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A digitally driven manufacturing era is dawning and GF Machining Solutions’ new AgieCharmilles LASER S series—to be shown at EMO Hannover 2019, September 16─21 in Hannover, Germany—puts product designers and mold makers at its forefront. This highly efficient, fully digital, all-in-one Laser texturing solution is already delivering new value to two mold-making standouts: Reichle Technologiezentrum in Bissingen an der Teck, Germany, and Standex Engraving Mold-Tech’s Piazza Rosa division in Alpago, Italy.
The new AgieCharmilles LASER S series helps Reichle Technologiezentrum and Standex Engraving Mold-Tech's Piazza Rosa perfectly apply their unique texture designs to challenging surfaces while controlling cost per part, reducing lead time and machining time, and significantly improving quality. With the GF Division’s Laser texturing technology, these mold-making leaders get access to a fully digital means of overcoming the limitations of conventional and manual texturing methods. That means they can execute complex designs with far greater ease and significantly reduce quality deviations, so they are positioned to seize new business opportunities—today.
Perfect textures, reduced machining time
At Reichle Technologiezentrum, Europe’s largest service provider for laser texturing, the LASER S range delivers perfect grain textures and reduces machining time by up to 45%.
Founded nearly 40 years ago as a one-man operation, the business today is a pan-European service center with more than 1,000 customers in automotive, food, medicine, aerospace, cosmetics and packaging. Driven by innovation, new areas of performance and hard work, Reichle Technologiezentrum counts on the LASER S series to take its process reliability and graining quality on injection molds to unprecedented levels while significantly reducing machining time. The business is keenly focused on developing new products in order to stay ahead of customer requirements and set new standards in terms of design and quality. Integrating leading-edge technologies is part of that quest. Today, Reichle uses 10 Laser machines from GF Machining Solutions for texturing and stopped traditional chemical etching years ago. Apart from laser texturing, Reichle is specialized in grain repair, polishing, engraving and laser welding as well as tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding.
Intent on improving its graining quality, Reichle Technologiezentrum put the LASER S series to the test on a sample part that “looks really simple”, but in fact isn't, said Marco Reichle, the company’s authorized representative and plant manager.
“…All of the critical areas you can get in a serial injection tool are put into this sample part, [such as] a very complex shape with convex and concave surfaces,” he added, noting that it’s possible to test the various angles for Laser beam accessibility. “All of the grainings our designers have developed will be tested on this tool before starting the Laser process on a serial tool because we have to approve the 100% process reliability of our grainings.”
Those tests have yielded impressive results: The LASER S reduces machining time by 45%, produces decidedly higher quality, and generates perfect results with fewer patches to decrease the risk of undesirable light reflection angles on surfaces.
“I recommend GF Machining Solutions because the collaboration is really close and the reaction time is very short,” Reichle said. “It’s also very interesting and important to get new ideas for the future.”
Building the future at Standex Engraving Mold-Tech's Piazza Rosa
Innovation is nothing new to Piazza Rosa, which has a foothold in both automotive and packaging. With more than 36 years of experience in mold concept design and surface finishing, this Standex Engraving Mold-Tech division based in Alpago, Italy, continues to push technological boundaries with its fleet of Laser texturing machines placed all around the world. Standex Engraving Mold-Tech is the leader in innovation, volume and capacity for laser, chemical, and mechanical engraving in Europe and across the globe.
With particular expertise in laser hardening, engraving, welding, chemical etching and polishing, Piazza Rosa is focused on keeping its current customers happy while developing innovative laser applications with the aim of breaking into new markets.
Texturing is the blood running through Standex’s veins and the driving power used by Piazza Rosa to explore the capabilities offered by the LASER S.
In the past, conventional technologies’ limitations made some projects unfeasible or too time consuming, Marzio Dal Farra, Technical Manager Laser engraving, said, but the LASER S series changes all that. The solution’s hardware and software capabilities allow the firm’s technicians to easily apply their expertise and turn customers’ mold surfaces into works of art.
“We can use our knowledge wisely to choose [from] the options and this can lead to faster engraving time together with better quality,” Dal Farra said. “The machine is very stable, requiring little thought to calibration.”
Furthermore, the LASER S machines ramp up feasibility and speed at Piazza Rosa.
“We can apply geometric textures with perfect results at maximum speed―and, as demonstrated by the LASER S demo part, cut the machining time,” he said. “GF Machining Solutions gives us great support and great tools for Laser engraving.”
The LASER S series is just one highlight of GF Machining Solutions’ EMO Hannover 2019 presence (Hall 27, Stand B26). With the theme “Connected to your needs”, the 1,156-square-meter stand will feature an array of intelligent solutions relevant to manufacturers of high-value precision parts as well as the mold and die sector.
