Motion
INDEPTH
INTERVIEW
INTERNATIONAL

01.2021
The UNITED GRINDING Group's
customer magazine

Important training: The machine and the person in front of it
What counts is trust: The exchange of machine data
Strengthened after the coronavirus crisis: EMO host Italy

Teamwork across all brands:
CTO Christoph Plüss (thirdfrom left) with some of themany C.O.R.E. developers

WE MAKE
MACHINE TOOLS SMART
Move „C.O.R.E.“ to the first line:
With the innovative, cross-branding system C.O.R.E. the UNITED GRINDING Group
creates a completely new operating experience for its customers

26

08

20

IN THIS MOTION, YOU WILL FIND:

4
6
8

14
16

20

 ELCOMEWCEO Stephan Nell on the new machine operating system
C.O.R.E. and trust in times of digitalization
 LOOK INSIDE …
A… the new standardized control panel for machinesof all company brands

26

 EWS
N
News from the UNITED GRINDING GroupINNOVATION“Operate the machine like a smartphone.” The standardized
operating system C.O.R.E. takes the machines of thecompany groups to a whole new level29

 DAY WITH …
A… Jan Krieger. The Head of Software Development at
BLOHM JUNG between C.O.R.E. and customer
requirements
 OOLS & TECHNOLOGYT
A new machine from BLOHM; a PLANOMAT with verticalspindle; laser measurement technology from STUDER;
the dream of an S33; a special team from WALTER; the J600
with oil package and an optimized synchronous tailstockfrom STUDERINSIDE
Even in the age of digitalization, you need highly skilledcraftsmen - we introduce you to four of them36

INDEPTH
Craftsmanship, technical understanding:an overview of our customer training courses.
Plus: An interview with brand ambassador Titan Gilroy

40 	IDEASINTERVIEW
Trust is the basis: The handling of data is based on arelationship of trust between companies and theircustomers. How to do this – an expert interview

INTERNATIONAL
Arrivederci, coronavirus! How Italy’s mechanicalengineering industry has recovered from the pandemic andwhat it expects from the EMO

Green growth after coronavirus or: How to separate
economic growth from resource consumption

43 	INTOUCH
The Motion calendar: Important fairs and events

EDITORIAL DETAILSPUBLISHER United Grinding Group Management AG, Jubiläumsstrasse 95, 3005 Bern RESPONSIBLE Paul Kössl PUBLICATION MANAGER
Myria Aeschbacher CHIEF EDITOR Michael Hopp (responsible for the purposes of press law) ART DIRECTION Tobias Zabell ACCOUNTMANAGER Sandra Leppin PICTURE EDITING Thomas Balke AUTHORS Mathias Binswanger, Björn Hartwig, Thesy Kness-Bastaroli,
Heinz-Jürgen Köhler (Copy Editor), Ira Schoers LAYOUT Claudia Knye PRODUCTION Wym Korff PUBLISHING HOUSE AND ADDRESS OF EDITORIAL
OFFICE JAHRESZEITEN VERLAG GmbH, Harvestehuder Weg 42, 20149 Hamburg READER SERVICE wym.korff.extern@jalag.de
MANAGEMENT Thomas Ganske, Sebastian Ganske, Heiko Gregor, Peter Rensmann LITHO P·R·O·MEDIEN PRODUKTION GmbH, Hamburg
PRINTING optimal media GmbH, Röbel/Müritz.
All brand names marked with ® are registered as basic trademarks in Switzerland or in Germany as a minimum and are therefore entitled to use the symbol.

2

Motion  01.2021

Printed on
FSC®MIX
certified paper(FSC® C108521).

Cover: David Schweizer; Photos: David Schweizer, Dennis Williamson, Natalie Bothur (2)3

WELCOME“WITH THE
C.O.R.E OPERATING SYSTEMWE PREPARE
MACHINE TOOLS FOR THE
DIGITAL FUTURE.”

DEAR READERS,
After more than five years of development, it is exciting to complete thefirst development stage of a project and have it ready for the market.
We are also very excited when, with the release of this “Motion” issue,
we can introduce our new cross-brand machine operating system C.O.R.E.
With the combined expertise of all brands of the group of companies,
we have developed a software architecture with which – so to speak –machine tools can be prepared for the digital future. In the cover story ofthis magazine, we introduce you to C.O.R.E.
The significantly improved connectivity of C.O.R.E. enables completely new forms of cooperation and data exchange. In the interview
starting on page 20, I discussed the requirements for this exchange
in the cooperation with two experts in digital ethics and trust.
In the second area of focus of this issue, we show how important
human skills and extensive training are in digitalization. We will present
our offers for the training of your employees in detail. And we present
a few highly skilled craftsmen of our company. In these times of
ever-faster-moving digitalization, it is important to remember thatprecision is still achieved by manual skills.

Stephan Nell,
CEO, UNITED GRINDING Group

With this in mind, I hope you enjoy reading
the latest issue of “Motion”!

Stephan Nell
CEO, UNITED GRINDING Group

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC:
The UNITED GRINDING Groupconsistently adheres to thehygiene and social distancing
rules and also strictly adhered
to these measures in the
production of the contributions
for this “Motion” issue.

Motion  01.2021

3

4

Motion  01.2021

which information hewants to be displayed
and where. This
enables the screen
to be adapted to thespecific needs of theoperator

FLEXIBLE
TILE DISPLAY
The machine operator
decides himself

always takes you
to your personal
dashboard – just likeon a smartphone

HOME
The Home button

visible: The Smart
Graph presents
machine data
in a simple
graphical way

SMART GRAPH
Make data easily

grated camera,
Customer Carecan be summoned
directly to themachine via videoconferencing

CAMERA
With the inte-

UNITED GRINDING GROUP
A LOOK INSIDE …

MIKROSAWALTER

machine operators have the axis feed rateand cycle start under control at all times

SCHAUDT

FEEDRATE OVERRIDE
With the ergonomic rotary switch, the

STUDER

The illustration isa schematic representation
to show the functionalitiesof the panel.

possible to jump directly to the new remotesupport solution from UNITED GRINDING
Digital Solutions™ with a single touch. If
there is no operator in the immediate vicinityof the panel, it automatically switches to energy-saving dark factory mode. The machinecondition and production progress can beread in high resolution from a distance. Thismeans that even operators who look after
several machines can quickly and remotely
monitor the condition of the machines at a
glance. RFID chips can be used to assign
authorizations and user roles to the various
machine operators.

JUNG

important basic functions. Ergonomicallyintegrated buttons in the recessed grip
ensure safe operation of the 2-hand start

MACHINES WITH THE NEW C.O.R.E. operating
system are recognizable by the innovative
control panel. The 24 inch full HD multitouch display with a new HMI concept isclearly laid out. With the innovative information tile system, the different surfaces canbe arranged individually for each specificuser. Intuitive navigation by swiping between the different screens brings the user
experience of an oversized smartphone tothe machine tool.
Messages, upcoming tasks and preferred
applications (apps) are clearly presented
on the personal dashboard. This makes it

COMMAND CENTERBLOHM

FUNCTION KEYS
Selected hardware keys provide
direct access to the machine’s most

Important process
values such astemperature, flowrate and pressure
are displayed on
clear tiles

STATUS DISPLAY
Simple and concise:MÄGERLE
EWAG

Motion  01.2021

5

UNITED GRINDING GROUPNEWSGÖPPINGEN/GERMANYSERVICEwFOR SCHAUDTAND MIKROSAMIAMISBURG/USASCHOLARSHIPANNOUNCED
UNITED GRINDING NORTH AMERICA highlights the importance ofgood training in mechanical engineering with a newly
announced scholarship. As part of the “Gearing up for the
future” program, four students from the fields of manufacturing or engineering were awarded grants. The funds can beused for tuition fees or books. The scholarship is part of acomprehensive training campaign of UNITED GRINDING
North America. Within this framework, several series ofvideos will also be launched on the company’s own YouTube
channel. In the first, “In The Shop”, machine operators
receive help on how to overcome challenges that often
occur in production.

BLOHM JUNG GMBH will take over the service
activities for machines from SCHAUDT and
MIKROSA from now on. They include the supply of
spare parts, replacement parts and accessories,
maintenance and inspection, machine andassembly overhauls, conversions and retrofits aswell as application development. “We will support
SCHAUDT and MIKROSA customers with the levelof quality they are accustomed to,” emphasizes
Wolfgang Benz, CSO Surface & Profile.

MIAMISBURG/USA

STRONG PERFORMANCEHE IS A LEGEND in US mechanical engineering and is a prime example of theAmerican dream like no other, whichanyone can achieve through hard work:
Titan Gilroy was a boxer and prisoner.
There, in the legendary San Quentin
State Prison, he acquired his own
knowledge of CNC machining andlater founded an e-learning platform
once in freedom. Titan is now using
his enthusiasm for machining andcompetent training as a brandambassador of the UNITED
GRINDING Group. More about
Titan Gilroy on page 19.

6

Motion  01.2021w
THUN/SWITZERLANDFRITZ STUDER
AWARD PRESENTED
FOR THE SIXTH TIME, the Fritz Studer Award
was presented for creative ideas andsolutions in the machine industry.
Graduates from European universities andtechnical colleges were able to apply. The
Fritz Studer AG Award endowed with
10,000 Swiss francs went to Dr.-Ing. Mirko
Theuer from the Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Machine Tools at
Leibniz University Hannover. He wasawarded the prize for his work “Continuous generating grinding of cutting tools,”
in which he transfers theoretical and practical findings from the field of continuous
generating grinding of gears to the conditions of a 5-axis tool grinding machine.

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

THUN/SWITZERLAND

THE ART OF GRINDINGSTUDER HIGHLIGHTS its many years of experience in grinding with this claim.
An impressive symbol of this campaign is an S31 designed by Swiss artist
Ata Bozaci. “Grinding is an art, not everyone can do it in terms of precision andquality,” emphasizes CSO Sandro Bottazzo.

SHANGHAI/CHINASECOND MACHINE LIFEw
LJUBLJANA/SLOVENIA

Photos: Russell Albert, David Schweizer

NEW REPRESENTATIONSTUDER IS NOW REPRESENTED BYTEXIMP in all states of the former
Yugoslavia - from North Macedonia
to Slovenia. The company takes
care of the sales and first-levelservice of STUDER machines inthese countries. “We wanted apartner who knows mechanicalengineering, offers a professional
service structure and has showrooms in the Belgrade, Ljubljana
and Zagreb metropolitan areas,”says Dalibor Dordic, Sales Manager
North East Europe. Teximp met all
requirements.

