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Long-term solutions SHW Werkseugmaschinen
LONG-TERM SOLUTIONS
SHW Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of travelling column milling and turning machines and an internationally renowned specialist in machine processing. SHW WM is a private, independent company – equivalent to a limited company in the UK. Marco Siebel spoke with head of marketing Danny Basic about the plans to keep production entirely in Germany, while expanding its sales to Scandinavia, South America, Asia, Canada and the USA.
SHW machine tools are used in a wide variety of sectors - from the automotive industry to machine, mould and plant construction, turbine and tool construction, the aviation industry and job order production.
Danny Basic said, “SHW is the oldest industrial company in the world, with a tradition going all the way back to the 14th century. In 1912, SHW was way ahead in the then new car industry: its aluminium made car had brakes on all four wheels, each having individual suspension.”
The basis of SHW WM’s expertise, which is surely unique in the industry, is over 70 years of mechanical engineering experience. This year is the 50th anniversary of its universal orthogonal milling head. Among the items its machines produce are large parts for machine and plant construction, for large diesel engines, for turbines and for environmental technology. The SHW WM philosophy guarantees the uncompromising precision and flexibility that customers demand.
Numerous patents
Quality is not just created in production, but as early as the development stage: by continuously making technological advances ourselves, the company generates greater benefits, more value and, ultimately, increased success for its customers. Numerous SHW WM patents prove how closely bound tradition and innovation actually are for SHW WM and its customers.
Danny Basic continues “We also see product and performance as an inseparable unit. What our 250 employees deliver is always a complete package: machine and service, from development to production management, and all from a single source - directly from the manufacturer.”
Investments pay off
When SHW WM decided to invest €10 million in the construction of a new production facility - representing 1/6th of its annual turnover of around €60 million – the business was proven right: the largest machine ever designed and built by the company was commissioned by a customer from Finland. The PowerForce 8 is an impressive machine (it costs €3.4 million, weights 250 tons, and can take 40m long, 7.1m high and 11m diameter workpieces for machining). It is delivered as standard with the new, continuously adjustable orthogonal milling head, which is equipped with a drive power of up to 90kW and a torque of up to 1.725Nm. Optionally, the PowerForce 8 can be equipped with substitute milling heads such as a fork head, an off-centre, long or short horizontal milling head, an angle head, a facing and boring head, or an orthogonal milling head with continuously adjustable A axis. The elevating work platform also sets totally new standards in terms of design and implementation with its outstanding vertical travel.
SHW has continuously grown over the course of the years. Together with its international customers it has become an internationally operating company that operates in more than 45 countries around the globe. Even so, SHW remains committed to its German production site in Aalen, a town in central Germany between the business hubs of Stuttgart and Munich. It is in Aalen where 250 dedicated employees have been contributing to the company’s success, and it is here that the family keeps investing in the future.
Danny Basic explained, “Our customers have the highest of expectations. We produce in Germany because it is where we have found qualified employees, optimum conditions and like-minded partners with whom we can fulfil these expectations. All of the components that we purchase must also
fulfil our stringent quality criteria. We prefer to use parts with the ‘Made in Germany’ seal of quality.”
Of SHW WM’s turnover, 80 per cent generated outside of Germany. Sales in Europe are notably in neighbouring Austria. Turkey is a growth market as well as the northern countries of Sweden, Finland and Russia. In the east we have India, China and SouthEast Asia, and, across the Atlantic, the USA and Canada, and Brazil.
Sustainability
Sustainability is a principle that has been lived and breathed by SHW WM since the very beginning, and that permeates every area of the company. The responsible use of energy is right at the top of the list. As part of its internal energy management SHW operates its own combined heat and power plant, as well as a photovoltaics system. As a result, SHW WM produces 100 per cent of the process electricity that it needs for production.
Danny Basic said, “What customers are more and more looking for is energy-efficient machines, and we sell those: 25 per cent less
energy consumption than the comparable machines means less headaches for our customers who know that we all have to rethink our energy consumption. And so we want to lend a hand and play our part by developing and building energy-efficient machines.”
Creating long-lasting relationships
SHW WM has introduced its own energyefficiency standard for its machines, comparable to the German ‘Blue Angel’ label for consumer goods. But a machine is not just sustainable if it has low consumption, it is also sustainable if it remains in use for a long time. The lifetime of a SHW WM machine spans up to 40 years.
Designed for the long term: this idea applies more than anything to the relationships that SHW WM builds – both with its own employees and with its customers. The extremely low fluctuation rate shows that this concept works. Many SHW WMers stay with the company right from their apprenticeships through their entire working lives, thereby always increasing the SHW WM know-how and being reliable, expert companions for their customers. This is without doubt one of the reasons why many customers have trusted SHW WM for years, or even decades, and how sustainable and successful partnerships have been formed. n
