From cottage industry to industrial toolmaking

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Werkzeugbau Ruhla GmbH

Industrialisation in full swing

"Of course automation solutions like manufacturing cells come with high investments, so obviously one would want to achieve higher throughput to be able to maybe offer the component at a lower price - and this is something one must consider already in the costing/ estimation phase. The design department must know whether they need to introduce which particular standards, e.g. the use of standard blanks, the planning of holes and tools for clamping, etc."

The industrialisation of the traditional toolmaking industry is an unstoppable process.

Werkzeugbau Ruhla from Seebach, Germany, is among those who successfully made the leap to industrial tooling and who early on utilised the possibilities automation offers. The toolmaker specialises in demanding multi-cavity tools with short cycle times, de-spindling tools and auto feeders for the medical and packaging sectors, tools for 2K injection moulding and IML tools for high-quality automobile interior components. Depending on their complexity, Werkzeugbau Ruhla annually produces between 20 and 50 tools with a weight of up to 1.5 t and a base of up to 600 x 800 mm.

Apart from quality and efficiency, Ruhla's Managing Director, Christian B. Töpfer, also places great emphasis on high flexibility. Given lot sizes of one, switching between different versions must be possible in a very short time. This is obviously an enormous challenge for any automated solution, because despite the high variety of parts, eventually at least 80% of the parts must fit the linked electrode milling and vertical eroding lines the company has been operating since 2008.

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