The BMI group, which integrates Iscar, is the second manufacturer of tools

In a few decades, Israel has gone from having an economy based on Agriculture and animal husbandry to a country that bases its economy on high technology, which invests 4.7 per cent of their GDP on r & d civil. With 140 scientists per 10,000 inhabitants, Israel has the highest number of graduates in science per capita in the world. This progression toward the high-tech, this bet convinced by the added value, is also applicable to the companies, and Iscar is certainly a good example of this.

The soul of this manufacturer of tools for turning, slotted, milling, drilling, bore and threading is Stef Wertheimer (1926), a restless person which in 1952 he founded the company. Today it is a multifaceted character who, at the age of 84, thinks that people should hear the music of its interior and work in order to make things right. Else, especially as of making money, comes in addition. Only with that, you already think it is facing a particular company.

Details gave Jacob Harpaz, director of the BMI group, who introduced the company to clients of Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Costa Rica and Brazil. The BMI group is the umbrella for various manufacturers of tools under the Iscar, while each of these companies has its own, independent capabilities in manufacturing, r & d, marketing, etc.

In the seminar were some of the latest additions of Iscar for milling operations, strawberries of positive tangential technology allowing high density of teeth, as well as strawberries for integral hard metal FinishRed, strawberries of integral hard metal Chatterfree, family Helido "bend" the number of available edges or the new plates of PCD and CBN-tipped in different qualities.

In turning stresses family Heliturn Lay Down (more robust, more advance and depth) and boring highlighted drills new Sumocham and new line for deep holes. For the tronzado has developed the innovative TangGrip family for a tronzado with tangential insert with new lamas reinforced for turning/milling Traub (TNL and TNK models) and Index (model MS18C) machines. These lamas, thanks to its reinforced construction, can be used for large overhangs. In torneado-ranurado it has become its line of tools in a more versatile family and bore, profiling and threading offers the line of blades Picco.

Satellite companies to complete to Iscar

Iscar has a number of 'satellites' companies that it has acquired specialized in complementary products and so to be able to offer a complete customer:

-UOP (reamers, strawberries and bits of HSS and hard metal)

-Outiltec (drills barrel and special drilling reamers)

-Unitac (Tools monotube or double tube for drilling type BTA special operations)

-Metaldur in Switzerland (Tools for slotted high productivity and precision turned parts)

-Wertec (specialist in excavation and bore in special projects or semi-estándar)

-IT.YOU.DI (polycrystalline diamond tools)

In the town of Tefen, in the North of Israel, a quarter of the 10,000 employees of Iscar works in the world. You can not qualify of plant production, but rather productive complex, a set of buildings that House the most modern means of production and a very high level of automation. Batteries of machines of leading brands, Makino, Okuma, Matsuura, Hitachi Seiki, Mazak, with very few workers to its around, flexible manufacturing cells, grinding machines Studer, sharpeners Schneeberger, Ewag, Rollomatic, Vollmer, etc. Each of the wards that make up the complex of Tefen would, by itself alone, the envy of many machining.

It has therefore top brands for the precision machining, as well as automated processes of pressing, sintering, coating, actions post coatings and heat treatment for the improvement of the mechanical benefits.

Of course that he is sometimes made from their own machines. In one of the rooms from pressing hard metal plates, only in one (each product has its pressing room), 16 presses built by the own Iscar manufactured, in an environment of controlled environment, some chips that can even be directly touched with the hand. To avoid contamination and dirt, robotic vehicles and robots perform this work. In fact, there are vehicles robotized in many areas of manufacturing. As well as many stations of quality control.

After pressing occurs the sintered, grinding and coating. Then come the various quality controls, by artificial vision, by probe, by human vision

Everything is here, Tefen. And everything is property of Iscar. It is the way to have the controlled process and to guarantee the quality that Iscar has self-imposed. In addition to the complex of Tefen, there are production units in Germany, USA, Korea, India, Brazil, China. Iscar are also centres of design and manufacture of special tools in various countries, among which is that of Spain in Barcelona.

Of course that if investment in machines of the first line is a priority for this manufacturer, his bid for a qualified human capital shows with an easy walk through the center of engineering and development, where hundreds of engineers exploit tools such as simulation to put on the market with the necessary quality tools and the appropriate time. "Part of our secret - said Jacob Harpaz - is in the people".