UNITED GRINDING CHINA has created a tailor-made machine overhaul programfor its customers, specifically for machines with a service life of 15 years or
more. As part of the “United Grinding China Overhaul Business,” machinesfrom STUDER, BLOHM, WALTER and EWAG are thoroughly overhauled interms of hardware and software. “This means that they are at the same level ofprecision as new machines,” stresses Zhang Tao, Vice General Manager,
Technology, UNITED GRINDING China.

Motion  01.2021

7

UNITED GRINDING GROUPINNOVATION

C.O.R.E developer: Marcus Köhnlein, Joel Amstutz, Christoph Plüss,
Christian Josi, Michael Schwitter and Stefan Aebi with the new control panel(clockwise, starting at top right)
8

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG“OPERATE THE MACHINE
LIKE A SMARTPHONE”
With the C.O.R.E. project, the brands of the
UNITED GRINDING Group not only standardize the operating
system and the control units of their machines.
They also take the software to a whole new level
TEXT: Heinz-Jürgen Köhler

FINGERS QUICKLY GLIDE over the control panel of the grinding machine, access the job
list, and activate the desired machining program on the next screen. What follows is,with the only physical touch of a button in
the process, the program start. And theparameters of the current production cycle,
from the spindle load display to the axis
speed, are immediately displayed clearly on
various tiles.
The new multi-touch panel is the visible
element of the C.O.R.E. program of the
UNITED GRINDING Group. C.O.R.E. does not
only refer to the core of the machine itself.
It is also an acronym for Customer Oriented
REvolution. Or, as Marcus Köhnlein, Head of
Digital Business, puts it: “C.O.R.E. is the
future of software.” Does this make sense?
No? Then let‘s start from the beginning.

PROJECT START 2015
“C.O.R.E. dates back to 2015,” says Christoph Plüss. The Chief Technology Officer isthe driving force behind the project. As Industry 4.0 became more and more popularin public debate, the question arose as to
how the corporate group intends to deal with

PHOTOGRAPHY: David Schweizer“WITH C.O.R.E.
SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTCAPABILITIESARE BUNDLED. THISINCREASES THE
DEVELOPMENT SPEED.”
Daniel Leuenberger
Head of Department of Product Engineering
Hardware/Software STUDER

it. “That was easy to answer at first: definitely together.” That is how the idea of a groupwide operating system came about, following the uniform machine design introduced
in 2013.
Developing a machine operating system
together with eight company brands fromtwo countries and three different technology groups was a complex process that occupied the group of companies for several
years. Before the Corona year 2020 slowed
down the development, the brand andmulti-country teams had been working 2019very intensively on C.O.R.E. using the agile
Scrum method. “A significant part of the research and development budget went into
the project that year,” explains Plüss.

SHARING THE BURDEN
Teamwork between the brands was not
only a challenge, but also an opportunity.
“Nowadays it is hardly possible for a company to develop software on its own – except for large corporations,” emphasizes
Stefan Aebi, Head of Software Development
at EWAG and the project's Scrum Master.
“With C.O.R.E. we are dividing this task beMotion  01.2021

9

UNITED GRINDING GROUPINNOVATION

tween all the brands, and everyone benefits.” And after machines were presented forthe first time at EMO 2019 in Hanover,which delivered data to a central data hub
via the umati interface – a preliminary stage
to C.O.R.E., the first next-generation machines with C.O.R.E. will now be presented
at the upcoming metalworking trade show
2021 in Milan.
These machines are externally recognizable by a C.O.R.E. sticker and the new control panel. The 24-inch full-HD multi-touch
display is not only an eye-catcher, but also amajor innovation itself.

“Much more than a classic operating unit, it
is an intelligent, clear command center forthe respective operator,” explains Christian Josi, who is responsible for hardware.
“This will prepare us for the digital na­
tives,” emphasizes Marcus Köhnlein. The
intuitive design of the elements and thealmost exclusive operation via touch represent a completely new way of controllingthe machines. “The operating experienceis state-of-the-art, I can practically oper­
ate the machine like a smartphone,” adds
Christoph Plüss. The CTO also sees this asa necessary investment in the future: “The“WITH C.O.R.E. WE'RE GETTINGREADY FOR THE DIGITAL NATIVES.”
Marcus Köhnlein
Head of Digital Business, UNITED GRINDING Group

Hardware discussion: Christoph Plüss, Marcus Köhnlein,
Joel Amstutz, and Christian Josi (from the left)

10

Motion  01.2021

next generation of machine operators, areour children.” And they grow up with smart
devices.

SUSTAINABLY EXPANDABLE
Orientation towards the operator’s experience was always at the forefront of development. Feedback was provided by customers
and their own application engineers. “Theuser experience was central from the start,
everything else was secondary to it,” explains Michael Schwitter, Application Engineer at STUDER and Project Architect at
C.O.R.E. In addition to the control element,a high-performance industrial PC is the other hardware component. This local digitalplatform expands the classic IT (Information
Technology) to the OT (Operational Technology) and establishes a secure connection
from the customer’s network to the innerworkings of the machine.
In the background of the pure operating
software, a so-called middleware runs on thePC, which establishes the connection to theexisting applications that are still workingMÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTEREWAG

The latest requirements also in terms of
security: A modern RFID chip reader
replaces the previous key switch

in the background. “In the subsequent releases, we will then standardize these between all brands,” says Köhnlein. And at thevery bottom of the software architecture, theindividual machine controls run, dependingon the Siemens or Fanuc brand.
This phased structure not only enabled
a release at this point in time. “Flexible andsustainable expandability is also a great advantage. New features will be added on an
ongoing basis,” explains Christian Josi, Headof Digital Engineering at UNITED GRINDING
Group.

STORED ROLES
User roles are stored in the operating software, according to which the panel is individually configured: machine operators, setters, maintenance personnel, service technicians. The machine operator, for example,
then only sees the processing programs, themaintenance personnel sees the diagnostic
programs. This reduces complexity for theindividual, simplifies handling, and thus reduces the susceptibility to errors.
In addition to the new operating experience, C.O.R.E. introduces many other advantages. The training costs are reduced anyone who can operate a machine from the
UNITED GRINDING Group can also operate
all others. This even helps to counteract thegrowing shortage of specialists.
The same applies to the application service. “If the customer needs support with
software maintenance, the brand makes nodifference,” summarizes Joel Amstutz, Software Developer at MÄGERLE.
In addition, the standardized hardware
helps to reduce the number of spare parts
required. The UNITED GRINDING Group also offers numerous advantages: “We havean easier-to-maintain system here,” explains
Motion  01.2021

11

UNITED GRINDING GROUPINNOVATION

Marcus Köhnlein, “and we can respond
more quickly to customer requirements
during development.”
All C.O.R.E. machines are equipped withumati interfaces. This improved connectivity – also with third-party machines – in turnopens up a wealth of optimization possibilities by means of more efficiency in the process and more transparency in production.
Comprehensive predictive maintenance isalso possible. This means that planned maintenance and repairs can be carried out,
where the spare parts are already available
and you don‘t have to wait long for them.
And of course, UNITED GRINDING Digital Solutions™, such as the Production
Monitor or the Service Monitor, can also beeasily integrated.
12

Motion  01.2021

Intuitive touch operation: Daniel Leuenberger
on the C.O.R.E. panelMÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

Technical discussion in the machineassembly: Christian Josi, Joel Amstutz,
Michael Schwitter (from the left)

C.O.R.E. AT A
GLANCE“WITH C.O.R.E. NEW TRENDS IN
DIGITALIZATION CAN BE
IMPLEMENTED MORE QUICKLYAND MADE AVAILABLE
TO CUSTOMERS.”
Stefan Aebi
Head of Software Development EWAG

The components andbenefits of the newmachine operating system
C.O.R.E. ELEMENTS
Core system

•
•
•
•
•

Machine operating system
Powerful industrial PC
Ethernet connectivity
Various interfaces and protocols
Data security

HMI• Uniform, intuitive operation•	User-specific configurable interface•	24-inch multi-touch display
MACHINE CONTROL•	Control C.O.R.E. OS compatible with

all CNC controls•	Easy to switch to native CNC
interface
BENEFITS OF C.O.R.E.
•	User-friendly, intuitive and uniform

NEW RELEASES EVERY YEAR
From EMO 2021, C.O.R.E. will first of all belaunched with basic functionalities. “Thiswill create a basis that we will build on in
the future,” explains Köhnlein about the vision of C.O.R.E. “Development continues
steadily, there are always new releases.”
These are also developed on the basis ofcustomer feedback.
When it comes to the other digital possibilities that C.O.R.E. offered, CTO Christoph
Plüss and Head of Digital Business Marcus
Köhnlein rave about it. The possibilities range
from camera-supported facial recognition,
which identifies people on the machine andautomatically sets their role in the system,
to further support in the cooperation between man and machine, the so-called

Human Machine Teaming. Artificial intelligence in the machine could enable features
such as a virtual assistant or a self-optimizing machine, in which the system itself takes
over operation and maintenance support, as
well as process control tasks.
“And the central interface to the customer could be a customer portal,” outlines
Plüss. Not only could this be used to recordand maintain the master data of the machines. An app store could also be integrated to allow customers to easily download
updates or upgrades without wasting time.
With the next version of C.O.R.E. it probably
doesn't exist yet, but there are still several
releases to follow. “Our journey”, empha­
sizes the CTO, “has just begun.” ºoperation•	Standardized data collection•	Intelligent data handling•	Consistent use of modern software
solutions•	Use of modern IoT and dataapplications•	Problem-free data exchange evenwith third-party systems•	Direct access to UNITED GRINDING
Digital Solutions™- products

Motion  01.2021

13

UNITED GRINDING GROUPINSIDETHE ART
OF CRAFTSMANSHIP
Digitalization and automation have not made manual labor redundant. Precise
craftsmanship continues to be hugely important in mechanical engineering.
Here we introduce four employees of the UNITED GRINDING Group, all with aparticular degree of finesse and skill“SKILLED MANUAL LABOR IS
STILL IMPORTANT.”JOSEF GRECPOSITION:

Acceptance Engineer, Walter Kuřim s.r.o.,Kuřim, Czech Republic
CONTACT: josef.grec@walter-machines.de“EVEN TODAY, CRAFTSMANSHIP PLAYS A DECISIVE ROLE,” stresses Acceptance Engineer, Josef Grec. Setting the measuring probe, thealignment of the zero points of the axes and much more: Grec
estimates that a third of the work involved in machine acceptanceis manual work. The technician has been working at WALTER inKuřim for 17 years. Grec, who has always been passionate aboutprogramming in his private life, started as an application tester inthe software department and then switched to machine acceptance. Through training and guidance from older colleagues, heacquired the required manual skills. In addition, he has also programmed and developed a program for measuring the acceptanceparts for HELICHECK machines.

