"WE TRUST ACURA TO BE ACCURATE."

Pfisterer Feinwerktechnik GmbH | ACURA 65 | Area of application: Contract manufacturing | Company headquarters: Bernau, Germany | Employees: 20

The idyllic landscape around Lake Chiemsee invites you to relax and unwind. The region is very popular with holidaymakers. Where others go on holiday, Georg Pfisterer and his 20 employees work on high-precision components for laboratory and medical devices. An ACURA 65 from HEDELIUS has also been in use for this since 2017.

Pfisterer Feinwerktechnik GmbH was founded 18 years ago in Bernau am Chiemsee. The medium-sized company produces high-precision small and micro parts in two shifts for demanding sectors such as medical and laboratory technology, as well as for the semiconductor industry and special machine construction. "Our customers are small, medium-sized and large companies from the region, for whom we manufacture products and whose locations worldwide. But we also have customers from Switzerland, Austria, China, Malaysia, England and the USA," explains company founder and managing director Georg Pfisterer. They all rely on the high quality of the contract manufacturing company, which also operates its own component assembly centre. The managing director explains: "The quality standards are often very high, many of our customers are certified and require test reports and reports for documentation. We have to fulfil these requirements. That's why we have an employee who is solely responsible for quality assurance." And this is not the only area where quality is kept open. The company also sets high standards in the training of precision mechanics specialising in mechanical engineering. In general, Pfisterer employs very well-trained specialists with high quality standards.

Pinhead-sized milled parts.

This is also important, because the size of the components alone suggests that machining is not easy. Some of the work is very small and delicate. "On average, the milled parts are about the size of a matchbox, with the smallest parts being the size of a pinhead and the largest components the measurements of a shoebox," says Pfisterer, describing the workpieces. One of the challenges is thus named. The workpieces also have to be machined with high precision. It is often a matter of hundredths. For example, milling fits with an accuracy of 6 µm is not uncommon. These machining operations are carried out on an ACURA 65 from HEDELIUS Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Meppen, among others. The 5-axis milling machine with rotating/swivelling table from the North German manufacturer was put into operation in 2017. "If precision is required, we mill even the smallest parts on the ACURA," says Georg Pfisterer. "We trust the machine with the accuracy." Aluminium and plastics are often machined, but stainless steel and titanium are also milled with the compact machine. As a lot of aluminium and plastic is machined, the 5-axis machine was equipped with an HSK A63 spindle and 18,000 rpm. Another reason for the high speed is the very small tools that are often used.

The contract manufacturing company's entire range of parts is machined on the machining centre. However, the compact milling machine is most frequently used for recurring parts and medium series, as this is when the HEDELIUS machine points with its great flexibility.

On-time delivery is crucial.

The managing director explains: "Our customers order batch sizes between one and 500, sometimes weekly, monthly or quarterly recurring parts, sometimes just a single part. We have to be able to react to this. Adherence to deadlines and on-time delivery are crucial for us." This is why the ACURA 65 was also equipped with a zero-point clamping system and a standby tool magazine with a cone cleaning station. In addition to the 65-position standard magazine, which can be operated from the front during machining, a further 180 tool positions are available. "The ACURA 65's magazine is really ingenious. And with the standby magazine and the zero-point clamping system, we can significantly reduce tooling times for recurring parts. Vices are prepared and tools are immediately available," says Georg Pfisterer enthusiastically about the system.

Machine operation as simple as possible.

In addition to the high flexibility and output, there were other reasons for the decision to purchase the compact machining centre. With travel paths of 700 x 650 x 600 mm (x/y/z) on a footprint of 2725 x 2850 mm, the ACURA 65 offers great machining possibilities in a very small space. This compactness was worth its weight in gold for the precision engineers from Bernau, as space is at a premium in the production hall. Twelve CNC turning and milling machines are already in use, and a further turning/milling centre will be delivered shortly.

Despite its compact design, the machine surprises with its large sliding door and large viewing window. When the door is open, the machine operator can get very close to the machine table. "The ACURA is very accessible, which is really great," says Georg Pfisterer, who appreciates the machine design. In order to keep operating as simple as possible for the employees, a Heidenhain TNC 640 was chosen for the control system. "Our employees know Heidenhain, we also have the controls on other machines. We didn't want to mix different controls," says Georg Pfisterer, explaining the decision. The employees at Pfisterer Feinwerktechnik often programme components on the machine, while more complex parts are programmed using a CAD program. In order to be able to get fully up to speed with the first ACURA, two employees spent two days at HEDELIUS in Meppen for training and Mr Pfisterer is satisfied: "My employees were enthusiastic about the training. Although both training participants are very well trained, they still learnt a lot at HEDELIUS."