU has been the privileged stage for sixty years to understand the future developments of the sector. At every edition it is reinvented, always showing a state-of-the art overview of products, defined by entering the new areas of the Italian industry of the sector and the relevant fields of application, with the purpose of interpreting the needs and the opportunities connected with the last industrial innovations.   

Talking about Italian and European machine tool industry. What are the current trends in the Italian machine tool industry?
Well, the sector of production systems is continuously evolving, since it is, by its nature, an innovative sector. Much is discussed about “collaborative robots”; for many years the association has been studying how additive technologies affect the manufacturing industry. Consistent with this view and encouraged by UCIMU, in 2014 AITA-Italian Association of Additive Technologies was established with scientific, cultural and knowledge-sharing intent.

Another very important issue is that of the “smart factory”, as we have been calling it in Italy for many years, which is practically “Industry 4.0” to say it with a more popular and modern term. “Industry 4.0” is intended as the application of the “Industry of the Things” (IoT) to industrial production. In practice, it implies applying to the industry all that is made possible through the Internet, i.e. the possibility of connecting parts of the physical world with the net. The Internet changed the way of living and of interacting because it enables to eliminate distances almost completely. The spread of ICT in daily life is evident, as well as the effects brought about by the common use of smartphones that allow us to remain always connected and reachable. Today, and not only from today, this principle can be applied to the factory, which, in the Industry 4.0 concept, becomes a system of parts, areas, processes interconnected with one another and of automated systems that can partially replace human labour.

Can you please provide us some data about the Italian machine tool industry like production, consumption, import, export, etc
The Italian machine tool, automation and robotics sector is in third place in the international ranking for exports and in fourth place for production. In 2015, the Italian production exceeded 5.4 billion euro (+12.2%), of which 64% was sold abroad. Imports reached 1.7 million euro, growing by 44.5% and thus proving that Italy is again a receptive country.

Which country imports most from Italy? And tell us more about the machine tool trade between India and Italy?
With 389 million euro of machines sold, the USA is the first destination market for Italian production. For this reason, UCIMU organized the convention “Impact. Innovate. Integrate” in Chicago. Organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development, ICE-Italian Trade Agency and Confidustria, the conference saw the participation of Italian manufacturers who presented development trends, specific solutions and challenges for the near future, implemented by the Italian industry for the US market.

The presentation, which was attended, among others, by the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, the Italian Vice-Minister of Economic Development, Ivan Scalfarotto, and the President of UCIMU, Luigi Galdabini, hosted over 200 guests representing institutions, media and users of the main sectors, from the automotive to the aerospace industry, from the energy to the oil & gas fields.

The second destination market for the “Made in Italy” production of the sector is Germany (372 million euro) followed by China (339) and France (181).

53% of Italian sales to India concern metal-cutting machines: grinding machines account for 13%, lathes for 9.2%, TNC machines for 6.6%. With regard to metal-forming technologies (covering 47% of the total amount exported by Italy to India), the most important machines are: hammers and forging machines (10.7% of the total export), traditional cutting machines (12.1%), folding and bending machines (7.6%).

What are the initiatives taken by UCIMU and IMTMA to improve the business cooperation between these two countries?
The cooperation between the two associations has always been very efficient and well-organized and it could not be otherwise, considering that Italy is for India the second European supplier country of machine tools and the fifth worldwide. At the same time, for several years India has been among the “top 20” supplier countries of production systems to Italy and it represents an industry with very wide prospects.

The bilateral initiatives organized by UCIMU and IMTMA, aimed at fostering the trade exchange between the two countries, include collective groups and institutional exhibition stands, – which UCIMU organizes within the Indian IMTEX TOOL and IMTEX FORMING trade shows and which IMTMA organizes within the Italian BI-MU, LAMIERA and EMO MILANO exhibitions, – as well as planned missions of delegations and scheduled B2B meetings among manufacturers and users of the two countries.

In the previous years Italy and overall Europe faced some economic downturn. How is the situation now?
The recession, which has hit Europe from 2009 on, has caused a freeze of investments in Italy for several years, including those in machine tools. However, today the general economic situation has improved, both in Italy and abroad.

This first observation, which is obviously a relief for those who operate in this sector, is followed by another, even more important point: in the last year and a half, it was the Italian market that showed more willingness and inclination to invest in machine tools.