“I‘VE ALWAYS BEEN THE
CRAFTSMAN TYPE.”SIMON HULLIGERPOSITION:Team leader spindle assembly, Fritz Studer AG,
Thun, Switzerland
CONTACT: simon.hulliger@studer.com“THE GRINDING SPINDLE IS THE HEART OF EVERY GRINDING MACHINE,”
explains Simon Hulliger, the team leader of spindle assembly at
STUDER. “Each individual grinding spindle is measured and thenindividually ground in and adapted.” Good analytical skills andnetworked thinking are important here – as are manual skills.
“Even as a young boy, I was more of a manual type,” explains
the Swiss-born. After an apprenticeship as a polymechanic, astay abroad, and a position in the plastics industry, Hulliger joined
STUDER in 2005. He particularly appreciates the precise workand the exchange with colleagues there. Under his leadership,
spindle production has been greatly optimized. “We haveachieved great process reliability with high productivity.” And thisis important, because the heart of the machine is, of course, alsoa crucial part of the entire machine production in Thun. “Andthat is where the following processes can count on us,” says
Simon Hulliger.
14

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG“I COME INTO PLAY FOR THE
FINE TUNING.”
FARUK SENTÜRKPOSITION:

Scraper, Mägerle AG Maschinenfabrik,
Fehraltorf, Switzerland
CONTACT: faruk.sentuerk@maegerle.com“IT IS A GOOD FEELING WHEN the machine meets all the accuracy
specifications and the customer is satisfied with the machine acceptance,” explains Faruk Sentürk. He processes guideways andbase surfaces for other components and does this manually. On themachine bed of the MÄGERLE machines, these are, for example,
the supporting and locating surfaces for the linear guideways.
These are measured electronically and where deficits in straightness, angularity and evenness are found, Sentürk reworks withpull or push scrapers. In 2012, Sentürk moved to assembly atMÄGERLE from a company where he had learned the trades ofscraping from scratch. “My good visual perception certainly helps
me when I scrape,” explains the expert. “The manufacturing tolerances of the individual components play an important role in the
final accuracy of the grinding machine,” says Sentürk. He cannot
imagine that the fine-tuning of these components will in future bedone by a machine. And so machine acceptances continue to bea personal sense of achievement for Faruk Sentürk.

“I STAND FOR THE PRECISE
MACHINE GEOMETRY.“ZHU JIANGUOPOSITION:

Assembly Manager, United Grinding (Shanghai) Ltd.,
Shanghai, China
CONTACT: zhu.jianguo@grinding.cn“THE CHALLENGE OF SOLVING PROBLEMS APPEALS TO ME.” That’s what
Zhu Jianguo says. As an Assembly Manager, he is responsible forthe machines delivered from STUDER and WALTER in China. To
guarantee their precise geometry, he also uses a scraper himself.
In many hours of manual work during his 25 years of experience inmechanical engineering – 14 years of which were spent at UNITED
GRINDING China – he acquired this intricate skill. “A WALTERHELITRONIC G200 has an accuracy of plus/minus five thousandthsof a millimeter,” explains Zhu, who completed extra training courses for installation and machine geometry at WALTER in Tübingen.
So far, he has ensured the build of more than 400 machines. And
he still hasn‘t had enough of it: “The best thing is solving machinegeometry challenges together with team colleagues.”

Motion  01.2021

15

UNITED GRINDING GROUPINDEPTH

Customer training: Henning Holsand Michael Düppmann from
KORDEL Gear and Drive Technology withcourse leader Fabian Wirz (from left)

16

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

MANY QUESTIONS,MANY ANSWERS
Well-trained employees for high-precision machines:
All companies in the UNITED GRINDING Group
offer their customers training in operation, set-up,
programming, maintenance, and much more.
“Motion” attended a course at STUDERTEXT: Heinz-Jürgen Köhler

PHOTOGRAPHY: David Schweizer

THE GRINDING WHEEL IS SET UP, the dresser isapplied, the workpiece is measured, and machined: “We did everything on the machine
and went through the entire production
process,” explains Henning Hols. He is themaster of the grinding shop at the Germangear specialist KORDEL. He and his machine setter, Michael Düppmann, attended
a training course at STUDER. “We bought an
S33 with the StuderWIN software, and because we had not yet worked with either, we
booked the training in Thun.” For three days,
instructor Fabian Wirz taught the theoreticalbasics and practical handling of the machine
and answered many questions.
KORDEL is a specialist in special gears.
“We develop and produce gearboxes for
agricultural and construction machinery,
as well as for industrial vehicles such as
forklifts,” explains Henning Hols. The traditional company based in Dülmen, North
Rhine-Westphalia, 60 kilometers north ofDortmund, operates a larger machine park,
including five other cylindrical grinding machines from STUDER, but as yet none ofthem an S33.

OVER 25 DIFFERENT COURSES“The StuderWIN course is one of our mostpopular,” explains Stephan Frei, Head of the
Customer Center at STUDER. Ten machines
are available for training in the customer center; nine highly qualified and continuously
trained instructors are responsible for run-ning the courses. STUDER offers over 25 different training courses for its customers,from the basic course on cylindrical grinding
to courses on operation and programming,
as well as training for maintenance and repair. Most of them – depending on the levelof knowledge of the participants – are offered
as a basic, advanced or expert course.

THE STUDER ACADEMYIn addition to training courses, grinding
tests and demonstrations take place in the
Customer Academy. It is one of the threepillars of the STUDER Academy in Thun,the others are the Service Academy for
STUDER‘s own service technicians and theSales Academy for sales staff. “Training our“WE RAN THROUGH
THE ENTIRE PROCESS ON
THE MACHINE.”
Henning Hols
Head of the Grinding Department KORDEL
Gear and drive technology

Motion  01.2021

17

UNITED GRINDING GROUPINDEPTH

Henning Hols (M.)
is particularly interested in the
retrofitting of the machine

TRAINING COURSES
COVERING THE ENTIRE
MACHINE LIFE
All brands of the UNITED
GRINDING Group offer training
for their customers’ employees.
They take place either in thecompany's seminar rooms oron site at the customer's
premises. Digital training was
also increasingly offeredthroughout the pandemicMÄGERLE“Basically we don't have any standard

training courses,” explains the Training
Manager Michael Klaus, as practically allMÄGERLE machines are adapted to specific customer requirements. With offers
for operation, programming, production
support, as well as mechanical and electrical maintenance, customers are accompanied by training courses throughout theentire machine life. Most of them takeplace directly at the customer‘s site.
BLOHM JUNG
BLOHM and JUNG offer maintenance,

operator and application training. Around
two thirds of the new machines soldwould require customer training, estimates
Wolfgang Benz, CSO Surface & Profile.
They are carried out by the company‘s
grinding specialists, partly directly in thefactory at the machine acceptance, butpartly also on site at the customer‘spremises. In addition, refresher courses
are offered on new functionalities andfeatures for new customer employees.
Courses are also available for SCHAUDT
and MIKROSA machines.

customers‘ employees is certainly one ofour most important tasks,” emphasizes Frei.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, around200 customer training courses were held in
the Customer Center each year. During the
pandemic, it was significantly less. “We arealso working on online offers,” says Frei. “Itworks well with software training, but workon the machine is difficult to map digitally.”
Henning Hols and Michael Düppmann‘straining began with a theoretical part on
the computer. Training manager Wirz first
explained the basics, then it was time toprogram a workpiece. “The machine‘s user

WALTER EWAGWALTER and EWAG offer modular training

courses for grinding, eroding, lasering or
measuring. 15 machines are available inthe demo center in Tübingen, 2 in Etziken.
In many cases, however, the training
courses are also carried out with the acceptance part during machine acceptanceat the customer‘s site. There are also digital offerings. “They are very well-received,​​
especially in the field of measuring
technology and software,” explains
Jochen Weiss, Head of Application
Technology at WALTER.
18

Motion  01.2021

Instructor Fabian Wirz explains thesettings on the control panel

interface is installed on our training PCs,”
explains Stephan Frei. This allows operationand programming to be directly understood.

FREQUENT RETOOLING
The second day was spent on the machine,which was particularly exciting for the participants. “We produce special gearboxes insmall series,” says Hols. In contrast to thehighly automated production in the automotive industry, in the production of agricultural
machinery gearboxes for example, the same
workpiece is not machined for months ina row, but rather for a significantly shorter
period of time. The machines are retooledon average twice a day, says Hols. And
this is the work of machine setter Michael
Düppmann: “It was very exciting to experience the entire process, from the preparation
to the actual grinding.”
Hols and Düppmann are very pleased
with their course. “We had a lot of questions
and got an answer to them all,” says themachine setter. “The training was very intensive and really packed with information,”emphasizes Henning Hols. And if there is
one thing they could do differently for the
next course – it would perhaps be to book it
for an extra day. ºMÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

FOUR QUESTIONS FOR:TITAN GILROY
From prison inmate to CNC trainer: Titan Gilroy has
undergone an exemplary transformation. Today, he reaches
140,000 apprentices online with his Titans of CNC Academy.
From now on, he is also using his enthusiasm for machine
tools as a brand ambassador of the UNITED GRINDING GroupSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

closer to the latest technologies online. Second to that, we are
drawing attention to industrial professions and getting the public
excited about learning the latest technologies. Not all people are
made to be bankers or lawyers. Many want to build things with
their hands and their minds - and we give them this opportunity.
And we offer both for free!