Jacob Harpaz introduced many innovations in the field of tools and exposed its commitment marked by the quest for greater productivity. The company exports 99% of its products and grows annually by double-digit, meaningful data in times of crisis and put on the table the correctness of the Iscar concept: innovate, innovate and then continue to innovate. And this in all areas, from dry machining and cutting at high speed, passing through the use of materials for high strength, until the treated parts machining, either for the automotive, aerospace, medicalthe wind or the manufacture of machine tools.

The fact that 70% of the sales of Iscar is 'premium' products of high productivity says it all. Some examples are the plates of double-sided Helido, the ChamDrill line that does not require putting point-to-point or machine stops or the TangGrip of high productivity. More specific examples? However, in 1978 the tronzado of a piece of 100 mm was made in 1.5 minutes, in 1982, in 1 minute, 30 seconds, 1994 and in 2007 while already down for 10 seconds.

Iscar observed global trends to guide his strategy. For example, the demand for polycrystalline diamond in China and India tools is growing much, which has important consequences in global consumption. Other trends point to the growing presence of the high speed when he is not treated steels, the increasing use of plates with coatings type PVD and integral hard metal tools. In milling the CVD coating, which improves wear resistance, is giving positions in favour of the developing countries, which brings great tenacity. If in 2002, 55% of coated tools resorted to the CVD, 20% to the developing countries, and another 20% without cover, in 2009 the PVD was placed in first position, with 56%, followed by the CVD (25%) and without coating (20%). Iscar has combined the wear resistance and high tenacity in the next generation of coatings of the SumoTec line.

They also know that years ago three quarters of the material that is mecanizaban for the aerospace sector were aluminium and stainless steel. However, in 2009, more than three quarters of the materials in this sector were composites, titanium, reinforced plastics and other "exotic" materials. This means that Iscar engineers are now working to for example doubling speed milling of titanium or to improve the chips for high-speed aluminum machining, with the family HeliAlu as an example in this sector.

Productivity is the concept that underlies all its developments. "Is it not save on the cost of the tool." "The important thing is save costs in the production process."

Jacob Harpaz placed special emphasis on this section and explained in detail the cost of a product structure, to come to the conclusion that the only way to get substantial savings is through productivity.

SumoTec, an example to highlight the difference

The SumoTec family is the demonstration of one of the capabilities of Iscar: the develop advanced qualities. At the seminar held in Tefen showed microscope imaging how different some coatings may be apparently equal, their tensions and cracks.

Resistance to wear and tear on the edge by applying the post treatment SumoTec CVD of Iscar tools of turning increases by up to 65% in continuous cutting on a standard tool and 80% in interrupted cutting. In the case of the milling improvement in wear properties over 45%.

SumoTec PVD grades improve the resistance to wear and tear on the Ridge a 40 per cent in turning and 55% in the milling of alloy steel (F127), for example, or 60 per cent in the milling of grey function.

Iscar Iberian exists since 1989 in Barcelona, and since 1995 has own building in Cerdanyola within the Parc Tecnològic del Vallès.

A main market is located in the Basque country, where Iscar inaugurate this year a delegation basis.

At its headquarters in Cerdanyola (Barcelona) has customized commercial support, technical assistance in all Spain with technicians throughout the country, a Department of engineering of projects are elaborated where global studies of machining, a centre of design tools and a workshop for the manufacture of tools and special to supply the market Spanish and Portuguese platesthat is also used for experimentation and realization of prototypes and live demonstrations. Among other machines, has three sharpeners of 4 and 5 axis, axis 6 and 5-axis controlled machining centers, two electro erosion wire machines, lathes multitasking type Integrex, CNC grinding machines, etc.

80%, In the hands of Berkshire Hathaway

In May 2006 Berkshire Hathaway purchased 80% of the IMC group.

Based in Omaha, Nebraska (USA), Berkshire Hathaway is headed by Warren Buffet, one of the biggest investors in history. At the beginning of its participation in Berkshire, he made long-term investments in companies in the stock market, although lately it is dedicated to buy whole companies.