Auerbach Maschinenfabrik

Auerbach Maschinenfabrik is a manufacturer of machine tools, in particular Deep hole drilling machines and deep-hole Milling (machining), but also of bed-type milling machines. It has its factory headquarters in Ellefeld. Founded in 1943, the factory is a division of ERMAFA Sondermaschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH.
== History ==
=== Prehistory until 1945 ===
* 1919 Jungk and Neidhardt began manufacturing "Elhoma" woodworking machines in Ellefeld.
* 1924 Jungk und Neidhardt expanded the product range and opened its own iron foundry.
* From 1943 Production of special, milling and countersinking tools in Auerbach (Vogtland) as a result of a relocation of the Remscheid tool factory Alfred Berghaus.
=== 1945 to 1990 ===
After the Second World War, production was quickly resumed because the Jungk and Neidhardt and Alfred Berghaus factories were hardly affected by dismantling. In 1948, the Berghaus family returned to the Rhineland and still produces special tools under the name Alberg. The company in Auerbach/Vogtl. was then administered in trust and became public property on 15 June 1950 and was initially called Volkseigener Betrieb Werkzeugfabrik. On 1 January 1957, it was renamed VEB Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Auerbach (WEMA). 
In the years 1958 to 1963, manually controlled and partially automated console milling machines were developed and produced. Through the in-house development of an Numerical control system, it was possible to produce the first NC-console milling machine with automatic tool changer in 1968.
The Jungk and Neidhardt company became public property in 1946. From 1947, the now renamed VEB Ellma began producing simple woodworking machines. From 1949, VEB Ellma was affiliated to Wismut (company)|SDAG Wismut and also produced jackhammers. It was not until 1952 that a product range of processing machines for the woodworking industry developed again.
On 1 January 1970, VEB Ellma was merged with VEB Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Auerbach (WEMA) and incorporated into the Wanderer (company). At times, the plant was the largest manufacturer of NC milling machines in the East Germany and Comecon, with 1250 employees Späte Chance für die WEMA Artikel in der Neues Deutschland. Abgerufen am 15. Januar 2019.. The development of a CNC flexible manufacturing system "M250/02" in 1972 attracted international attention. In the 1980s, the company mainly produced machining centres, flexible manufacturing cells and manufacturing systems.
=== from 1990 till today ===
With the break-up of the Fritz Heckert machine tool combine, the VEB Werkzeugmaschinenfabrik Auerbach was privatised with the founding of Auerbach Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH and initially sold to the Wagner Group. After insolvency in 1996, the company was taken over by the IXION Group. In the following years, Ixion Auerbach Maschinenfabrik GmbH in Ellefeld developed a wide range of milling machines and specialised in the combination of deep drilling and milling.
Since 2014, Auerbach Maschinenfabrik has been a division of ERMAFA Sondermaschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH in Chemnitz.
== Products ==
The product range of Auerbach Maschinenfabrik includes heavy bed-type milling machines with flat guides or with hobbing guides as well as deep-hole drilling machines and combined deep-hole drilling-milling machines . With the new development of a micro deep-hole drilling machine in 2018, the machine factory is opening up new production processes for micro machining.
== Literature ==
* Peter Kuttig (Herausgeber), Ulrich Franz (Autor); Die WEMA 1943–1995: Ein halbes Jahrhundert Industriegeschichte in Auerbach, Bibliofidel, September 2001, ISBN 978-3-925820-80-9
* Hans J. Naumann und Reimund Neugebauer: Werkzeugmaschinenbau in Sachsen: von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Standort mit Kompetenz, Innovation und Flexibilität. Hrsg.: Hans J. Naumann/Reimund Neugebauer im Auftr. des Kompetenzzentrums Maschinenbau Chemnitz/Sachsen e.V. Heimatland Sachsen, Chemnitz 2003, ISBN 3-910186-44-0, S. 136–138.
Category:Machine tool builders
Category:Machine manufacturers
Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1943