With automation and digitalization in mind:
How important is training in machining nowadays?
More important than ever. The tasks in machining today arereally multifunctional. Jobs such as machine operator, engineer
and application designer used to be strictly separated and now
more and more are blended together. Today, people can do somuch - and they could do a lot more.

You help prison inmates with training and want to promoteindustrial production in the United States. How would you
specifically describe your personal mission?
I believe that we need to teach ex-prisoners skills, so that they
can support themselves and their families. This also protects our
citizens. We should focus on providing qualified training forpeople, so that many have a chance to work in manufacturing.
My mission is not just aimed at the United States, but at all
countries, to cover all humanity. Manufacturing, i.e. industrial
manufacturing, offers great jobs for everyone. And every
country should use our Titans of CNC Academy offers and train
their citizens, so that everyone is successful and all can support
their families.

What specific goals do you pursue with your Titans of
CNC Academy?
We have two main goals. Firstly, we give people real, highquality training. Industrial manufacturing is changing at anincredible pace. By the time conventional schools have adapted
their curriculum, it will be out of date again. We bring people

What does it mean to you to be a brand ambassador of the
UNITED GRINDING Group?
It's a big deal and an absolute honor for me. But even more
importantly, we want to work tirelessly together to bring freeeducation and more opportunities to people and businesses
around the world.

“A GOOD EDUCATION IS MORE
IMPORTANT TODAY THAN EVER BEFORE.”

Photo: Dave Cox

STUDER

Motion  01.2021

19

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

Cornelia Diethelm,
Evangelos Xevelonakis
and Stephan Nell(from the right)
meeting at MÄGERLE
in Fehraltorf/Switzerland. Because allparticipants were
tested for coronavirus,
the conversation took
place at a distance, but
without wearing masks

20

Motion  01.2021

INTERVIEWMÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

TRUST
IS THE BASIS
For regulated data exchange between machine
manufacturer and machine operator, one thingis fundamental: trust. How to earn and maintain this.
An expert interview
TEXT: Michael Hopp
PHOTOGRAPHY: Natalie Bothur

Motion  01.2021

21

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

INTERVIEW“WE WOUD DESTROY LONG-TERM
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPSIF WE DIDN’T STICK TO
THE MUTUAL AGREEMENTS.”
Stephan Nell

focus is on the consumer. And dark patterns
are more common, because more people
have direct experiences.
Stephan Nell: The situation in our businessis different. We have long-standing relationships with our customers. We sell capital
equipment, not consumer goods, and ourbusiness is based on trusting partnerships.
We would destroy long-term customer relationships if we did not adhere to the mutual
agreements - whether analog or digital. In
addition, we not only sell machines, but also process solutions, complex, individually
tailored solutions. You can‘t do this overthe internet.

Mr Xevelonakis, you are the Head of a
Data Science University Center.
What is your opinion: What tensions
are experienced between companies
and customers when it comes tohandling data?

The exchange of data between
providers and customers is a matter ofcourse today, and is often a fundamental business model. In the consumer
goods sector, there is a lot of attention
on data protection. What about dataprotection and trust in the B2B area
and capital equipment?
Stephan Nell: I think you have to make a distinction. On the one hand, there is personal
data. The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) applies to personal
data. On the other hand, there is process
data. As a machine manufacturer, we develop processes with the customer, and wehave developed a concept for this with a
Data Protection Officer. This means that we
definitely do not remove any personal datafrom the systems. And with machine data,
the firm principle applies that we can only
22

Motion  01.2021

access the machine if the customer allows
access. So let‘s suppose there is a service
request that the customer submits digitally.
Then they actively establish the connection
to us, which is automatically severed again
after the remote service has been completed. By the way, such remote operations arenothing new. We have been able to do thisfor decades. In the past, the modem used tobe slower and more cumbersome.

Mrs Diethelm, your field of research
is digital ethics. You complain about
dark patterns, i.e. unethical behaviors.
Has mechanical engineering alreadybecome noticeable for you inthis regard?
Cornelia Diethelm: No, the mechanical engineering has not yet become noticeable.
That certainly has to do with the fact that the

Evangelos Xevelonakis: We have a clear
area of tension here. On the one hand, we
have companies like the UNITED GRINDING
Group that try to develop new products
based on data, to identify weak points and,in general, to make processes more efficient.
On the other hand, we have customers whoare suspicious: What actually happens to our
data? Let’s take a look at the topic of process
management, for example. So, why do wehave problems with a machine? Because
employees can't operate them properly? Or
do we have a machine fault? When it comesto employees, it can be tricky. We have carried out various studies, not in the B2B, but
in the B2C area, and they have shown thefollowing: If there is transparency, if the employee knows what is happening with thedata, the probability is very high that they
will accept it.
Stephan Nell: Here we must make a distinction again. What do we do as a machine
supplier, what does the customer do? We areresponsible for the machine and its performance. The customer is responsible for theirown employees. You also have to see thatmost of the machines are CNC-controlled,MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTEREWAG

IN DISCUSSIONCORNELIA DIETHELM
As the owner of Shifting Society AG,

Cornelia Diethelm is actively shaping thedigital change at the interface between
business, science. and society. In particular,
this includes the establishment of the Center
for Digital Responsibility (CDR), an independent think tank for digital ethics in the DACH
(Germany/Austria/Switzerland) region
EVANGELOS XEVELONAKIS
Xevelonakis is a professor at the HWZ

University of Applied Sciences in Zurich
and Managing Director of the management
consultancy firm Swiss Valuenet. He
teaches and researches in the fields ofBusiness Intelligence, Data Science, andMachine Learning
STEPHAN NELL
Stephan Nell joined STUDER in 2003 as“TRUST
IS CREATED IN
THE INTERACTION
ALONG THEENTIREVALUE CHAIN.”
Cornelia Diethelm

which means that the processes are more orless fully automated. Of course, you could doa lot. If you go to a manufacturing trade fair,
you will see that everything can be queried inpurely theoretical terms and any process data can be evaluated. However, the question
arises: What is essential and relevant, what
are the benefits for the customer? For example, we offer the Production Monitor, whichmakes the productivity of a machine or theentire production process transparent andtherefore also shows optimization potential.
But evaluating this and creating the rules for
it is the job of the company, not ours.
Evangelos Xevelonakis: I could imagine thatpredictive maintenance plays an importantrole for you.
Stephan Nell: Absolutely. However, from atechnical point of view, we have machine availabilities that are very high. There is not muchthat can be optimized there. However, I can
support the customer in planning the operation and maintenance of their machine
better. What is also important here: it must
add value for the customer. Predictive maintenance helps customers to optimize production efficiency. To achieve this, we rely
on data and our vast experience. So we try,for example, to schedule the replacement ofa spindle as late as possible. The aim is to reduce production costs, increase production
reliability, and minimize downtimes. These
are the key parameters for our customers.
Evangelos Xevelonakis: Do you use forecasting models for this?
Stephan Nell: We are in the process of developing them. For individual sub-assem-

Sales Manager and was also a memberof the management from 2005 to 2011.
As Chief Executive Officer, he has been in
charge of the UNITED GRINDING Groupsince 2012

blies for example, you can see from thetolerances how wear is developing. Or you
can see the condition of bearings with temperature sensors.

Mrs Diethelm, to what extent can
responsibilities be divided, or how domanufacturers and customers need towork together?
Cornelia Diethelm: I think it's a collective effort. Ultimately, this is an interplay along theentire value chain. It is of no use to me if I
am responsible, but I've got a manufacturer
who is not. With this in mind, I am convincedthat responsible manufacturers are a benefit
for responsible companies. It really is a partnership, a cooperation.
Stephan Nell: It simply needs transparency.
You have to be open and say how to behave. If you are a global company, you willencounter different rules and cultures. Thereis no such thing as a solution, but we have towork this out individually with the cus­tomerin each country. Perhaps even more than inother industries, a basis of trust is needed in the capital equipment business. This
Motion  01.2021

23

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

INTERVIEW

business is based on trust, whether you areworking with data or not. It is crucial for thecustomer that their production process remains stable in the long run. That‘s why theymust be able to rely on us to be able to support them in the long term with spare parts,
software and assistance. Consider this: The
installed base of our machines today comprises around 50,000 systems worldwide.
Many of them are older than 25 years.
Evangelos Xevelonakis: In this context,
perhaps a small psychological digression.
There is the phenomenon of the inten­tionbehavior gap. This refers to the discrepancy
between what I say and how I act. So if
for example there is someone who does
not reveal their data for fear of abuse – but
who is privately active on social media.
This means that we see a gap between intention and action. And it would certainly
be important for this person to know what
advantages they would benefit from if they
were to share their data. In other words, inaddition to transparency, it is important toquantify the benefits. This should be done
where possible in monetary units.
Stephan Nell: We ask ourselves the samequestion. We invest a lot in developing such
solutions. To achieve this, what we offer inthe digital sector must bring about measurable added value for the customer.

How important are internal ethical rules
for trusting customer relationships?
Cornelia Diethelm: Very important, that‘s forsure. You do it to give your customers security and trust, and perhaps to make yourself
stand out from the competition. That is whyinternal information awareness is definitely of
the utmost importance. The world is becoming more and more data-driven, and so theculture simply needs to evolve. Nevertheless,I think we shouldn‘t panic when discussing
privacy and ethics. In addition to all the risks,
we should always see the benefits of working
with data. Because if we do not judge basedon data, it is definitely a blind flight. But I thinkculturally, it is sometimes easier to see therisks rather than the opportunities and possibilities. That may be because of our European
culture, wouldn‘t you say?
Stephan Nell: Perhaps it's also a generationalquestion. When I look at my children, they
deal with topics like this very differently.
Cornelia Diethelm: Ultimately, we are in atransitional phase in which the actors havedifferent values ​​and different levels of knowledge. I have a feeling that companies areaware of this and sometimes even act more
responsibly than individuals who may also getlazy. But the focus remains on companies,
and they have a lot to lose. And trust is anasset you definitely don‘t want to lose.

