NachrichteN - UNION Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH Chemnitz

Top News: New milling heads – more performance, greater flexibility// Quality prevails // Near you all over the world
Dawn of a bright future
Driving on the German motorway A72, near the exit “Chemnitz Süd”, you cannot miss
it: The name “UnionChemnitz” stands out tall on the facade of building No 5 in the Clemens-Winkler-Straße.
Especially in the dark, you can see the illuminated lettering from
afar. A small but pioneering part of the logo: The letters TH in a circle. Not only does it
join the name Herkules with the name of its owner family Thoma, it also connects the
companies of the HerkulesGroup, which all carry the TH sign in their logos.
To employees, business partners and outsiders, it is now evident: Since last year Union-
Chemnitz forms part of the HerkulesGroup. The logo demonstrates this partnership, as
do the first structural changes. At the Open House of the oldest machine tool manufacturer
in Europe on May 10 and 11, 2012, customers and prospects could see the
direction UnionChemnitz is headed. During presentations and a tour through the shop,
roughly 160 people caught up on the latest technological developments. Right at the
beginning of the event, Dietmar Weiß, vice president of UnionChemnitz, commented on
the company’s objectives: “We took over UnionChemnitz from a financial investor who
had other criteria for the company’s development and we found structures that we, as a
family-owned business, did not like. In particular, we are going to improve the customer
and service orientation.”
With the Open House, UnionChemnitz took a huge step in this direction. Practical and
competent, UnionChemnitz experts presented the latest developments in machine technology
and pointed out the user benefits of the machines’ efficient application options.
Dr. Stephan Witt, head of mechanical construction at WaldrichSiegen, dedicated his
presentation to developments in the area of milling heads. Their precision machining and
flexible adaption make for key success factors. Previously only purchased, the milling
heads are now developed and produced within the group of companies. That has many
advantages for the customer. “Producing the components in-house means that we can
react flexibly and fast to customer requirements”, said Dr. Stephan Witt and, with regard
to the importance of the component, he added: “The closer I get to the tool, the more important
the components. And I don’t get any closer to the tool than with the milling head.”
Dates: AMB, Stuttgart (GER) September 18 - 22, 2012 // TOOLEX, Sosnowiec (POL) October 2 - 4, 2012
NachrichteN
Issue 2012 // 02
Visible from afar: UnionChemnitz is a company in the HerkulesGroup
As early as in the planning phase, machine concepts are cost-optimized and customized
based on the workpiece requirements and the customer’s application.
One example is a concept currently realised at a Polish customer’s site. Here the optimal
use of the machine allows an increase in productivity. “One floor plate is used by two
machines, a MILLFORCE 1 and a PCR facing each other in the production hall,” reports
Nathanael Hermsdorf, design engineer at UnionChemnitz, “Thus, both machines can
work simultaneously on one workpiece. The machines process the workpiece in parallel
in their respective working areas.” At the Open House Nathanael Hermsdorf introduced
the latest technological highlight which further enhances this flexibility. “At the AMB
trade fair in September in Germany, we are going to present the MILLFORCE 1. It has an
interface for adapting different aggregates like a spindle attachment, a facing head and
a universal milling head. A pick-up station in the ram permits the exchange. Due to the
exchangeable aggregates the MILLFORCE 1 with a single clamping expands it possibilities
of application significantly.
Norbert Brinkmann provided the participants of the Open House with a firsthand account
of customer requirements. The presentation of the CEO of G.M.W. Präzisions GmbH
& Co. KG, a long-term customer and market expert, was the absolute highlight of the
event. He told his audience about the use of the six UnionChemnitz boring machines in
his company. “By optimizing new tools we are able to work faster than our competitors
in contract manufacturing. For example, they need an average of 52 hours to machine
fan hubs for the wind industry with written-off machines. With a UnionChemnitz boring
machine we machine them in 16 hours.” At the same time, Norbert Brinkmann praised
the “top service” at UnionChemnitz. “They have a great modular system for drives with
short delivery times.” Thus, the presentation by Norbert Brinkmann showed that the
quality of the machine tool and the provision of services by the manufacturer are key
success factors for his company. “We will continue to expand these strengths”, states
UnionChemnitz vice president Michael Bergmann, with a view to the future.

Editorial
Last year, the German machine tool industry received orders worth 16.7 billion
Euro in total. Two thirds of this sum, roughly 11.2 billion Euro, was generated
abroad. 46 percent came from Asian countries. Thus, Asia has been replacing
Europe as the most important sales region for many years.