Supported by the decrease of money price practised by the ECB and by several provisions of industrial policy implemented by the Italian Government authorities who have been giving new energy to the demand for production systems, the consumption of machine tools is growing again in Italy and even more remarkably than in the rest of Europe.

How do you see the Indian market? What can be done to improve the trade between India and Italy?
The Indian machine tool production has adequate standards for many types of machining, especially for machines having medium-level technology. We, the Italians, can and must propose ourselves more and more to work in the Indian market and encourage its development and growth. Between India and Italy there is a continuous collaboration aimed at improving the mutual market advantages and at establishing a sharing of intents with a long-term view. As the Italian machine tool Manufacturers’ Association, we are present, along with ASSOCOMAPLAST, in the Indian territory, carrying out important initiatives, such as that of the “Italian Technology Center”. The promotion centre for the “Made in Italy” of the sector, with offices in Pune, promotes ITC brand and the brands of eleven Italian enterprises. These companies are manufacturers of capital goods and cooperate to develop new relationships with the Indian institutions and the culture and industry worlds: this is really necessary to support the internationalization of Italian enterprises in the area.  Besides the Technology Centre, another project by UCIMU is PIATTAFORMA INDIA, a real hub, capable of providing assistance and advice to the companies interested in working in the area. The aim of the initiative is to support the companies in their internationalization activity. For this purpose, “Piattaforma India” can rely on the collaboration of an Indian officer, acting as a facilitator directly on site.

By Nishant Kashyap

VARGUS Ltd., the leading supplier of premium thread turning and thread milling solutions and hand deburring tools, launched its groundbreaking line of GROOVEX tool solutions for cost-effective, high-performance grooving applications in 2011.

At EMO Milano 2015 VARGUS introduced its newest family of grooving and turning products: VG-Cut, a highly versatile external turning system. With VG-CUT, the GROOVEX line is now a truly end-to-end turning solution. With the all new VG-CUT toolholders and chip-forming inserts, VARGUS now offers its customers greater exposure for the full range of grooving and turning applications:

• Deep grooving
• Threading between shoulders and close to spindles — up to a shoulder depth of 10.0 mm
• Turning
• Profiling and undercut
• Parting off

The VG-Cut family of products offers its customers the ultimate ease in choosing just the right configuration for each application:

• Supports a full range of applications: parting off, deep grooving, turning, profiling and undercut, and threading between shoulders.
• Designated chip-forming insert geometries for various workpiece materials, applications and conditions with two corners (VGD) or one corner (VGS).
• All inserts come in three carbide grades:

1. The VG-Cut family of products offers its customers the ultimate ease in choosing just the right configuration for each application:
2. Supports a full range of applications: parting off, deep grooving, turning, profiling and undercut, and threading between shoulders.
3. Designated chip-forming insert geometries for various workpiece materials, applications and conditions with two corners (VGD) or one corner (VGS).

• All inserts come in three carbide grades:

1. External monoblock tools, in shank sizes 12, 16, 20, 25, with tmax Medium of 12 mm and t max Long of 21 mm
2. Modular holders, with a Module t max of 25 mm
3. Standard Blade sizes 26 and 32, providing parting off Dmax of 120 mm with the VGS one-corner profile; Reinforced Blades Size 26, with a Dmax of 48 mm with the VGS The VG-Cut family also offers tailor-made insert and tool solutions to meet special application requirements.

In short, VG-CUT removes all limits on turning, profiling, undercut, and groove depth. With its global reputation for quality, innovation and service and this exciting new product line, VARGUS is now poised to dramatically expand its activities in the grooving market.

With the slogan “THE CUTTING EDGE – Solutions for top-quality performance” the KOMET GROUP showcased more than 1000 new products for efficient machining at the EMO Milano 2015. “Achieving a competitive advantage by using cutting-edge technology is the promise we are making to our customers,” is how Dr. Christof Bönsch, Managing Director of the KOMET GROUP, describes the meaning behind this year’s trade fair slogan. “Customer focus and process optimisation are our primary concerns,” Dr. Bönsch goes on to explain, “because increasing performance, productivity and efficiency for our customers is – for us – the principle driving force behind the development of new products.”