“IT IS IMPORTANT TO
QUANTIFY THE
BENEFITS OF THE
DATA, PREFERABLY IN
MONETARY UNITS.”
Evangelos Xevelonakis

24

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG“IF WE DO NOT JUDGEBASED ON DATA, IT IS
DEFINITELY A BLIND FLIGHT.”
Cornelia Diethelm

Does trust change if you only communicate digitally with customers, as is
now the case in the pandemic?
Cornelia Diethelm: In principle, trust is something that operates between people. Trust isan emotional value. Digital tools are humantools. But people do business, and trust
takes place between people.
Stephan Nell: I agree with you in that, trust
is a human value. Existing relationships cancertainly be continued digitally in a trustworthy manner. However, in the case of new,emerging relationships, I am skeptical about
whether they can be built on with the same
degree of trust on digital channels.
Cornelia Diethelm: As far as the quality ofcommunication is concerned, I completely
agree with you. But maybe this will changeover time. And trust also increases over time,
it is not achieved instantly, but there are several channels over a longer period of time.

Mrs Diethelm, to what extent has thecoronavirus pandemic changed the
expectations that stakeholders andcustomers have of large companies?

Cornelia Diethelm: I think it's more the expectation that digitalization will advance
faster now. We have all experienced thatmuch more is possible than we originally
thought. Dealing with the pandemic was insome ways a social experiment.

Mr Xevelonakis, you work with theterm process mining. What does thatmean? And can you reconcile
process optimization and customer
orientation?
Evangelos Xevelonakis: Strictly speaking, data is the product of processes. It develops
over time, over the course of processes. And
I can analyze processes to see whether they
contribute to customer satisfaction. This isprocess mining. I can develop a model thatuses machine learning and algorithms topredict when a customer will be satisfied.
Then there is the term customer effort. This
indicates how much effort a customer has
to make for their question or problem to besolved satisfactory. Process mining should,
however, be implemented as a sociotechnical system. Technical and social aspects

should be integrated into a uniform systemwith regard to the interaction between people, technology and organization, so thatsynergy effects work in favor of increased
competitiveness.
Stephan Nell: This means that we are now
moving away from machines and data andtowards the overall structure of the company.
We have the PuLs program, precision andpassion, for this comprehensive approach.
It is a corporate philosophy that aims toeliminate waste from all processes. This requires transparency in all departments. For
optimization, the entire process chain fromsales to production to customer care must
be considered. PuLs is primarily aimed atprocess stabilization and optimization. We
want visible results for our customers, suchas delivery reliability and constant machinequality. And with that we can ultimately makeour customers more successful. º

Motion  01.2021

25

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

A DAY WITH …

“WE DEVELOPSOLUTIONS FOR
CUSTOMERS”
As Head of Software Development at
Blohm Jung GmbH, Jan Krieger does not
only work for the C.O.R.E. project.
Together with his team, he also develops
customer-specific applications
TEXT: Heinz-Jürgen Köhler

PHOTOGRAPHY: Dennis Williamson“HALF OF OUR CUSTOMERS don‘t want standard production machines,
but rather customized solutions for their specific requirements,” says
Jan Krieger. And that’s where the qualified electrical engineer andhis team come into play. Based on the specific workpiece that acustomer wants to process, they develop an adapted software solution. “To do this, we work closely with the project planning department,” says Krieger, who started out as a Programmer at Blohm Jung
GmbH in 2006. And sometimes he also engages in discussions withcustomers himself. Another major task that has defined Krieger‘swork over the past two and a half years was the C.O.R.E. project.
“The cross-brand operating system offers many advantages for ourcustomers,” said Krieger. He himself works as part of the project’s
management team, two of his nine employees are currently engaged
full-time with C.O.R.E.
CONTACT:
jan.krieger@blohmjung.com

8.30 A.M.
START OF WORKJan Krieger on his way to the office in the
Hamburg-Bergedorf plant. Although he is currently
working a lot from home, he has meetings withhis employees on this particular day

9.00 A.M.
CALL IN THE C.O.R.E. TEAM
But first of all there is a video callwith colleagues from the C.O.R.E.
team. The employees of the various
brands in Switzerland and Germany
work together according to the
SCRUM method. Today, the result ofa so-called sprint is being discussed

26

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

10.00 A.M.
MEETING
With his programmers

York Müller and Dominik Lehnberg(from the left), Krieger discusses thefunctionalities of the new panel. The
Head of Software Development isconvinced that the intuitive touch
operation will take machine handlingto a new level12.00 P.M.
TUNING
Phone call: Jan Krieger is needed in the workshop.

“C.O.R.E. IS NOT JUSTA PROJECT – IT'S THE FUTURE
OF SOFTWARE.”

The special version of a BLOHM machine must be
adapted from the software side

12.15 P.M.
MEETING
The BLOHM PLANOMAT XT is

now also available with avertical spindle. Krieger
discusses what this means forthe software with Application
Engineer Michael Haberkorn

Motion  01.2021

27

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

A DAY WITH …

4.30 P.M.
TECHNICAL LAB
In a test environment for machine controls,

Krieger checks a specific application that one of his
employees has developed for a customer

3.00 P.M.
WORKSHOP
A BLOHM PROKOS XT should

receive a customer-specific application.
Jan Krieger studies the traveling
distances directly on the machine

6.00 P.M.
END OF WORKWhen his colleagues in Production

have finished working, Jan Krieger also
calls it a day
28

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG
MÄGERLE STUDERBLOHMSCHAUDTJUNG

MIKROSASTUDERWALTEREWAG

TOOLS &TECHNOLOGY
NEWS FROM THE UNITED GRINDING GROUP

CONTENTS
30 	BLOHM
PLANOMAT XT Essential: new surface
grinding machine for the entry-level segment31 	BLOHM
PLANOMAT XT now with vertical spindle

32 	STUDER
LaserControl: non-contact
measurement with laser technology

33 	STUDER
DREAM COME TRUE: a Serbian tool
manufacturer and the S33

34 	WALTERThe Customer Solutions team develops
customer-specific solutions

35 	JUNG
Oil-based cooling lubricant for the J600

35 	STUDER
Even more precise:the synchronous tailstock 2.0

STUDER LaserControl: non-contact
measurement of precision
tools using laser technology

UNITED GRINDING GROUPTOOLS & TECHNOLOGYPLANOMAT XT Essential:
optimized for therequirements ofsurface grinding

EVERYTHING YOU
NEED FOR SURFACEGRINDING

With the entry-level machine PLANOMAT XT Essential,
BLOHM developed an economical 3-axis machine withdefined scope of supply for high-precision surface grinding

A SURFACE GRINDING MACHINE in the entry-level segment – that is what many customers
want. “This was confirmed by a survey atour representative offices,” says Stefan
Springer, Head of Product Management at
BLOHM JUNG. This is now available with the
PLANOMAT XT Essential. BLOHM optimized
the competitive entry-level machine to meetthe requirements of surface grinding using
the traverse and creep feed methodology.
The Hamburg-based surface and profile
grinding specialists are therefore specifically aimed at those users who value excellent
grinding quality, but for whom the PLANOMAT XT surface and profile grinding machineis oversized in their technical equipment.

meets the requirements of high-precision
surface grinding. For example, the PLANOMAT XT Essential has a simple manual coolant supply with flexible nozzle for a pressureof up to three bar. The coolant is cleaned
by a band filter cleaning system with a flowrate of 100 liters per minute. The coolant
tank holds 500 liters.

In addition, the machine is equipped with anelectro permanent magnetic chuck (DQ18,
optional DQ13) for a load of up to 1500 kilograms and a diamond holder with a single
point diamond and prepared for the use ofan optionally available manual balancing
unit. The usual pneumatic equipment forthe machines of the PLANOMAT series is

OPTIMIZED EQUIPMENT
For the new surface grinding machine, notonly were axis speeds and drive power
adapted to the requirements, but reduced
machine equipment was also defined that30

Motion  01.2021

The reduced machine equipment was adapted to the requirementsof surface grinding, the options include a universal swivel-in
dresser with pneumatic equipment (right).

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTEREWAG

LET GRAVITY WORKBLOHM now offers its surface and profile grinding machine
PLANOMAT XT in a special version with vertical spindle
especially for grinding inner profiles and bearing ring slots

KEY DATA AT A GLANCE
Size: 600 x 1200 mm
	X axis: Speed
30…30,000 mm/min
	Y/Z axis: Speed
4...2,000 mm/min	Grinding spindle drive 11 kW, max.
3500 rpm
	Grinding wheel dimensions

Instead of ahorizontal grindingarm, a verticalarm (right) is
integrated inconjunction withan indexing unit
with vertical axis
(above)400 x 100 x 127 mm
	Maximum table load 1500 kg
	Band filter coolant system 100 l/min
at max. 3 bar, 500 l tankno longer required. The entry-level machineis controlled via a Siemens Sinumerik MCU
1720 and BLOHM single piece production
with graphic user guidance. With its modified hardware configuration, the small control cabinet of the PLANOMAT XT Essential
takes into account equipment and options.

Photos: Dennis Williamson (2)EXTENSIONS ON REQUEST
In addition to automatic central grease lubrication for guideways and ball screws, theoptions available also include linear scales
for the Y and Z axes, a manual balancing
unit and an exhaust device for coolant
mist. Also available on request: a universal
swivel-in dressing unit including pneumatic
equipment as well as various rotating profile
dressing attachments.
With the PLANOMAT XT Essential,
BLOHM is primarily targeting European
customers from tool and mold making. The
new machine was first presented at a trade
fair at EMO 2021 and complements the very
successful PLANOMAT series.
CONTACT:
stefan.springer@blohmjung.com

ON A NORMAL PLANOMAT HP with a horizontal spindle, the spindle andworkpieces must be aligned against gravity during the internal profile
grinding of the external rotors (stators) of hydraulic GE-ROTOR motors and pumps. The inner profiles are usually broached and pairedwith the inner rotors. Although this method is comparatively inexpensive, it is also less precise. Many customers want to save the pairing
and at the same time increase the component quality. That's why
BLOHM developed the PLANOMAT XT with a vertical spindle arm.