The largest order in the history of UnionChemnitz, the sale of six horizontal boring
and milling machines to Xi’an Coal Mining Machinery and Shaan’xi Construction
Machinery, also came from China. Since the take-over by the HerkulesGroup,
the sales and service network in Asia has grown enormously. By sharing the
WaldrichSiegen network UnionChemnitz is strongly represented on an international
level.
With two thirds of the orders coming from exports, this also means that one third
of the turnover of the German machine tool industry originates in Germany.
Despite the growing international success, the basis of UnionChemnitz is the
domestic market. We at UnionChemnitz look back on a long and great tradi-
Since April 2012, RS Antriebstechnik has been a company of the HerkulesGroup
New milling heads – more performance, greater flexibility
High-quality machine tools consist of 100 % high-quality components. For that
reason the companies of the HerkulesGroup have always developed and produced
all key components in-house. “The high vertical production range enables
us to improve the quality of our machine tools and to increase our flexibility”,
explains Christoph Thoma, president and CEO of the companies in the Herkules-
Group, “We produce more and more of the core components within the group of
companies, which we believe will extend our technological leadership.”
With taking over the gear manufacturer RS Antriebstechnik in spring, the companies
of the HerkulesGroup now consistently continue this successful strategy.
RS Antriebstechnik has been part of the HerkulesGroup since April 2012. Before
that the Sonthofen (Germany) based company had been closely connected with
Maschinenfabrik Herkules and WaldrichSiegen as a supplier of high-quality head
stock gears and main drives for turning and milling machines. “When we looked
for main drives for our ProfiMill milling machine, the RS Antriebstechnik specialists
had by far the best technical solutions. They were flexible in responding to
our request and they strictly observed all our specifications,” says Dr. Stephan
Witt, head of mechanical construction at WaldrichSiegen, about the present,
successful co-operation with RS Antriebstechnik. As a company in the Herkules-
Group, RS Antriebstechnik is now involved in the joint development of new machine
tool components: Currently, the gear specialists use their know-how for
the latest technological developments at UnionChemnitz – the development of
new milling heads. “A milling head is the centerpiece of each machine”, says
Dr. Stephan Witt. “Especially with such an important component UnionChemnitz
doesn’t want to rely on suppliers as they did before. With design and production
within the group of companies we can respond individually to customer requirements.”
WaldrichSiegen takes over the part of constructing the milling aggregates in
close collaboration with UnionChemnitz – a logical decision since Waldrich-
Siegen has always produced milling heads in-house and has great expertise.
Several employees deal exclusively with the construction of milling heads. The
result: a single-axle head, a double-axle head and a double-axle orthogonal head
have already been designed. Now, RS Antriebstechnik in Sonthofen will build
the milling heads. At the moment a first prototype is under construction. Once it
is ready for series production it promises a significant increase in performance
The new milling heads:
� 45 % more performance and torque
� Grease lubrication for optimal lubricant
application
� Optimized shape and wall-thickness
with extreme rigidity
� Rigid and durable bearings
UnionChemnitzNachrichten
tion and today we are successful. The largest share of turnover is generated in
Germany. However, under the direction of the financial investor from whom we
acquired UnionChemnitz, the company experienced a downward trend.
We have been correcting this development since the takeover. Our recipe:
Reflecting our German corporate values. UnionChemnitz turns 160 this year. A
company with such a long tradition is committed to continuously improving quality
and performance. We want to concentrate on a high vertical range of manufacture
and a strong customer service. Both are prerequisites for competitiveness
in Germany, but also for success beyond.
Dietmar Weiß | Michael Bergmann
Robust housing for precise milling results.
and reduced maintenance needs. “Compared to the previous ones, we have
re-engineered the milling units in particular for cutting performance,” reports
Dr. Stephan Witt on the advantages of the new aggregates, “They will have up
to 45 percent more torque and performance.” A modular system allows for a
quick response to customer requests since spare parts are promptly available
when needed.
Before the milling heads are installed at the customer’s site, we thoroughly test
them at the test facilities in Burbach und Chemnitz. Only in this way can Union-
Chemnitz guarantee the reliable and long-term use of the new developments and
assure customer satisfaction with the new, powerful aggregates.
Single-axle head UC-V 50
Double-axle head UC-U 50

The largest order in the history of UnionChemnitz
Quality prevails
„At the end quality is the decisive factor. And quality always wins”, says Joachim
Müller, head of sales, summing up how the biggest order in the history of Union-
Chemnitz came about. The precision and reliability of the UnionChemnitz machine
tools convinced the Chinese companies Xi’an Coal Mining Machinery and
Shaan’xi Construction Machinery to order six boring machines – four planer type
horizontal boring machines KCR 160 for Xi’an Coal Mining Machinery; one TC
110 table type and one KCR 150 for Shaan’xi Coal Mining Machinery.