Complete product portfolio In addition to the familiar tool portfolio for high-precision drilling, reaming and threading, the KOMET GROUP in particular, be presented at the EMO 2015 an extensive new range of high-performance milling cutters, thereby emphasising once again its leading position in the area of technology and innovation. In addition to the already successful KOMET^® Quatron hi.feed, KOMET^® hi.aeQ and KOMET^® hi.apQ range of milling cutters, six further indexable insert milling cutter systems are now also included in their ex-stock range. KOMET has also extended its leading position in bore machining as a result of a consistent further development of its product range.

Technology precursor in Industry 4.0 With the ToolScope system, the subsidiary KOMET^® BRINKHAUS provides an efficient, high-end technology in the area of machine and process monitoring. With the new firmware version 10 and its user-friendly applications, the assistance system for machining production now marks a milestone in Industry 4.0.

Investment in innovation

Management at KOMET is extremely pleased with the business transactions and growth in turnover achieved in the current year. Dynamic growth is particularly evident at the European subsidiaries. “Growth in the first half of the year was above 10%,” says Matthias Heinz, Managing Director of the KOMET GROUP, “and we expect to see a continuation of this extremely positive trend for the second half of the year.” The focus of investments, which are being maintained at a continuously high level, is centred on the area of innovation. “We invest around 8% of turnover in development,” Heinz goes on to explain. In the current business year, our main interest has been primarily the expansion of our own carbide production.

The VARDEX line of original and innovative Gear Milling tools are used around the globe in a wide range of Gear, Spline and Rack manufacturing applications. To meet a growing market demand and expedite the ordering process, VARGUS is pleased to add a Standard Line for Gear Milling Inserts. To date these highly accurate and cost-effective tools were available only in tailor-made configurations according to specifications provided by the customer.

At EMO Milano 2015 VARGUS introduced a new set of standard yet versatile Gear Milling inserts for gear applications that are kept in stock and thus cut down considerably on delivery times.

VARGUS offers standard gear inserts for DIN 3972 Basic Profile I, which are available in the following Modules: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5. The available insert sizes are IC 3/8″U, IC 1/2″U, IC 5/8″U.

VARGUS is also expanding its Gear Milling line with tailor-made solid carbide tools whose small cutting diameters, ranging from 5.9-19.9 mm (.17”-.75”), make them ideal for applications that require cutting close to the shoulder. These multi-fluted tools support high RPMs and fast feed for exceptionally rapid machining. Their solid carbide construction guarantees high accuracy.

All the new standard inserts described above are fully compatible with VARDEX’s Shell Mill, End Mill and Disc Mill toolholders.

VARGUS is also pleased to announce the addition of two new Shell Mill toolholders to its gear-milling solution: one for insert size IC 1/2”U and the other for IC 5/8”U. The smaller cutting diameters of these toolholders are well-suited for applications where the geometry of the component to be milled places constraints on the gearmilling tool diameter. VARGUS continues to expand and develop its leading Gear Milling line and provide customers innovative solutions for gear, rack and spline applications.

Nicolás Correa is entering the market of multi-tasking mill-turn machines and introduced its Correa VH-PLUS MG-T range of machines during EMO 2015.

A bed-type milling machine, T-structure and rotary table integrated on the longitudinal axis. An extremely robust machine that enables high performance machining of all types of materials.

The T-architecture and thermo-symmetrical construction (vertical carriage centred on column) offers the customer tremendous flexibility and positioning accuracy, even in adverse environmental conditions.

The machine has a hydraulic locking system on the X axis to ensure smooth high-performance turning. There are two options of turning systems: 

Accessory for turning: It is an accessory manually attachable to the milling head with a Capto C8 coupling. Designed for processes where 80-85% is milling work and a simple economical solution is required. 

Turning head: A turning head that is automatically guided with a C8 automatic coupling. Designed for processes where 65% is milling work but a totally automated mill-turn solution is sought. 

At EMO 2015 in Milan, Haas Automation chose to highlight the many, productivity-enhancing innovations that go towards making Haas CNC machine tools the best value, most reliable machines in the world, with the lowest cost of ownership and, therefore, the lowest cost per part produced.

Visitors to the Haas Automation booth were able to join a multi-stop tour of the company’s CNC vertical machining centres, turning centres and 5-axis machines, to see and learn first-hand the difference made by Haas innovations in software and control, automation, part and tool cooling, probing and setting-up, live tooling and high-speed machining.

