Everything under control: an Austrian company goes large

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Unusually, the company didn’t specify Heidenhain controls for the new machine, despite their prevalence in die and mould making. Operator Christian Fröschl explains why the firm preferred Makino and the Professional 5 controller: "First of all, we worked on a different machine with a kind of 'faux Fanuc’ for a few years, and the controller wasn't bad at all. Just different. Also, we program less than two percent of the time on the machine. All programs, with the exception of drilling, are prepared via the post-processor. Aside from that, what use is the best machine with a bad controller, or vice versa? With Makino the combination is just right."

Saving time in processing and post-treatment

The objective in Ennsdorf, with its two machining centres, was to save time in both processing and post-treatment. Now it apparently takes operators four hours to finish a mould whereas spotting alone used to take a whole day. With post-treatment of inserts, and sliders there used to be blending errors as large as 0.03 mm between different tools. In contrast, with the D500 any difference after a tool change is claimed to be only evident in a minute difference in the surface texture. Thus the processing time for roughing is said to go down by 50%; for finishing the figure is said to be an improvement of up to 30%, depending on the contour.

Gallery

If there is any difference after the tool change, it is evident only by a minute difference in the surface texture. This means that the machining centre is absolutely precise and thermally stable. (Source: Makino)

The copper electrodes are still being loaded onto the D500 manually. But the machine had been prepared for automation by March 2016.(Source: Makino)

Mould inserts or slide feeds, 3-axis or 5-axis-performance, high speeds along the contour, and precision in volumetric accuracy are factors that count for Bergs Kunststofftechnik. (Source: Makino)

Andreas Bergs (left) and Christian Fröschl (right): The Makino machining centres not only saved a huge amount of time, our precision in the 5-axis field is at least ten times higher than that of the previous machine. (Source: Makino)

Gallery with 5 images

Bergs Kunststofftechnik managers estimate that the overall process is now 70% faster. This does not take into consideration training by Makino on CAD programming, 5-axis simultaneous milling or other new strategies. One new method is the combination of a low cutting-depth with a high feed rate, which Makino has introduced on the Japanese market under the name FF (Fine Flush).

All in all, Bergs says that buying the D500 resulted from the positive experiences with the Makino F8: “Dimensions of moulds as well as complexity have been growing steadily for us specialists in the plastic industry over the last few years. The dimensions of the machining centre – we mill very long components, 1000 mm x 400 mm – were ideal for our needs.”

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Date: 08.12.2025

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Saving time in processing and post-treatment

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