„The decisive factor was that our boring machines fulfilled the high accuracy
demands and tolerance specifications indispensable for high-quality products
in the mining industry,” adds Joachim Müller. The commissioning of the two
machines for Shaan’xi Construction Machinery will have taken place by December
2012 and March 2013 or by February and April 2013 at Xi’an Coal Mining
Machinery respectively.
Shaan’xi Construction Machinery will use the machines to produce machine
components for street construction machines. “The high reliability of Union-
Chemnitz boring machines guarantees few downtimes and therefore high added
value – an important competitive advantage”, explains Joachim Müller. Moreover,
UnionChemnitz machines excel in flexibility of application. For example, the
four KCR 160‘s for Xi’an Coal Mining Machinery with boring spindle lengths of
900 mm are designed for machining deep within the workpiece. The exchange-
Expanding the sales and service network together with WaldrichSiegen
Near you all over the world
When you look up the word “service“ in a trade dictionary, you may learn
that it includes the service of a manufacturer before, during or after the sale.
UnionChemnitz defines “service” differently. Instead of just providing a service,
UnionChemnitz aims to offer the greatest possible level of convenience
to the customer. A local contact person is thus a matter of course. “It’s important
to us that all over the world we communicate with the customer on a local
level,” explains Joachim Müller, head of sales at UnionChemnitz.
With the global WaldrichSiegen sales and service network, which Union-
Chemnitz also uses, the company now has offices with contact persons in
many Asian countries for example China, India, South Korea or Japan and in
the Southeast European markets such as the Balkan states, Czech Republic,
Slovakia and Romania. Customers and interested persons can contact Union-
Chemnitz on a local level and benefit from short distances and communication
in the language of the country. The result: a number of projects the global
branches undertook succeeded immediately.
For reasons of capacity, UnionChemnitz has not been represented in those
From old machinery to state of the art technology
Enhancing productivity by modernizing
After a modernization old machines are fit again for many years of use.
able aggregates can be used on all machines. This flexibility is a great advantage
for the single piece and small series production at Xi’an Coal Mining Machinery.
Long travel range in the X and Z axes for machining deep within the workpiece.
countries until now. Since the WaldrichSiegen sales team is also specialist on
the market of large component machining, a co-operation was the obvious
solution. Thereby we benefit from the synergy of the two sales teams.
In Europe and the USA, UnionChemnitz was already strongly represented.
In Chemnitz, a team of qualified employees also provides an excellent service
– competent and customer-oriented. Two new sales persons and two
new application engineers have been hired last year to strengthen the team.
In countries without an office of their own, UnionChemnitz is represented
by sales representatives. With an extensive selection process, the Chemnitz
based company makes sure that they represent UnionChemnitz competently
and reliably.
The WaldrichSiegen sales network, the strengthening of the team in Chemnitz
and the expansion of the network of sales representatives – UnionChemnitz is
well equipped for ongoing global success.
New horizontal boring and milling machines yield very high levels of cutting performance
with the utmost precision. UnionChemnitz machines deliver reliable
machining results even after many years of operation. Yet changing production
conditions may lead to a situation where they no longer meet present requirements.
Modernizing the machine may solve that problem – either with a
complete modernization or with the overhaul of single components such as the
spindle system, ball screw drives, measuring systems, the carriage or geometry.
“On average, we modernize 50 machines each year”, says Frank Grimm, service
manager at UnionChemnitz and he adds: “We are the manufacturer and have
access to all the original documents. That, and our highly qualified staff, makes
us the perfect partner for the modernization of your machine.”
For this reason Hüttenwerke Krupp Mannesmann GmbH also commissioned
UnionChemnitz for the modernization of their BFP 130/6 of 1980. New electrics,
controls, drives and reworked mechanics – the whole boring machine was
reconditioned. UnionChemnitz replaced the electrical cabinet, added Heidenhain
measuring systems, and integrated a new main drive and AC servo motors for
the axes. “After the integration of the Heidenhain iTNC 530 10-axis control, the
splitting of the combined X/Z drive into single drives and the installation of a
turning table, the BFP can now machine radii and curves”, explains Frank Grimm
and summarizes: “Despite her age the BFP is now again a very modern machine,
ensuring the maximum in productivity and the utmost in precision.”