“This was a fantastic event for Haas,” says Mr. Jens Thing, managing director of Haas Automation Europe. “It was our biggest trade show investment to date and it yielded far greater than expected returns.”

Mr. Thing points out that this dramatic result is a clear indication that the company’s collaboration with Milan-based machine tool group Celada, operating the official Haas Factory Outlet (HFO) for Italy, also has the potential to exceed expectations.

“We joined forces with Celada a little over two years ago,” he says. “In that short time, the company and its people have invested significant capital and enormous energy in creating what will undoubtedly prove to be one of the best HFOs in the world.

“It’s still relatively early days, so the results at Milan just go to show how committed the Haas and Celada teams both are, and how well we work together. I’d like to thank everyone who contributed on our booth at EMO – we had operators and sales engineers from all over Europe, but my biggest thanks go to the Haas Automation team and the Celada team. ”

During the show, journalists and Haas customers had the opportunity to meet Mr. Bob Murray, general manager of Haas Automation Inc., who was visiting from the company’s factory in Southern California.

As always, Mr. Murray shared plans for future Haas products, and his thoughts about opportunities and challenges in Europe and the rest of the world.

“We never stop innovating and designing new machines,” he said. “That’s really one of the keys to our continued success. We have a new CNC currently in development – a next-generation, more powerful control that will build on the current system and still be very familiar to Haas customers around the world.”

There are also new versions of the UMC750 currently in development. “This machine has proved to be very popular in Europe,” says Mr. Murray, “so we plan to build it in different configurations. Also, we have CNC gantry machines nearing launch and, of course, we already have available the ST-15 and ST-35 CNC tuning centres, which offer robust, big-bore capability and more powerful spindles, in machines with smaller footprints. We find more and more that our customers need capable machines with generous travels but small physical dimensions.”

As for challenges in the European and global economies, Mr. Murray openly discusses Haas’ strategies for maintaining growth. “We have great potential for increasing our market share,” he says, “especially amongst the small to medium, privately owned machine shops. We have a large range of CNC machine tools, all of which are built in volume, which means we can supply existing and new customers with exactly the capabilities they need at the right price and with excellent back up and support from the HFO network.” All Haas prices – machines and spares, are available on-line, so customers know exactly what they can expect to pay.

“As our customers grow, we can continue to supply the reliable, productive machines they need. It doesn’t matter where a customer is based, we can support them, help them do business and, of course, make money.” It’s a strategy that has worked very well in the USA, where in some market niches, Haas enjoys 50% market share.

“These are great results at EMO 2015 in Italy,” concludes Mr. Murray. “It goes to show, customers around the world all want the same things, wherever they are: high levels of service and support, and reliable products. Italian companies are very demanding and I’m happy to say, our machines and our service make sense to them.”

OPEN MIND Technologies AG draws a positive conclusion from this year’s EMO MILANO metalworking trade fair. In addition to the numerous lively discussions taking place at the OPEN MIND booth that often revolved around very specific manufacturing challenges, the main focus of the company’s presence at the trade fair was on introducing its upcoming hyperMILL MAXX Machining performance package. The solution features three special optional modules for highly efficient rouging, finishing and drilling. These strategies will be available in the new hyperMILL 2016.1 release.

OPEN MIND’s presentation at the trade fair devoted special attention to a specific finishing strategy from the new hyperMILL MAXX Machining performance package: ‘Tangent plane machining’ makes it possible to achieve machining time savings of up to 90 per cent. Using conical barrel tools allows for larger path distances for the same theoretical scallop height. The OPEN MIND machining strategy takes advantage of the extremely large radius of the barrel shape, which allows for optimal inclination to the faces. This makes it possible to achieve considerably shorter machining times and a high level of surface quality.

EMO MILANO 2015, one of the most lively industrial exhibitions, was held at prestigious exhibition centre of Fieramilano – Milan, Italy from 5th – 10th October this year. The Manufacturing Industry across the world witnessed grand participation of more than 500 leading companies of Italy, followed by companies from Germany & Taiwan.

