OSG and Haimer Enter Partnership

In April 2015 the OSG Corporation (Toyokawa City, Japan), a world leader in round cutting tools, and Haimer GmbH (Igenhausen, Germany), a market leader in tool holding technology, signed a strategic partnership and licensing agreement. The OSG-Group is bringing their round endmill cutting tools to the global market now with the Haimer Safe-Lock^TM System.

The unique Safe-Lock design in cutting tools and toolholders combines a high precision press fit clamping with a positive form locking mechanism. This prevents round cutting tools from being rotated or completely pulled out from its tool holder during heavy machining. The combination of symmetrical pull out protection, highest concentricity and excellent balance of the Safe-Lock system, results in a vibration free machining process. This leads to a more efficient metal removal rate, that is superior when compared to conventional Milling chucks or Weldon shanked cutting tools and toolholders.

OSG has been testing various systems for pull out security over the past several months. Only the technology of the Safe-Lock system could convince the high-tech Japanese company. Jiro Osawa, the technical managing director at OSG headquarters and the chief executive officer for North America, explains, “Our field testing proved that the combination of our endmills with Safe-Lock resulted in higher rpm and feed rates even with difficult-to-machine materials. This enables our customers to obtain a significant increase in their current metal removal rates, while at the same time having a higher security in their machining processes. Safe-Lock also has a very positive effect on tool wear.”

For the globally oriented corporation that is represented in 29 countries with 52 subsidiaries, over 5,000 employees and annual sales of approx. one billion US dollars, there was one further crucial factor, as Osawa argues: “In addition to the absolute technical superiority of Safe-Lock compared to alternative systems, it is the only system that is actually in high demand globally and also available in various clamping methods. Since we are not only in Japan but also well represented in North America and in Europe, we have decided to sign this license agreement and integrate the Safe-Lock design into our tools worldwide.”

OSG is headquartered in Toyokawa, southeast from Tokyo, where it has its solid carbide endmill production, coating facilities and production halls with the most modern CNC grinding machines. Due to these manufacturing capabilities, the company is able to insure the highest level of quality and availability of their tools. An additional global production network enables the demands of local markets and customer needs to be met with fast delivery and the highest of service and support.

Andreas Haimer, the president of the Haimer Group, explains, “We have established Safe-Lock as a standard in roughing and heavy machining for which a variety of tools are available worldwide. We are very proud and happy to have reached a strong partnership with OSG, one of the largest and leading producers of tools in the world.”

Since its launch in 2007, the Safe-Lock System has developed very successfully and excited many international customers. Last year alone, the growth was four times higher compared to previous years. This boom can be attributed to recognizing that the productivity increases resulting from the pull out protection is not restricted to typical aerospace applications but the cost and time savings can also be used in any typical milling application.

www.haimer.de

www.osg-global.jp