Precision machining for tubes in short production runs

With the installation of the newly-developed RotoLas chuck, the Keller GmbH can transition flexibly between working flat sheet and machining tubes on the new TruLaser 3030. “Being a small company means that we have to be very flexible,” says Harald Keller. Ever since 2003 he has captained the Keller Metallbau GmbH, located in the town of Endingen, and is the fourth generation to run the company, now employing a staff of thirty. Enduring ties to customers and suppliers are, to his mind, the foundation for a viable company. “We don’t want to get bigger, but rather to become more attractive and simply better,” is his watchword. That also means thinking outside the box and trying out new ideas. more...

Success despite the crisis

Robert Plersch hates saying no - especially to his customers. "You have to do what other people either can't or don't want to do," is the philosophy he applies when running the fifth-generation family business located in southern Germany. For him, flexibility is the name of the game and he covers the entire range of sheet metal machining operations. more...

A Pixbo every two minutes

Furniture at prices low enough to fit everyone's pocketbook - that's the Ikea success formula. This does not mean that the furniture has to come from low-wage countries. The foldaway mechanism on Ikea's Ektorp Pixbo convertible couch is manufactured by Sedac-Mecobel in Wevelgem, Belgium - a country with some of the highest wage levels in Europe. more...

Reliability at top speed

The 50-person family operation of Andreas Kempf processes a variety of sheet metals, with thicknesses of up to ten millimeters. So the five-kilowatt laser of the TruLaser 3030 NEW was just right. To cover the whole range of materials, Kempf needs all that laser power. more...

Complex parts as success factor

You could call his behavior "courage in crisis." Steffen Albrecht just calls his approach "anticyclical." In January 2009, the founder and CEO of Pretec invested in two new machines, a TruBend 5130 press brake and a TruLaser 5030 2-D laser cutting system. more...