Live demo of Tool Preset & Measuring management system given by Speroni SpA was the special attraction of event. Speroni, Italy’s one of the most premium brands, offering vast range of products and solutions in the field of Tool Preset, Measurement Management & Quality Inspection of the Manufacturing Process amazed the visitors by displaying most astonishing range of tool measuring system. Speroni’s vast display varied from Tiny tool dia. 20 microns to a giant size tool dia. 500 weighing 500 Kg. with top class precision throughout the range was one of the highlights of the show.  The company also offered Tool Management (TM) interface with partners with vending machine Supply point , CAM interface Edge Cam.   Live display of total integrated solution was another attraction that mesmerised the audience.

This phenomenal event witnessed significant footfall of Indian manufacturers and Industry experts, who came in for pleasant surprise to see Speroni’s performance at the show. Most of them expressed desire to adopt to the world-class technology offered by Speroni.

EMO MILANO 2015 event was deemed part of the Industrial Policy of Italian Ministry of Economic Development, who carried out several initiatives in cooperation with Ice-Agenzia. The show involved display of amazing product mix of advanced machine tools, precision tooling system, manufacturing & Process Automation and Metrology & Quality Control Systems, Quality Assurance software and many other process sophistication techniques.

At the stand F16 in Hall 11, Hexagon Metrology is demonstrating the latest version of its Measurement Software 3D Form Inspect live on a Mikron HSM 200.

m&h Radio-wave Touch Probe RWP20.50

m&h RWP20.50 radio-wave touch probes are available in two different frequency ranges. As a technology pioneer, m&h long ago introduced the first reliably functioning probe with radio-wave transmission of the measurement signals onto the market. The industrial frequency band of 433 MHz is still used today for reliable transmission of time-critical signals. The new radio-wave touch probe is still compatible with existing equipment in the available 433 MHz version.  Alternatively to this, the new m&h RWP20.50 radio-wave touch probe is also available with a new radio transmission technology in the frequency range of  2.4 – 2.4835 GHz.

m&h Radio-wave Receiver RWR95.50

The compact radio-wave receiver RWR95.50 communicates with m&h radio-wave touch probes in the 2.4 GHz range and can be easily mounted in the machine room. With AFS (Automatic Frequency Select) technology, the frequency ranges of this radio band are continually scanned and partial frequencies are automatically selected which are free of interfering signals. This not only ensures the system‘s own transmission to be fast and trouble-free, but also prevents interference form WLAN systems or other radio sources. The spread spectrum transmission and a multiple transfer of the records ensure transmission reliability and a fast and trouble-free measurement process.

PC-DMIS NC Gage V2.4

New also for machining centres with swiveling heads. PC-DMIS NC Gage sets the new standard for measuring on the machine tool. Developed for easy, quick and safe application of touch probes without requiring the operator to have programming skills or special knowledge of measuring technology. See for yourself at our stand – live demonstration on the tablet PC.

Edgecam supports m&h touch probes

Measuring cycles no longer necessary. Fast and simple programming. Users can measure workpieces and simulate the probe movements with six individual measuring cycles. Each cycle has been enhanced with eight new functions, giving a wider choice of inspection data.

m&h Inprocess Messtechnik
m&h probes are used to measure parts on milling machines, machining centres, lathes, turning-milling centres, grinding machines, special machines and robots. For small batches or medium to mass series production, parts can be aligned and their geometries checked while still in the machine.
Probes make everyday work easier, reduce manufacturing times and costs, and open up the full possibilities of modern machines.

LMT Tools group, leading cutting tool manufacturer, is presenting in Milan tool innovations for more productivity. Faster, more efficient, more flexible – the requirements with regard to the machining of modern industrial materials are diverse. Numerous solutions that can effectively boost the performance of existing production processes will be presented in hall 10, stand D12/E11. This applies to high-performance milling, threading and rolling in the same way as to gear cutting, drilling, reaming and turning.

The SpeedCore hobs are now even more powerful

The LMT Fette SpeedCore hob has established itself as a specialized high-performance production tool for toothed wheels – for example in vehicle transmission systems. By integrating an innovative cutting material that uses so-called intermetallic phases, the hot hardness of the SpeedCore is significantly higher than that of PM-HSS substrates. The outstanding performance of these tools has now also been transferred to larger tooth systems. As a result of this development, hobs are now available up to module size 20 (diameter 250 mm) (lead image), which are used, for example, in transmission systems for commercial vehicles, heavy machinery engineering and wind turbines. In addition, a higher evolutionary stage of the previous coating Nanosphere 2.0 was achieved to increase the temperature resistance once again. With the new coating, called “HT” (high temperature), the distance between the SpeedCore hob and the carbide is reduced even more with regard to its machinability properties.