EASIER SET-UP AND LOADING
By rotating the grinding spindle arm by 90 degrees and using an
indexing unit with a vertical axis, the user can stack the workpieces
on top of one another and let gravity do the work for them during theprocess. “Setting up and loading the machine is much easier than
before thanks to the rotation of the spindle and the slightly different
design of the machine,” explains Stefan Springer, Head of ProductManagement at BLOHM JUNG.
The ergonomically improved machine offers a clamping devicefor (automatic) loading and alignment of the workpieces outside themachine in a clean environment. The parts, including the device,
are loaded into the machine in the clamped state. The use of two
clamping devices allows the workpieces to be loaded and unloaded
during machining. In addition, an optimized interface between thespindle arm and wheel head enables the arm to be changed quickly.
CONTACT:
stefan.springer@blohmjung.com

THE BENEFITS AT A GLANCE
	Higher accuracy	Higher productivity	Improved ergonomics

	Reduced set-up and idle times
Motion  01.2021

31

UNITED GRINDING GROUPTOOLS & TECHNOLOGY

Non-contact measurement ofprecision tools with laser measurement technology

INTEGRATED LASER MEASURING TECHNOLOGYWith LaserControl, STUDER enables non-contact
measurement of precision workpieces using laser technology

DURING GRINDING,the highest demands areplaced on dimensional, form and positional
accuracy, as well as the surface quality of
the workpiece. As measuring on externalmeasuring machines increases the processing time of the parts, especially with small
batch sizes, the demand for efficient processassessment on the machine is increasing.
What is needed are solutions that are flexible for different workpiece ranges. Laser
measurement technology opens up entirely
new possibilities here.
STUDER has more than ten years' experience in basic research on the use of machine-integrated laser measuring technology
to measure grinding wheels or workpieces.
Based on this experience and the very latest laser measuring technology, the Swisscylindrical grinding specialists have now
further developed tool monitoring systems
from other industries for the measurementof workpieces on grinding machines.

many thousands of measuring points on therotating workpiece for evaluation, which significantly shortens the measuring time andsignificantly improves the machine efficiency.
With the new laser measuring system, it is not
only possible to carry out precise control measurements on diameters of different sizes,
but also on “interrupted” diameters such as
shafts with keyways or longitudinal grooves
as well as on the external diameter of gears.
The measuring cycle can be selected
as required after each processing or at theend of the grinding process. The STUDER
software logs the measured values ​​perdiameter after each measuring cycle.
This allows the operator to see the quality of
the ground component at a glance.

The measuring system, which can be optionally integrated into the STUDER machines
S41, S31, S33 and S22, is also ideal for machining PCD tools in small batches, as the
PCD cutting edges are often very sensitive
to tactile measurements. Also, now possible
with the new technology, is the detection ofa desired taper on cutting tools by rotating
the part and taking measurements at different positions along the cylinder.
CONTACT:
antonio.bottazzo@studer.com

THE BENEFITS AT A GLANCE
	Non-contact measuring in the machine	Measurement of multi interrupted and noninterrupted diameters	Evaluation and calculation within the control
system with STUDER measuring cycles	Logging and printing of the measurement data
possible, display on the control screen

TYPICAL MEASURING CYCLES	Workpiece external diameter

HIGH-PRECISION LASER OPTICS

	Tapers on workpieces

The resulting laser measuring system with its
highly precise laser optics can be adapted to
the workpiece diameter and is mounted on
the B-axis, which also carries the grinding
spindle. The measuring system generates

	Length measurement of workpiece contours

32

Motion  01.2021

possible depending on the case	Largest and smallest cutting edge diameter for
cutting tools
Tactile measurement of cutting tools	Optional: flute diametersMÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

DREAM COME TRUE
Serbian tool manufacturer Alatplast increases quality and performanceby using the CNC universal cylindrical grinding machine S33 from STUDER
The pride of Lojzije Dulić:
a STUDER S33

THREE QUESTIONSFOR LOJZIJE DULIC
Owner of Alatplast d.o.o.

What tools do you manufacture
at Alatplast?

A LONG TRIP, a sailboat or simply spending
more time with your grandchildren? There
are many things you can wish for in old age.
Lojzije Dulić didn't want any of this. Insteadof enjoying his retirement, the 67-year-old
owner of the small tool manufacturing
company Alatplast d.o.o. in Subotica, Serbia, had his own very special dream cometrue in 2020: a STUDER S33. In the contract manufacturing of tools and machineparts, the CNC universal cylindrical grinding
machine now complements his machinerypark consisting of wire EDM, milling machine and lathe.

and is therefore a decisive factor in terms offlexibility. The machine is equipped with thestandard MT3 tailstock.
For use at Alatplast, the S33 is equippedwith the StuderThread software option forthread grinding. Since Dulić mainly processes high-alloy tool steels on the machine, adressing spindle for vitrified CBN grinding
wheels is also part of the equipment. In thisconfiguration, the machine easily meetsthe high requirements in tool making, andLojzije Dulić was able to increase productivity in grinding many times over.
CONTACT:
dalibor.dordic@studer.com

FLEXIBLE MACHINE
The very well-equipped standard machinewith a center distance of 1000 millimeters
and a center height of 175 millimeters has
two external grinding wheels and an internal grinding spindle. The flexible machine isbased on the STUDER T-slide concept andhas an extended stroke of the X-axis. An innovative machine base temperature control
ensures optimum dynamic and thermal stability of the machine. The dresser sits on the
double T-slot of the longitudinal slide, which
reduces the set-up and realignment effort

Our portfolio covers a wide range of tools
for punching and injection molding, as wellas tools for vacuum molding. There are also
machine parts and tools for aluminum foil
extraction, as well as tools for wind turbines.

Why did you choose the S33
from STUDER?
I wanted to be in the next league in termsof tool quality and productivity. To do this, I
had to replace our old manual grinding machine. Of course, there are other manufacturers of cylindrical grinding machines. But
I’ve always been won over by STUDER, so it
was clear to me: it had to be a STUDER S33.
This machine has the necessary stability andcutting speed to be able to grind high-alloysteels with CBN wheels productively andwith high precision.

THE BENEFITS AT A GLANCE

Has your decision paid off?

	Center distances: 400/650/1000/1600 mm

Absolutely. Since word got out among mycustomers that I'm working with a STUDER
machine, the orders have grown exponentially, and I can hardly keep up with the work.

	Thermal stability through innovative
base temperature control (center distance
650 mm (25.6") to 1600 mm (63")
	Double T-slot for dressing systems
	Numerous wheelhead variants	StuderWIN programming software with
StuderTechnology	Can be easily automatedMotion  01.2021

33

UNITED GRINDING GROUPTOOLS & TECHNOLOGY

SPECIAL REQUESTS ARE 
YOUR BUSINESSWhen it comes to special customer
inquiries, the WALTER Customer Solutions
team is on hand

SOLUTIONS FOR EVERYTHING TO DO WITH TOOL PROCESSING based on theextensive product portfolio of grinding, eroding and measuring machines have long been part of the WALTER range. The demand forcustomer-specific solutions - such as software or hardware tailoredto the respective customer application - has significantly increased inrecent years. In order to be able to process such inquiries even faster,
WALTER has installed the Customer Solutions team as an interface
between sales and internal specialist departments.
As specialists for special requests, Team Leader Friedhelm Konzelmann and Project Engineer Damir Hadzic, both with many yearsof experience in the use of WALTER machines, have devoted themselves to the development and implementation of customer-specificsolutions and services. They take on special inquiries, clarify the
specific customer needs with the sales force or with the customer
directly and then the feasibility with the specialist departments. They
take over the quote preparation and, if an order is placed, actively
advance the respective project. As the two engineers take special
care of special requests, WALTER can now offer its customers technical solutions much faster.

Customer project: Collet (type NK)
with RFID system for automated regrinding withdifferent tool diameters within a batch“The resolution times became shorter, because we both took careof special customer requests,” explains Konzelmann. “We clarify
technical details and more complex topics directly with the customer,
without the need to detour through 'normal' sales. However, we arenothing without our technical departments and their specialists.”
The prompt and competent statement on the feasibility of customer
requirements is an important part of the attractiveness of the offer.
The team was able to make significant progress here. The increased
number of implemented projects proves the success.
In addition, Konzelmann and Hadzic support their sales colleagues in the field. The team published a catalog with projects that
had already been implemented, in order to be able to present themto other interested customers.
Projects already implemented by the Customer Solutions
team include:“WE CLARIFY TECHNICALDETAILS DIRECTLY WITH THE
CUSTOMER – WITHOUT THE NEEDTO DETOUR THROUGH SALES.”Friedhelm Konzelmann, Damir Hadzic
Customer Solutions, WALTER	
Integration of an automatic clamping system for milling cutter
and drill heads, with which they can be screwed into theclamping system and clamped by a robot loader
Advantages for the customer: Increased productivity and reduced
manufacturing costs in the production of interchangeable heads
	An RFID system for NK collets that enables the automatedregrinding of different tool diameters in one batch
Advantage for the customer: Possibility of chaotic loading of thepallet for the robot loader and time saving
CONTACT:
friedhelm.konzelmann@walter-machines.de

34

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

Pressure relief flap

Visual/acoustic alarm

Flame detector
Exhaust air shut-off valve

CO2extinguishing nozzles

CO2extinguishing agent bottle

Extinguishing system control

Manual release

Thermal maximum detector

OIL INSTEAD OF EMULSION
With the use of grinding oils as a cooling lubricant, the JUNG J600 opens
up new possibilities when machining workpieces made of carbide
THE ADVANTAGES OF GRINDING OILS when machining carbide are obvious. Especially whenusing extremely hard cutting materials suchas CBN or diamond, the better lubricating effect of the oil reduces tool wear and increases
machine productivity. This is especially true
for creep feed grinding. In addition, grinding
oil protects the machine from corrosion. If thegrinding oils are also specially designed for
carbide machining, they minimize the washing out of harmful cobalt. This protects boththe operator and the environment. The J600

therefore becomes a compact and powerfulproduction machine.

