This news article was originally written in Spanish. It has been automatically translated for your convenience. Reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate translation, however, no automated translation is perfect nor is it intended to replace a human translator. The original article in Spanish can be viewed at Cuando la producción se escapa del ‘prêt-à-porter’

Special machinery requires a total interaction between the designer and the client that the demand

When production runs away from the 'ready-to-wear'

Esther Güell12/03/2010

March 12, 2010

There are jobs for which there are no machines standardized on the market. At the time they come into play special machines, understanding this concept as the machine that is designed and clear, is constructed, specifically planning to perform a particular operation. It is not of machines, from a standard design, incorporating multiple accessories or options that make them specific to a sector. It's machines already thought from its origin on the basis of special needs.

To find out more about this work, how they develop and in what situation are, Interempresas Metal has spoken with Etxe-tar, company dedicated especially to this kind of machines, to various questions.

What you mean today by special machine?

A special machine is a like a tailored suit. There are always clients who need special solutions for your machining and when you can't find that machine under catalogue or at trade fairs, resorts to a 'tailor' so that do you as that machine according to your production needsprecision and flexibility.

When designing a specific host for a job, what are the main challenges that face?

In the end a special machine is a machine that is going to devote to machining a certain type of piece or pieces family. The client that is going to buy a machine to make today tomorrow crankshafts and connecting rods, does not buy a special machine. On the other hand, that customer who has to make a certain number of pieces per day and moves into a family of parts and certain quality requirements, obviously is needing a very specific and special solution.

Project carried out by Etxe-Tar for the 'Oil & Gas' sector, for the machining of a family of valves. It's a machine with 21 axes NC which machined one-piece in 120 s (30 pieces/h).

With the adverse economic situation, has an increase in the acquisition of this kind of machinery there been to stand out in the offer or vice versa?

No one can speak of increase in the acquisition, yes there has been a drop in supply. I.e., a special machine requires very high engineering since before deciding the machine, is a process that is more flexible and cost-effective as possible. The manufacturer of special machine is always linked to a technological specialization and not so much to the mass production of models whose distribution is really difficult with existing global competition.

Segments of the medicine or the dental are gaining ground in the market of machining... are using special machines?

There is always a boom in the market. A few years ago was the wind world (all to bid the same). Now, at trade fairs specializing in machine tools, the subject in vogue is the medical sector, for example, is the fashion. However, they are niches which require a specialization. In implant precision and small, has more opportunity to a Swiss manufacturer accustomed to small pieces of precision, that another of machining centers. In the field of implants, there are factors like materials for machining, etc. You can use some special machines, but now most commonly are the machines of 5-axis CNC and as far as possible, ending the piece in a single bound.