HT” (high temperature), the distance between the SpeedCore hob and the carbide is reduced even more with regard to its machinability properties.

Thread rolling – now even faster

Thread rolling systems are part of the important core competencies of the LMT Tools group. The proven user benefits of thread rolling compared to thread cutting are extremely short production times combined with highest thread stability, constant dimensional accuracy and excellent surface quality. Very recently LMT Fette launched the brand new and very user-friendly axial rolling head EVOline. The next development step follows already: The coolant-operated closing device that shifts the entire process time required for closing the rolling head to the ancillary time of the machine (image 2).

The closing operation by means of coolant (or compressed air) with a working pressure between 8 and 16 bar can be integrated into the machine program with a simple function. Easy, safe and fast.

Highest copy milling quality

The requirements with regard to finishing in die and mold manufacturing are process reliability, good surface quality and an extended tool life at high cutting speeds. The new copy milling cutter HSCline SuperFinish2 by LMT Fette (image 3) sets new standards in exactly these areas, especially in the finishing of hardened steel between 56 – 65 HRC . Due to its high-precision cutting edge geometry with an optimized cutting edge preparation, significant tool life improvements can also be realized. The tools featuring a multilayer PVD high-performance coating ensure a maximum of process reliability. However, if the focus is not only on a long service life but also on higher speed, the processing time can also be reduced without much effort by applying the strategy for reduced processing time. These new tools have two cutting blades and are available in a short and long version for diameters of 4 – 12 mm. The precise radius tolerance of the cutting blade is in the range of +/- 5 µm.

Highest machining volume with small indexable inserts

The difference to high-speed cutting (HSC), which exhibits an excellent surface quality, particularly in finish machining, is that in high feed-rate cutting the focus is on a short processing time during roughing. A brand new addition is the MultiEdge 2Feed mini by LMT Fette (image 4). The new insert milling cutter is used for roughing small and medium components. The positive high feed geometry of the small cutting inserts permits a maximum material removal rate even in weaker machining centers. But when this tool runs at full throttle, feed rates of 14 m/min are not unusual, for instance, for the machining of tool steel with a tensile strength of 1000 N/mm2. And the cutter has 9 cutting edges on a tool diameter of 80 mm. The cutting inserts are now also available with a theoretical corner radius of 2 mm and the carrier bodies as a face cutter and a screw-on milling cutter.

The new milling strategy significantly reduces manufacturing costs

Trochoidal milling requires rethinking of milling and opens up new performance dimensions. The result is higher removal rates at lower cutting forces. This also facilitates the optimized machining of hardened and high-strength material with reduced machining times. LMT Tools follows this strategy and for example reduced the machining time by 70% compared to conventional milling strategies while at the same time tripling service life with the VHM milling cutter DHC HARDLINE (image 5). During trochoidal milling, the feed motion of the tool is not linear but curved. This causes the wrap angle, chip load and radial depth of the cut to change constantly. In contrast to conventional milling, the mean chip thickness hm remains constant. The prerequisite, however, is a powerful CAM software and a dynamic and fast machine control.

The specialist for threading stainless steels

The new INOX tap by LMT Fette was developed especially for machining stainless steels (image 6). These difficult materials do not pose a problem. The positive torsion characteristics of the HSS-E cutting material, its special geometry and the low-friction, multilayer sliding layer based on TiAlN and WC/C ensure maximum process reliability with excellent chip flow and minimal lubrication. This also sums up the main benefit for the user: It’s reliable and reproducible application guarantees high profitability. In order to improve the quality and process reliability, pre-drilling with the X-Speed INOX drill system is recommended. The new INOX tap is available in the versions Markant for through-hole threads and Rasant for blind-hole threads in metric, metric fine, UNC, and UNF sizes.

The new and user-friendly tap catalog shows the outstanding variety of tools for threading and drilling offered by LMT Tools. At the heart of the new catalog is the LMT Guide, which guides the user to the ideal tap in four easy steps.