INTEGRATED FIRE PROTECTION
However, unlike with water-misciblecoolinglubricants, there are a few things to consider
when grinding with oil. A highly flammableoil mist is generated, especially at high cutting speeds. One spark can be enough totrigger a deflagration. This risk increases withdecreasing oil viscosity. To counteract thisrisk, the J600 oil package includes a fire pro-tection system: Optical sensors detect andreport flying sparks, and the work area isflooded with CO2 within seconds via corresponding nozzles. However, if a deflagration
still occurs, a pressure relief flap in the roofof the enclosure ensures a safe pressure reduction in the machine.
The J600 with oil package has been successfully in operation at a well-known manufacturer since mid-2021.
CONTACT:
thomas.mank@blohmjung.com

SYNCHRONOUS TAILSTOCK 2.0More compact, precise, flexible and low-maintenance – this is
the new STUDER synchronous tailstock
THE STUDER SYNCHRONOUS TAILSTOCK is a success story. After more than 350 units sold, theSwiss cylindrical grinding specialists are now bringing the second generation onto the market. The new synchronous tailstock is not only significantly more compact, it also requires
less maintenance than its predecessor. It also offers users maximum flexibility for various
grinding applications and impresses with a number of further innovations and advantages.
For example, the previous hydraulic clamping force generation will be replaced by anelectromechanical one with power springs. This means that a defined, reproducible force
can now be programmed in the StuderWIN software. At the same time, the elimination ofinterfering contours on the workpiece side allows full utilization of the center height, forworkpieces up to 350 millimeters in diameter with a center height of 175 millimeters. It wasalso possible to increase the permissible workpiece weight. “Because even the shortest
centers can now be used for large parts, the achievable precision increases,” explains Antonio
Bottazzo, Sales Manager at STUDER.
CONTACT:
antonio.bottazzo@studer.com

THE BENEFITS AT A GLANCE	Longer stroke of 120 mm
	Simple programming in StuderWIN with moresetting options
	Easier retooling within a family of parts bydefining a reference length via the software	Chuck can be mounted on the tailstock side(application dependent)	Greater flexibility for signal detection thanks to
the option of mounting contact sensors on thetailstock side as well
Motion  01.2021

35

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

INTERNATIONALGETTING GOING AGAIN
AFTER THE CRISIS
Arrivederci, coronavirus! The signs point to an upturn in the Italianmanufacturing industry. The EMO machine tool trade fair in Milan is tobecome a sign of new dynamism.
TEXT: Thesy Kness-Bastaroli

36

Motion  01.2021

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

Photo: Getty Images; Illustration: Freepik.com

Milan trade fair city: The city’s
largest church, the Gothic
cathedral, is also located in the
Piazza del Duomo.

FROM MILAN, drive north on the Superstrada
35 for about three quarters of an hour to getto Bregnano. In this municipality in Lombardy, not far from the Swiss border, WALTEREWAG Italia has its branch – and is therefore close to its customers, who are mainly
located in the north of the Italian boot. The
other brands of the UNITED GRINDING
Group are represented in the country (seebox on page 39).
Italy is an important market for the Groupof companies. “The second largest in Europe
after Germany,” explains Achim Schurius,
Sales Director Europe at WALTER. Like allinternational markets, the Italian one hasof course suffered as well from the coronavirus pandemic, but things are looking up,says Antonio Coniglio. Together with elevencolleagues, the Sales Engineer looks after
customers of the Tool Technology Group
from Bregnano. “The crisis has not yet been
overcome, but there is a glimmer of hope.

Of course, a lot depends on whether thevaccination campaign is successful in Italy.”
Milan

IMPORTANT MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

I t al y

Mechanical engineering is one of Italy’s
most important industries and accounts forabout a third of the manufacturing industry.
In 2019, almost 97 billion euros were generated here and therefore around 14 percentof the volume of the entire manufacturingindustry. Export is extremely important for
Italy's mechanical engineering. The member
companies of the associations Anima (heavy
industry, food industry) and Federmeccanica (metal processing) achieved almost 60
and 70 percent of their revenues abroad in
2019. Europe is the most important sales
market, followed by the United States.
Domestically, Italian mechanical engineering is less dependent on individual
economic sectors than in other countries.
“Of course, the automotive market plays a
Motion  01.2021

37

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

INTERNATIONAL

major role. But there are also many other markets, such as the furniture industry
or the fashion industry,” says Schurius.

SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZEDENTERPRISESThe large number of small and medium-sizedenterprises is characteristic of the structurein Italian mechanical engineering. Familybusinesses are more important here than in
any other Western industrialized countries.
Around 90 percent of the 22,400 companies
working in mechanical engineering employ
50 or fewer employees, and 59 percent employ only twelve or fewer. Only 220 companies have more than 250 employees.
The dominant small and medium-sizedcompany structure does not have to mean
they are at a disadvantage, emphasizes the
President of the UCIMU Association of Machine Tool Manufacturers, Barbara Colombo:“In difficult times such as the coronavirus
crisis, it is even an advantage. It guarantees
more flexibility and greater adaptability to
the constantly changing market situations.
Of course, the prerequisite is that the companies have a solid financial structure.”“THE DESIRE TO RETURN TONORMAL IS EVIDENT.”
Luigi Galdabini
Secretary General EMO Milan

38

Motion  01.2021

Futuristic: The EMO Milano 2021 will take place in the
750,000 square meter Fiera Milano CenterMÄGERLE

UNITED GRINDING
IN ITALY“Italy, with its well-established mechanicalengineering industry, is a very important market
for us,” stresses Ulrich Haar, who is responsible
for the Italian market at BLOHM and JUNG.
Apart from WALTER and EWAG, the brands are

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTEREWAG“SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZEDENTERPRISES ARE AT AN ADVANTAGE IN
THE CRISIS. THEY ARE MORE FLEXIBLE
AND ADAPTABLE.”
Barbara Colombo
President of the Association of Machine Tool Manufacturers UCIMU

Photos: Shutterstock, picture alliance/Reuters, Alberto Bernasconi/laif, Ruggiero Scardigno, PR

represented by agencies. STUDER has several
agencies, the other brands are represented by
IPR Macchine in Turin.

SUPPORT FROM BANKS“It is important to have support in the local
language,” stresses STUDER Sales Manager
Francesco Buccieri. The company is therefore
also on site with eleven Service Technicians. As
with all brands, the supply plants provide thesupply of spare parts, digital remote services aswell as rebuild and retrofit solutions.
The companies of the UNITED GRINDING Groupcan make tailor-made offers for the diverse
Italian market. The large-scale grinding centersfrom MÄGERLE are used in the aerospaceand energy industries, explains Italian SalesManager Viktor Ruh. BLOHM and JUNG mainly
supply tool and mold making. STUDER supplies
versatile universal cylindrical grinding machines
to the contract manufacturer sector.

Could financial bottlenecks in companies
slow down the recovery? Sales Engineer Coniglio believes this is not the case: “Roughly
90 percent of the machines we sell are fi­nanced by leasing. In this respect, any liquidity bottlenecks do not play a major role.” And
Italy’s banks are providing generous support
to companies at the moment. In March 2021,
for example, the major bank Intesa Sanpaolo
launched the EUR 50 billion “Motore Italia”
loan program with financial facilities for small
and medium-sized enterprises.
Antonio Coniglio stresses that a decisive
factor when buying a grinding machine is
the quality of the service offered to Italiancustomers. The smaller, family-run companies in particular placed great value on
competent support. “And we can make very
good offers, after all, six of our colleagues
in Bregnano are Customer Care employees,”says the Sales Engineer.

INDUSTRY MEETING AT EMO
Like Coniglio, the entire industry hopes that
the EMO in Milan in October will bring us a
bit closer to normality. People are optimistic
about the trade fair itself. Even if the record
results of 2015, when the machine tool trade
fair last took place in Italy, are unlikely to berepeated, EMO General Commissioner
Luigi Galdabini is confident. “Up to March,
confirmations of participation had alreadybeen received from 26 different countries.
Following Italy, the majority of the registrations so far, have come from Germany,
Taiwan, Spain, Switzerland, China, and Korea.” And new ones are coming in every day.
1600 exhibitors and a total of 155,000 visitors met at the EMO Milano 2015. “Thedesire to return to normal is evident,” says
Galdabini. He is also counting on vaccinations being launched worldwide on a broad
basis by the autumn.

The trade fair organizer stresses that the EMO
is an expression of the industrial zeitgeist,
not only because of the alternating locationin Italy and Germany, but also because of
its innovative offering. A large part of theoffering at EMO 2021 will also focus on thecurrent dominant trends – connectivity anddigitalization. As a result of the pandemic,
preparations were more difficult and lengthy
than in previous years, says Galdabini. “Wehave alternative solutions in the program forevery evening event.”

INDICATORS POINTING UPWARDS“The pandemic-related investment freeze in2020 and the lack of important international
industry events that year underline the importance of the EMO 2021,” explains theGeneral Commissioner. Against this backdrop, the EMO Milano is expected to set a
decisive course for business activities in the
post-pandemic years. The organizers have
put a great deal of focus on safety regulations. “We benefited from our experience
as organizers of the BI-MU, which was successfully held in October 2020.”
Sales Engineer Antonio Coniglio is hopeful and expects significant growth in 2021.
The experts of the UCIMU industry association confirm that all economic indicators
in Italy are trending upwards after the pandemic-related disaster year. And in mechanical engineering, the recovery is likely to bestronger than in other industrial sectors. º

Thesy Kness-Bastaroli has been reporting
as a correspondent from Italy for decades.
As a business journalist in Milan, shewrites for various media from the DACH
(Germany/Austria/Switzerland) region,
including for Austrian “Standard” andthe German “Börsen-Zeitung”.

Italy's landmark: the designclassic Vespa by Piaggio (left) andthe textile industry
Motion  01.2021

39

IDEASGREENERGROWTHFOLLOWING
CORONAVIRUS?

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

40

Motion  01.2021

The pandemic has severely
slowed down many sectorsof the economy and driven
the world’s countries into
immense debt. Significant
economic growth is needed
to refinance debt after thecrisis. Coronavirus, on theother hand, has massively
increased the pressure forsustainability. How can thisbe reconciled with therequired growth?

Photo: ShutterstockMÄGERLESINCE THE SECOND WORLD WAR, THE GLOBALECONOMY HAS BEEN growing continuously formore than 60 years, with growth rates ofmostly between two and four percent. The
financial crisis in 2009 brought a first briefhalt to this growth, and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 caused the world’s gross domestic product to contract for the second
time. However, we are already hoping forstrong growth again this year. Nevertheless,the question keeps cropping up: Will growthcontinue in the future as it did before? And
is it even desirable to continue to strive forthe highest possible growth?
These questions are justified. Today wehave achieved such great material prosper-

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTity in highly developed economies that constant economic growth no longer seems tobe absolutely necessary. On the one hand,people do not experience any increase inhappiness on average due to increasing material prosperity. On the other hand, we see
the negative effects of growth in the environment. The economy, it is argued, should
therefore no longer focus on growth in a future post-growth society, but rather it should
focus on other goals, such as sustainability
or people’s life satisfaction. Some authors
go even further and demand negative
growth (degrowth).

