Leading the field with knowledge

Leading the field with knowledge

Mitsubishi Electric’s EDM User Forums are extremely popular. Which is hardly surprising, as its participants are not only exposed at these meetings to new trends and technology, but they also benefit from the Group’s accumulated expertise.

Leading the field with knowledge.

Accumulated expertise and current trends.

Multi-axis technologies, preventive maintenance and die sinking EDM with copper graphite electrodes – if it’s a question of the latest developments in electric discharge machining, Mitsubishi Electric’s EDM User Forums have always been important gatherings. For over 10 years now, Mitsubishi Electric has been regularly holding such free workshops in different regions of Germany. For a whole day, application and service technicians from Mitsubishi Electric and employees of partner companies report on new trends and technologies. “The meetings have been extremely popular from the very beginning,” says Lutz-Roger Neuendorf, Sales and Marketing Manager for Central Germany and Benelux at Mitsubishi Electric. No wonder, ­because it is not only the expert lecturers who have interesting news to report. “The participants at each workshop together embody several hundred years of EDM experience,” says Neuendorf. “Such an opportunity to swap notes with experts from other firms rarely occurs.” During the breaks acquaintances are quickly made and the exchange of views gets into full flow.

Interesting talks in a relaxing atmosphere in the morning …

Well thought-out lecture programme

One of the most recent workshops on two days at the end of September attracted about 70 participants to Ratingen. Some of them were attending for the first time, while others were “old hands”. “This is my third workshop, and I’ve learnt something new every time,” says Andreas Fransen, Works Mechanic at Eaton Industries GmbH (formerly Möller GmbH) at the Neuwied location. What most impressed him at the most recent User Forum was the talk on maintenance parameters by Martin Kuptz, Mitsubishi Electric Service Manager. “It goes without saying that we service our machines regularly. However, in the talk I learnt a few new things, while other things I only really appreciated for the first time. We shall probably have to adjust our maintenance work in a few areas,” says Fransen. The workshop programme is well thought-out and the talks are carefully selected. “We want everyone attending to take something home with them,” says Neuendorf. This is not an easy task, since almost everyone works in a different specialised field. The fact that it is accomplished all the same is mainly down to the Mitsubishi Electric team who are in close contact with the customer and know precisely what is currently of interest.

Specific application scenarios with expert assistance.

Among them is Achim Hoppenkamps, Head of EDM Applications at Mitsubishi Electric. In the morning he welcomed the participants and then introduced them to the new functions of the Angle Master Advance II, discussed the new possibilities of the MV and MP Series and presented new quick-cutting technologies with coated wire. This topic was taken up by Ingo Bauman, Product Developer at wire manufacturer Bedra. He gave insight into the research and development of new wires and spotlighted, as a specific example, the Megacut Plus product, a gamma-phase brass wire for high cutting performance. Christijan Lenz, in charge of dealer sales of DCAM software developers, explained the practical features of the current DCAMCUT Version 8.3. This talk also went down very well with participants: “We’ve been working for some time with DCAMCUT and are considering changing over to the current version. The talk on the update has already answered a lot of questions,” says Volker Geissel, Tool Mechanic at ABUS KG in Wetter. The last speaker of the day was Stefan Tillier, Die Sinking Applications Technician at Mitsubishi Electric. He familiarised participants with 3D and surface modelling on the EA8S die sinking EDM as well as other functions of the competitively priced entry-level system.

… and the associated practice at the machines in the afternoon.

Technology Centre converts theory into practice
After the talks, theory was put into practice. At the Technology Centre, the group had the opportunity to run through specific application scenarios at the Mitsubishi Electric machines with expert assistance – and again to share experience. The participants were of course impressed by the features of the current EDM systems, e.g. the new low-wear FP-V generators of the EA-V Advance series. “Sooner or later it’s time for a new machine. So it’s very useful to get to know the new machines in this way and get answers to questions from the experts in situ,” says Tool Mechanic Wladislaw Hornbacher, who produces mouldings for prototypes at the Wolfsburg location of plastics injection moulding specialist PlasTec. Another important aspect of the User Forum for the tool mechanic was meeting the Mitsubishi Electric EDM team personally. “Martin Kuptz has helped me a number of times over the phone. You’ve really got to praise the good service. It’s then great to be able to meet the person in the flesh and put a face to the voice on the phone.”

Christopher Feige Tool Mechanic, Formenbau Althaus GmbH, Erndtebrück

It’s very, very interesting and exciting to get to know new technologies here and gradually put the knowledge into practice back home at the firm.

The meetings have meanwhile become so popular that the number of participants for the User Forums at Mitsubishi Electric’s German headquarters in Ratingen has so far had to be limited. Value is attached to personal contact, but since this has only been possible until now with a limited number of participants, Mitsubishi Electric has had to turn away some of the applicants and put them on a list for a later forum. But this is now history, as Mitsubishi Electric moved into its new company headquarters in November 2015.

Informal exchange of views, and hands-on information.

This building is only a few kilometres away from the old one and is a good bit larger than its predecessor. The new Technology Centre is also a size bigger than its predecessor, so it is now possible to slightly increase the number of people attending the User Forums. “So there is a good chance of everyone interested in the coming events in Ratingen being able to attend,” says a delighted Neuendorf. So even more customers will be able to benefit from the transfer of knowledge.