SPECIALREPORT
www.equipment-news.com
WALTER: A World-Class
PRODUCTION
i g h - te c h to o l s m a d e in Germany are in great demand globally and export rates have increased above-average over the past years. But to remain at the cutting edge, companies have to invest in the latest technolog y. WALTER AG has taken another step in this direction with the opening of what it claims to be the most modern indexable insert factory in the world. With advanced powder metallurgy know-how and over 100 years of insert tool-making expertise, the company has cast another milestone in the carbide inserts production technology. It set up an advanced insert and power coating production plant in record time. Its new production site, which ha s a 15,0 0 0 sq m 18 metalworking equipment news Nov-Dec 2007
PLANT
At the inauguration of WALTER’s new plant, the company had an exciting story to tell – how it rallied its experienced staff and skilled technical experts to set up a new cutting tool factory in Münsingen. By Goh Tzen Long shopfloor, is the result of its effort of turning a potential catastrophe into success after a fire destroyed two production halls in January 2006. The new plant was built in just under eight months in Münsingen, located between Tübingen and Ulm. All this was possible without reducing the production capability. Its management reacted fast by relocating part of the production to its sister companies in Italy, USA, China and Australia, and rented a factory only three km from the headquarters. At the same time, a new green manufacturing facility in Münsingen
was conceptualised. Designed from ground up using advanced CAD systems and simulation, the new plant allows the company to produce
Highly automated processes allow the production of more than 50 million inserts annually.