On March 5th, 2013, precision engineering company Fischer System-Mechanik GmbH will take delivery of its 100th Haas CNC machine tool.

The new machine - a Haas Super Mini Mill, will be switched on during a handing-over ceremony attended by owners of Fischer GmbH - Herr and Frau Reinhold and Edeltraud Fischer, senior managers of the company, local officials and dignitaries, and representatives of Haas Automation Europe and its local Haas Factory Outlet (HFO), a division of DREHER Aktiengesellschaft.

Based in Durchhausen, around 50km north of Lake Constance, and founded in 1980, Fischer System-Mechanik employs robot-loaded CNC mills and lathes, allowing the company to machine large batches and production runs of complex, high-quality precision components such as orthopedic implants and automotive parts. The company supplies its customers' products and assemblies using kanban and also develops and delivers prototype and one-off components.

"The Fischer System-Mechanik factory currently has around 150 machine tools," says Alain Reynvoet, managing director of Haas Automation Europe, "most of which are Haas VF milling machines and Haas Mini Mills. It purchased its first Mini Mill in 2002, which is still running 12-hours a day, ten years after it was installed."

For a company with the high standards and expectations of Fischer to invest so heavily in Haas, says a lot about the reliability of the machines and also of the quality of the backup and support provided by local HFO, DREHER. Reinhold Fischer is unequivocal about why he chose Haas machines. They are, he says, "the best value, the most reliable and the easiest to use. They also have the best back-up."

"In the USA, there are many manufacturing companies with upwards of 50-Haas CNC machines employed in production operations," adds Mr Reynvoet. " Haas only began its European operations just over a decade ago, so the celebration in March will be a significant event for us, as well as Fischer. We expect to see more companies in Europe just like them in the next few years, as customers look for better value from their machine tool investments and lower cost of ownership."