Digitalization also pays off for SMEs - Tool presetting technology with digital data transfer

The UNO Premium is simple to operate and provides the operator with independent measurement results.

The HAIMER Group, a full-service provider for complete tool management, now offers all shrinking, balancing and tool presetting machines in i4.0 versions. We’re finding out from 3WIN GmbH in Aachen, Germany what sort of impact this can have for medium-sized companies: The UNO Premium tool presetter was the start in digitalization for the production team at 3Win.

3WIN GmbH in Aachen, Germany is an ambitious special machine and engineering company with 27 employees. Dagmar Wirtz, founder and managing partner explains: “Our core business is machine building. Nevertheless, we have consistently continued to develop over our 20 years of existence and are now also involved in research projects with various universities and colleges as well as applied digitalization.”

The business economist, a graduate of St. Gallen, practices a form of company management that treats employees, customers and suppliers as partners. “After all, 3WIN’s aim is to benefit all those involved in our business activities,” emphasizes Dagmar Wirtz. She also mentions openness to ideas as another characteristic of her company and provides an example: “We first developed a contactless hand disinfection dispenser with a large tank during the pandemic. This then led on to a second project: a similarly functioning contactless dispenser for holy water, two of which are installed at the Cathedral of Augsburg.”

Digitalization – also a hot topic for medium-sized companies

In addition to customer projects, 3WIN also focuses on innovations for work processes. On behalf of the city of Aachen and its surrounding districts, the company is currently working on a “Digital Workshop” project. Over the past two years, the idea was to develop an advanced training program for skilled workers in medium-sized machine building companies with a focus on a production environment that included elements from “Industry 4.0” and digitalization. “The aim of the ‘Digital Workshop’ is to show how digitalization can be implemented and the efficiency-enhancing potential associated with it, based on the example of our own company,” says Dagmar Wirtz.

The project is focused on digitalization in management, assembly, and least but not least, production. For 3WIN, this includes CNC milling and CNC turning of aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron, nonferrous metal and plastic, amongst others. Effectively, those responsible for production identified tool registration and setting along with networking measuring devices with the machines as the center of digitalization.

Tool presetter with digital data transfer

Gerd Jungen is a member of the extended production team at 3WIN. The managing director of Jungen Zerspanungswerkzeuge GmbH has been consulting and supplying 3WIN with tools and accessories for five years. The partnership has become so close that his GmbH company has even become a sub-tenant of 3WIN.

Jungen’s suggestion for the 3WIN digitalization project: “Invest in a HAIMER Microset UNO Premium tool presetter. It is exactly the right machine for a company with a manageable number of tools to measure. This would allow them to easily set or measure the turning tools with VDI30, the milling cutter with SK40, PSC and also other tool holders. This is in addition to digital data transfer, which is pioneering for the future.”

The suggestion was met with interest as 3WIN had already been using a variety of HAIMER products for years. These included the SK40 tool holders in Weldon and collet chuck versions, the HAIMER Centro centering device and the HAIMER Universal 3D sensor. 3WIN also uses the solid carbide end mills of the HAIMER MILL line. “We know from experience that HAIMER only supplies the best quality and precision,” affirms Gerd Jungen. “This applies to the UNO Premium presetter, which has a repeatable accuracy of ±2 μm, and runout accuracy at the spindle is 2 µm.”

HAIMER employees Grünheit, Kolvenbach and Gebauer used a HAIMER Demo Van equipped with the latest tool holders and shrinking, balancing and presetting devices to clear away any remaining questions that needed to be answered. Parked on site, all interested 3WIN employees and subsequent users were able to try out the mobile HAIMER Microset tool presetter in the Demo Van. Even manager Dagmar Wirtz did not want to miss out trying it: “The expert advice and practical demonstration convinced us that this machine would accelerate our production processes.”

Shorter setup times

The benefits of the purchase are transparent. Setup times were quite long because the tools previously needed to be calibrated on the respective machine tool. This often resulted in undesired machine downtimes, which cost a lot of money overall. The UNO Premium now makes it possible to preset every tool parallel to production time. Additional efficiency results from the possibility of digital data transfer between the CAD/CAM system, the UNO Premium and the machine tools. Ulrich Vennemann, Head of Sales North Germany at HAIMER, explains: “The device enables us to provide post-processors for the 50 most common machine tool controls in a standard package, and can thus send the captured data directly to the respective machine. The operator no longer needs to type in the values. This also reliably avoids transposed numbers and other entry errors, which benefits reliable machining processes. This is the first step towards digitalization for tool management.”

The production team is enthusiastic

After Dagmar Wirtz realized how important it was to invest in a HAIMER presetter, she wanted to get the staff enthusiastic about the new machine and its digital integration before making the full investment. Because of this, the HAIMER Demo Van visited the site and allowed anyone who was interested see a demonstration of the HAIMER products. Even the manager herself took a look at the HAIMER Demo Van: “The HAIMER UNO Premium indeed is very easy to use, that even I could manage to operate it although being no technician. The benefits for the production process also convinced our machining experts.”

HAIMER delivered the tool presetter, installed it in the measuring room and trained the staff. Gerd Jungen explains: “Due to its robust and durable cast iron construction and the thermally optimized combination of materials, we could also safely use it in the workshop. However it is permanently installed in the measuring room and the digital data transfer of the machine means it doesn’t cost us any additional time.”

The associated changeover was no problem for the production team. Actually, it was quite the opposite: The benefits, such as reduced machine downtimes and higher process reliability, were welcomed by everyone. Gerd Jungen also reports less wastage, more consistent product quality and improved tool life. His summary: The tool presetter – especially the HAIMER Microset devices – pays off for every machining company, even if it only has one machine tool. He calculates: “If this means the machine is idle for one hour less every day, that’s roughly 100 euros saved. The result is that the investment in a HAIMER Microset UNO Premium already pays off after half a year.”

3WIN will also be presenting the results of the “Digital Workshop” project to other medium-sized companies in the Aachen district, and Dagmar Wirtz is sure that tool presetting will be a hot topic. And that it will certainly not be the last step toward comprehensive digitalization for their company.