GF Agie Charmilles Event Commemorates 60 Years of EDM Innovation

The two-day open house highlighted the latest wire and sinker EDM technology, automatic wire changing, and the industry’s most advanced EDM human machine interface.

I recently attended the GF Agie Charmilles (Lincolnshire, IL) Open House, a two-day event that took place from June 27-28 at their North American headquarters to commemorate the company’s 60th anniversary of electrical discharge machine (EDM) technology development.

http://youtu.be/JaiLHQSIWUE

The advanced technology this iconic company displayed has a tremendous impact on our everyday living, such as the mold texturing they created for a new bottle product launch for the Mountain Dew bottle.

These are the types of innovations over the past 60 years that the event sought to highlight through demonstrations encompassing everything from the latest wire and sinker EDM technology to automatic wire changing capability and the industry’s most advanced EDM human machine interface (HMI). Also showcased were high-speed and high-performance milling machines, 3D laser surface texturing machines and automation solutions.

The 350 attendees included current and potential customers, sales representatives, employees, solutions partners and the media. Presentations covered a wide range of topics related to EDM cutting performance, part surface finish improvements, 5-axis machining and laser surface texturing.

Partner companies on hand included Seco Tools, REGO-FIX, Hirschmann, System 3R, Poco Graphite, Fraisa, 5-th Axis and Nikon, all demonstrating their latest technologies, offering applications support and participating in presentations.

Numerous machine tools were on display to demonstrate aerospace, mold and die, medical and e-manufacturing applications. The machines included the Laser 1000 5-Axis Laser Texturing System with a Pallet Changer, the Mikron HPM 1350U 5-Axis High Performance Milling Machine with Siemens Control, and the US Premiere of the CUT 200MS Wire EDM Machine.

The premiere of the CUT 200MS Wire EDM, their newest machine, prompted much conversation about the micro-processor numerical control, automatic machining of workpieces and the incorporation of state-of-the-art intuitive AC CUT HMI (human-machine interface) CNC. This allows for the optimal mix of quality, productivity and control over production costs.

The machine boasts thermostabilization for the best positioning accuracy, onboard PROFIL-EXPERT, Power Expert and TAPER-EXPERT 2 smart modules, and a wide range of smart functions to boost performance. The CUT 200MS offers high precision and extreme versatility without compromising speed. The machine has less than 20-second spark-to-spark thread time.

The company’s latest generation of spark generators allows the machine to cut up to speeds of 38 sq in/hour and up to 30 deg tapers in the Z-axis height while also producing superior part surface finishes. Additionally, energy saving functionality and advanced software help reduce operational costs and provide increased system connectivity.