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Editorial

by Dr Christian Walti

Dear reader,

This is now the fourth issue of our Star customer magazine to have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because the crisis associated with the pandemic has had a catalytic effect that affects the main theme of this issue in particular: digitalization. A concept that for years has been considered a megatrend, digitalization has developed remarkably in the last two years.

Digitalization now permeates the entirety of our day-to-day life – from private life to work in business and industry. This has positive aspects. Networked digital communication offers a wide range of opportunities by opening up new technical and organizational solutions.

That is why we, the Starrag Group, have taken the time to identify digitalization’s potential. We experimented and finally found ways to accommodate you in new ways. I am not talking about the online meetings that have now become commonplace or interactions via social networks. I am talking about our virtual showroom in Vuadens, which has enabled us to take a big step forward.

We are offering you – and anyone interested in the world of machining centers – the ability to engage with a very special online experience that you will not want to miss. Virtual effects merge with the real world and all the while users can benefit from access allowing them to talk to our experts directly. This means you can get to know manufacturing solutions using Bumotec and SIP machines that have been directly tailored to your needs without having to travel. 

We have also made use of digitalization in the service sector. Since the middle of the year, we have been offering online Fingerprint for Heckert machines built in 2017 or later. As part of online Fingerprint, Service technicians record important machine conditions via remote access. The check only takes an hour and by the next working day at the latest, you will receive a detailed overview of the mechanical assemblies’ level of wear. This allows you to prevent unplanned, wear-related machine failures. Quality is assured, machine availability increases and workpiece costs are reduced.

But digitalization has its limits. After all, we are human beings and by no means digital, virtual creatures. We are therefore all the more pleased that we can once again cultivate more personal relationships with you and that some customers have welcomed us back on-site to provide reports.

Take Bäringhaus & Hunger in Grünhainichen, for example:
A contract manufacturer with cramped production conditions and that unfortunately no longer had space to expand–a situation that should be familiar to many. You can read about how the managing directors looked for solutions and found them in our compact, flexible Heckert H50 machining centers in the article “Ready-made flexibility”. Their verdict: “Machines that enable us to produce the required quantities in the smallest possible space without compromise and in a process-secure manner.”

Another of our customers, Wagstaff Inc., covers their successful machining solution with only simple optional adjustments. The US company uses the flexible, modular Heckert HEC 1800 horizontal machining center to machine complex aluminum workpieces. Wagstaff succeeded in halving production times, increasing machining quality and reducing set-up costs through complete, multi-sided machining in just one clamping position.

We also visited MPS Microsystems in Biel, a developer and manufacturer of high-precision mechanical microsystems. And we provide information about the Joint Lab in Shanghai, a model project for the interaction of industry and education, that Starrag founded together with the School of Mechanical Engineering and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Whether you read our Star magazine in print or online, I hope you enjoy it and draw valuable inspiration from it.

Christian Walti