Centre of attention SW Machines

CENTRE OF ATTENTION

SW-Machines of Germany are market leaders in the manufacture of multi-spindle machining centres for a wide range of OEM industries. Philip Yorke talked to Reiner Fries, SW’s managing director about the company’s latest innovative technology and the company’s plans for further global expansion.

SW-Machines was independent until 2004 when it became a 100 per cent part of the EMAG Group. Then in 2008 EMAG got the German SDB investment group on board, which today holds 70 per cent of the company with the remaining 30 per cent held by EMAG. As a result, the company has significantly increased its global reach as well its range of high performance machine centre products. After the downturn in 2009 SW is now back on track, reaching sales of €120 million in 2011 (significantly above its previous best year in 2008) and employs almost 300 people.

Cost-effective solutions

There are many companies specialising in the design and manufacture of machining centres (MC’s) and they vary greatly in terms of their size and product offering. However, the success of SW-Machines is based upon MCs with two or four spindles and their intensive technological development and end-user-specific solutions.

The highest priority is given to delivering the most cost-effective and strategic solution for any given manufacturing task. Known in the industry as “The Technology people” the company lives up to its name and its well-founded reputation for German engineering’s quality heritage. Mr Fries added, “We offer one of the most diverse product portfolios and are able to adapt our machines to suit an infinite variety of applications. In fact every one of our machines, whether it is designed for non-ferrous or ferrous metal machining, is dedicated to providing the optimum solution for the task for which it was designed. All of our machines are ‘bespoke’ and would not be purchased by the customer without a specific project in mind. However, we do have a range of standardized basic modules, which are then adapted and customised on the hardware side. Sometimes a repeat client will prefer to buy a ‘naked’ machine and then customise it in-house.

“We know that we offer higher standards of reliability and efficiency than our competitors due to our cutting-edge automation technology. We are technology driven and we look at all possible opportunities to improve our machines’ efficiency and output, e.g. by permanent conditon monitoring features installed in our machines. We have developed several types with linear motors in recent years and currently update our portfolio with ball screw driven machines for heavy machining. When we look at developing a new machine we ask ourselves, is this satisfying a market ‘pull’ or can we set a technology ‘push’ again, enabling customers to reduce their cost-per-part. Today the multispindle MC market is growing, as manufacturers can do more with these multifunctional machines. This is because these articulated high-speed machines with two or four spindles use fewer operators, less floor space and less energy per part produced.”

Increasing global reach

With Europe coming out of the recent manufacturing recession, the company has seen its sales grow by more than 200 per cent during the past 12 months. Pioneering new technology that provides customers with greater potential for cost savings and increased productivity has added to the company’s fortunes. The biggest market for SW-Machines remains Germany and western Europe, with the EU ‘expansion’ states also seeing strong growth, especially countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic.

Mr Fries added, “We are making good progress with sales in the developing regions and getting more customers in China where we are present in nine cities and serving customers such as BOSCH, TRW and Continental Teves. We are also expanding our reach in India and for the last one and a half years have seen positive growth in sales. We expect to be able to build on this success with our attendance at IMTEX 2011 in Bangalore. The interesting thing is that in India there is a move towards high-speed machining centres, which offer higher automated production output and are therefore far less labour intensive. Our main competition in India comes from small producers of single spindle and special purpose machines. We have also launched our latest BA 422 machine there for cutting medium size cast iron and steel parts, which are ideal for first and second tier suppliers and ideal for energy and turbine applications. “We are also participating in the EMO trade fair in Hanover in September this year, as well as the CIMT in April in Beijing, China.” Enhancing product diversity

With an ever-increasing product range and built-in cutting-edge technology, SW-Machines is winning sales in all its key markets. The latest BA W04 and BA W06 are horizontal machining centres for non-ferrous metal machining and are both based on the monoblock design principle with a three-axis box-in-box unit. This combination offers high dynamics in an energy-saving format. Both machines are driven by linear motors with special attention to low masses.

The company’s extremely rigid and patented monoblock, the CUBE, carries a horizontal swivel table with two fixtures and fifth axis units as an option. The vertical axis always has two drives, and two or four horizontal spindles. Glass scales and highresolution rotary scales are located outside the work zone. A fifth axis with two or four satellites can be added on both tables for complex workpieces such as impellers or turbine blades.

SW-Machines’ portfolio also includes the BA 322, a horizontal machining centre for ferrous and non-ferrous metals with two spindles, and its four-spindle sister the BA 342. During the EMO Show in Hannover (19–24 September 2011) the company will be launching its new model, the BA 722, for bigger workpieces on lightduty or heavy- duty trucks. There is more product information and technical data available on the company website which can be reached at www.sw-machines.de.com n