The UNITED GRINDING Group, one of the leading manufacturers of precision machines for grinding, eroding, lasering, and combination machining,  the largest exhibitor at the new trade show for grinding technology in Stuttgart: GrindingHub. The group presented its revolutionary innovations on a booth covering an area of 1,200 m2 While EMO 2021 was still all about the digital revolution with the presentation of C.O.R.E. - Customer Oriented REvolution. These included not only world firsts in its traditional fields of technology, but also a surprise with a completely new revolution: an additive machine tool for manufacturing metallic components through selective laser melting of metal powder.

Among other things, a new cylindrical grinding machine, a new loading system, a tool grinding machine and — as an extension of the Group’s machine portfolio — a revolutionary additive machine tool for manufacturing metallic components using “3D printing."

Revolutionary Machine Development in Additive Manufacturing

The revolutionary aspect of the new IMPACT 4530 machine is its high degree of automation and its repeating accuracy. While the machines available on the market to date are largely based on manual processes and are difficult to integrate into the manufacturing process, the IMPACT 4530, by contrast, is designed for safe operation under industrial conditions. The separate operating and loading area, with an automatic changeover system for the containers of the metal powder and the components, ensures higher productivity. The clever design also keeps cleaning and maintenance of the system, a major issue in conventional systems, easy and uncomplicated. This greatly simplifies the handling of the machine and increases productivity. "In the service segment, IRPD has been an active player in the additive manufacturing market since 2015. Our close cooperation with ETH Zurich and inspire AG meant we initially simply wanted to learn more about this promising technology," says Stephan Nell, CEO of the UNITED GRINDING Group. "However, as users of '3D printing machines,' we quickly noticed that these units offer considerable optimisation potential in terms of user-friendliness and repeating accuracy. For this reason, we have decided to develop our own additive machine tool under the IRPD brand." Daniel Erni, Managing Director of IRPD, adds: "Given its stable reproduction conditions, accuracy, quality, and scalability, the IMPACT 4530 is the first industrial-grade additive machine tool to bear the 'Made in Switzerland' label.” The high repeating accuracy is reinforced through the use of smart software, as the new machine is already equipped with the new C.O.R.E. technology. The Group's innovative hardware and software architecture enables intuitive operation and networking with other machine tools, and allows machines to prepare for production largely on their own.

World Firsts in Grinding Technology

The Group presented a number of innovations in grinding technology. BLOHM, for example, is presenting its PLANOMAT XT Essential, an economical high-precision surface grinding machine in the entry-level segment, for the first time at any German trade show.

STUDER presented two new products in the area of cylindrical grinding: the S36 external cylindrical grinding machine for production and its uniLoad automatic loading system. The S36 is designed for small to medium-sized workpieces and a wide range of components. It is ideally suited for use in the automotive, hydraulic, pump, and tooling industries, and comes equipped with the new C.O.R.E. technology. One outstanding feature of the new machine is its large grinding wheel with a diameter of up to 610 millimetres and a maximum width of 125 millimetres.

With the new uniLoad loading system, STUDER is focussing on universality and speed for its two universal external cylindrical grinding machines, the S31 and S33. The system can be operated without special training or programming knowledge and achieves automated processing of about one hour at full storage capacity.

In the area of tool machining, WALTER is presenting the HELITRONIC G 200, a new tool grinding machine with an innovative machine concept and a footprint of less than 2.3m2. The compact machine is suitable for the production and re-sharpening of rotationally symmetrical tools with a diameter range of 1 to 125 mm.