Frank Grimm
UnionChemnitzNachrichten

Precision workpieces for the wind industry
SKET orders two PCR 200
Well established in the wind
industry – UnionChemnitz is a
reliable partner of this industry
of the future. As early as in the
1980s UnionChemnitz delivered
machine tools to SKET GmbH,
a company in the ENERCON
Group, which installed more
than 19,000 wind energy plants
worldwide. This is how SKET
The two PCR 200‘s for SKET in detail:
Diameter of boring spindle mm 200
Speed, max. min -1 2,000
Column cross traverse X-axis mm 8,000 (complete machine)
20,000 (PCR 200 for existing system)
Head stock vertical traverse Y-axis mm 5,000
RAM extension Z-axis mm 1600
Boring spindle axial traverse W-axis mm 1,000
Further equipment:
Automatic tool changer with magazine for 100 tools, exhaustion system for cast iron dust,
pick-up station for additional equipment , complete machine: CNC facing head, turning table DV 75
(clamping size: 3,500 x 3,500 mm, table load: max 75,000 kg, table cross traverse 2,500 mm)
Art at work: „Street Fighter II“
In the beginning of the 1990s
millions of people played under
its spell.
Now, 20 years later, we can
admire the protagonists in
art galleries: The artist Stefan
Schwarzer dedicates his work
to the heroes of the video game
Open House in the USA
United Precision Service, sales representative
of UnionChemnitz in the USA,
held an Open House on September
7 and 8, 2012. Customers and interested
persons took the opportunity to
see a large number of UnionChemnitz
machines in action. In the machine
shop of Magna in Cincinnati, visitors
could witness the precise machining
of various workpieces with Union-
Chemnitz boring and milling machines.
The huge interest of the visitors shows
that also in the USA the “made in
Germany” brand is held in high regard.
came to appreciate Union-
Chemnitz as a reliable partner.
In the course of a capacity increase,
SKET purchased new
boring and milling machines.
The company chose a Union-
Chemnitz PCR 200 as well as
another PCR 200, which will
be integrated with an existing
system. As of 2013, SKET will
Customers and employees together on the dance floor.
“Street Fighter II.“ Employees
and guests can now view one of
his art works at UnionChemnitz.
The 204 single pictures – felt
pen drawings evoking the aesthetics
of children’s drawings –
are exhibited in the dining room
and inspire many conversations
benefit from the two new machines
through the increased
productivity in the manufacture
of components for wind power
stations. Moreover, the large
overhang of the work spindle
and the ram also allow machining
processes deep within the
workpiece.
Rainer Schillbach
Atmospheric, classy, stylish – summer festival at UnionChemnitz
160 years UnionChemnitz – a
long tradition based primarily on
one thing: the commitment of
the UnionChemnitz employees,
whose competence and dedication
made their company the
innovative enterprise it is today.
That was one of the reasons for
organizing a summer festival in
May 2012 after the Open House
for all employees and their partners.
It was the first summer
festival since the merger with
among the employees during
their breaks.
For his “Street Fighter II” works,
Stefan Schwarzer was awarded
the jury award of the Chemnitz
art festival “Begehungen” in
2011.
UnionChemnitz at the AMB
In September 2012, UnionChemnitz
will exhibit at two trade fairs. At the
AMB in Stuttgart, September 18 to
22, 2012, the Chemnitz based company
and WaldrichSiegen will present
the travelling column milling machine
MILLFORCE 1 for the first time with exchangeable
aggregates. You are cordially
invited to come to hall 9, booth
9D32 and marvel at the significantly increased
flexibility of the MILLFORCE 1.
UnionChemnitz will also exhibit at the
IMT in Brünn, Czech Republic, from
September 10 to 14, 2012.
WaldrichSiegen and it took place
in the style that distinguishes
the companies of the Herkules-
Group.
Sunshine, summer temperatures,
two live bands, dancing, a
barbecue and a friendly get together
– the evening was a complete
success.
The employees were delighted.
A sampling of their comments:
“Awesome music!”, “Incredible
Extended service times
Prompt and reliable – UnionChemnitz
has extended its service hours. You
can now contact your experts via our
telephone hotline outside of our usual
business hours.
Monday to Friday: 5 pm - 10 pm
Saturday: 8 am - 2 pm
Hotline:
+49 (0) 152 288 03681
Fast change of tools – the magazine for 100 tools.
atmosphere!” and “First-class
food and service!.”
The presidents of UnionChemnitz
and many customers also seized
the occasion and celebrated together
with the employees into
the late evening hours.
Street Fighter II: Fighter Dhalsim ...and Zangief.
Impressum
UnionChemnitz Nachrichten
Issue: Autumn 2012
Publisher:
UNION Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Chemnitz
Clemens-Winkler-Straße 5
09116 Chemnitz
Telephone +49 (0) 371 8741 0
Fax +49 (0) 371 8741 407
www.unionchemnitz.de
Responsible:
HerkulesGroup
Corporate Communications