MORE THAN “NICE TO HAVE”
Such criticism of economic growth implicitly implies that growth is an option, but nota necessity, for today’s economies. The
economy would also function without
growth, and a departure from this would only be a matter of political will or the right set-

MIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

ting of incentives. However, as I point out inmy book “Der Wachstumszwang” (“TheGrowth Compulsion”), this is not possible.
The economy that exists today only works
as long as there is economic growth at themacroeconomic level.
Emphasis on the macroeconomic levelis important, because the pressure to growdoes not apply in the same way to the individual company. At corporate level, it‘s
about making a profit. This is a necessity,
if a company wants to survive in the longer
term. After all, if you make losses for several
years, you go bankrupt. So making a profit
is not just “nice to have,” but rather it isa systematic requirement. For the national
economy, this means that the entire corporate sector must make profits. However,this is only possible for the long term if real
economic growth takes place at the sametime. In other words: A majority of companies are only economically successful aslong as the gross domestic product (GDP)grows. Without economic growth, more andmore companies are losing money and theeconomy is going into a downward spiral.
So there are only the alternatives to either
grow or shrink!

Motion  01.2021

41

IDEAS

Therefore, we cannot simply say goodbye
to economic growth in the future, either.
However, the question arises as to the extent to which this growth can be steeredin the desired direction. From an ecologicalperspective, growth is desired that causes
as little environmental damage as possible
and does not lead to the depletion of natural
resources. But is that even possible? And
can coronavirus serve as a momentum toreconcile economic growth and the conservation of natural resources?
Indeed, economies in developed countries have increasingly developed in a desirable direction. In Germany and Switzerland, energy consumption has stagnatedin recent years, despite economic growth.
And emissions have been falling since 1990.
But this is also due to the fact that manyenvironmentally harmful processes havebeen relocated abroad. If you add the emissions caused by imported goods abroad in
Switzer­land, the CO2emissions per capita
are more than double.

WITHOUT RESOURCE CONSUMPTION
We must therefore look at the issue of decoupling on a global level. We can see that
resource consumption and energy consumption have increased by 2019, albeit at lower
growth rates than the world’s gross domestic
product. The global energy intensity (energy
consumption per GDP unit) decreased by 1.8
percent per year on average between 2000
and 2019, but this was not enough to preventa further increase in energy consumption. A
relative decoupling could be observed, as energy consumption increased less than GDP.
(The spirit of decoupling economic growth
and resource consumption also gives riseto numerous initiatives that no longer wantto measure economic growth with GDP, butrather with indices that map ecological parameters, such as the National Welfare Index
NWI in Germany.)

42

Motion  01.2021

But there was no absolute decoupling thatwould have led to a decrease in energy
consumption. Global greenhouse gas emissions are also continuing to rise. It is truethat these have now drastically decreased inmany countries due to the outbreak of thecoronavirus pandemic. But as the economy
recovers, emissions will also rise. In China,
the country with the highest CO2emissions,emissions were already above the previous
year’s level in May 2020 and will also reachnew record values in 2021.

TARGET: ZERO EMISSIONS
These figures show that a relative, but not
an absolute, decoupling has taken place on
a global scale. Achieving the net-zero emissions target by 2050, as agreed for Switzerland and Germany, will require significant
additional efforts. On the one hand, market-based measures such as taxes or certifi­
cates are available to the country as a meansof making resource consumption more expensive. On the other hand, it can also adopt
regulatory measures such as bans or rules,
which are then formulated, for example, asprescribed emission limit values or as a ban
on particularly environmentally harmful technologies or certain products (for example,
cars with combustion engines).
In selected countries, such measures
will make it possible to move closer to thetarget of net-zero emissions. On a global
level, however, this challenge will continue
to occupy us for a long time to come. ºABOUTMATHIAS BINSWANGER
Binswanger is Professor of Economics at

the University of North West Switzerland in
Olten and a private lecturer at the University of St. Gallen. At the end of 2019, hislatest book “Der Wachstumszwang –Warum die Volkswirtschaft immer weiterwachsen muss, selbst wenn wir genug
haben” (“The compulsion to grow – why the
economy has to keep
growing, even when
we have enough”)
was published.

www.mathias-binswanger.ch

Photos: Shutterstock, PR

UNITED GRINDING GROUP

MÄGERLE

BLOHM

JUNG

STUDERSCHAUDTMIKROSAWALTER

EWAG

THE
SHOWCASE
FOR
GRINDING
17–20.05.2022
STUTTGART, GERMANY

IN COOPERATION WITH THE STUTTGART
TRADE FAIR and the “Machine Tools andManufacturing Technology” sector of the
Association of the Swiss Machine, Electrical and Metal Industry, the Associationof German Machine Tool Manufacturers (VDW) has launched the new Grinding-

Other trade fairs:

NOVEMBER 2021
23–26.11.2021
DMP –SHENZHEN, CHINA

Hub trade fair.

JANUARY 2022

Under the motto “GrindingHub - Brings solutions to the surface”, the VDW is

20–26.01.2022
IMTEX –BANGALORE, INDIA

launching the event, which is to become the new leading trade fair for grinding
technology and superfinishing. The focus of the GrindingHub is on grinding
machines and abrasives as well as the entire production environment for
grinding technology, such as relevant software tools and systems for quality
management processes relating to grinding.
With experts from industry and science, the special exhibition area “Grinding
Solution Park” will address key topics and current trends. In addition, theface-to-face event is to be expanded to include digital offers for exhibitors andvisitors and therefore enable mutual exchange through web conferences in years
when there is no trade fair.

APRIL 2022
11–15.04.2022
CCMT –SHANGHAI, CHINA

MAY 2022
23– 27.05.2022
METALLOOBRABOTKA –MOSCOW, RUSSIA“With the GrindingHub, the VDW is implementing a new trade fair concept that
addresses the growing demands from the market,” emphasizes Paul Kössl, Headof Global Marketing at the UNITED GRINDING Group. “For us, the trade fair isalready one of the most important industry events that we are looking forward to.”YOU CAN FIND THE CURRENTTRADE FAIR DATES AT:
www.grinding.ch/events

GrindingHub, 17-20 May 2022, Stuttgart, Germany
www.grindinghub.de

Motion  01.2021

43

United Grinding Group Management AG
Jubiläumsstrasse 95
3005 Bern, Switzerland
Phone +41 31 356 01 11
info@grinding.ch
www.grinding.ch

SURFACE AND PROFILECYLINDRICALTOOLING

Mägerle AG Maschinenfabrik

Fritz Studer AG

Walter Maschinenbau GmbH

Walter Ewag Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.

Allmendstrasse 50
8320 Fehraltorf, Switzerland
Phone +41 43 355 66 00
sales@maegerle.com

3602 Thun, Switzerland
Phone +41 33 439 11 11
info@studer.com

Jopestraße 572072 Tübingen, Germany
Phone +49 7071 9393 0
info@walter-machines.com

Blohm Jung GmbH

25 International Business Park
#01-53/56 German Centre
609916 Singapore
Phone +65 6562 8101
info.sg@walter-machines.com

Lengnaustrasse 122504 Biel, Switzerland
Phone +41 32 344 04 50
info@studer.com

Kurt-A.-Körber-Chaussee 63-71
21033 Hamburg, Germany
Phone +49 40 33461 2000
sales-hh@blohmjung.com

Blohm Jung GmbHJahnstraße 80-82
73037 Göppingen, Germany
Phone +49 7161 612 0
sales-gp@blohmjung.com

Fritz Studer AG

Fritz Studer AG,
EWAG Zweigniederlassung

Schaudt Mikrosa

Industriestrasse 64554 Etziken, Switzerland
Phone +41 32 613 31 31
info@ewag.com

Phone +41 31 356 01 55
schaudtmikrosa@grinding.com

Walter Kuřim s.r.o.

StuderTEC K.K.
Matsumoto Bldg. 2F.
4-10-8, Omorikita, Ota-ku
Tokyo 143-0016, Japan
Phone +81 3 6801 6140
info.jp@studer.com

Blanenská 1289
66434 Kuřim, Czech Republic
Phone +420 541 4266 11
info.wcz@walter-machines.com

Walter Ewag Japan K.K.

Walter Ewag UK Ltd.
2 St. Georges Business Park
Lower Cape, Warwick CV34 5DR
Warwickshire, Great Britain
Phone +44 1926 4850 47
info.uk@walter-machines.com

Walter Ewag Italia S.r.l.
Via G. Garibaldi, 42
22070 Bregnano (CO), Italy
Phone +39 31 7708 98
info.it@walter-machines.com

1st loor MA Park Building
Mikawaanjo-cho 1-10-14
Anjo City 446-0056, Japan
Phone +81 556 71 1666
info.jp@walter-machines.com

UNITED GRINDING GROUP INTERNATIONAL
United Grinding (Shanghai) Ltd.
1128, Tai Shun Road
Anting Town
Jiading District
Shanghai 201814, China
Phone +86 21 3958 7333
info@grinding.cn

United Grinding (Shanghai) Ltd.
Beijing Branch Office
Room 1911, Fl. 19
Hanhai Int’l Mansion
No. 13 Jiuxianqiao Rd
Chaoyang District
Beijing 100015, China
Phone +86 10 8526 1040
info@grinding.cn

United Grinding GmbH
India Branch Office
No. 487 – D1 & D2A
4th Phase, KIADB Main Road
Peenya Industrial Area
Bangalore 560058, India
Phone +91 80 30257 612
info.in@grinding.ch

United Grinding GmbH
Moscow OfficePuschkinskaja nab., 8a119334 Moscow, Russia
Phone +7 495 956 93 57
info.ru@grinding.ch

United Grinding North America, Inc.

Irpd AG

2100 UNITED GRINDING Blvd.
Miamisburg, OH 45342, USA
Phone +1 937 859 1975
customercare@grinding.com

Lerchenfeldstrasse 39014 St. Gallen, Switzerland
Phone +41 71 274 7310
sales@irpd.ch

United Grinding Mexico S.A. de C.V.
Blvd. Bernardo Quintana No. 7001
Of. 1003
Querétaro, Qro. 76079, Mexico
Phone +52 1 555 509 7739
customercare@grinding.com