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News Release from: Deckel Grinders
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 March 2008
Micro-machining centre builder expands
Builder of micro-machining centres has moved into an expanded factory, is taking on more people each week and expects to nearly double its machine tool output by 2009.
Kern Micro- und Fernwerktechnik produced 55 machines in 2007, with 72 scheduled for 2008 and potentially 100 machine sales in 2009 Kern said that the global consumer market continually striving for the smallest possible mobile phone, iPod, PC and gadget
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 6 Nov 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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In January 2007, the company employed 100 people.
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Already Kern employs now well over 140 with a new employee joining the company every week.
The company has moved into a new facility that has plenty of room for expansion as the company continually produces more machines.
Just an hour south of Munich, Germany, on the border of the Alps, Kern's production facility claims to be one of one of the world's few manufacturers of 'truly precise' machining centres.
It is here that Kern produces its Kern Micro, EVO and more recently Pyramid Nano machining centres.
* Desktop machining centre - started in 1962 as a subcontract manufacturer with the remit of also distributing Jung grinding machines, it wasn't until 1982 that Herr Kern considered the manufacture of machine tools.
With an impeccable reputation for precision and quality it was in the early 1980's that Kern was approached to produce a purpose built machining centre by global computing giant IBM.
With nowhere else to go and no manufacturer capable of producing a machine to the accuracy levels required, Kern was persuaded to produce its first desktop machining centre in 1982 for IBM.
Commissioned to drill 1,700 holes at 0.1mm diameter in computer probe cards, the explosion in the computer industry soon saw one machine become a bank of more than 10 machines.
The continued expansion in the industry saw IBM rival Siemens knock the Kern door requesting machines for its manufacturing needs.
Since that point in the early 1980's, Kern has now delivered over 670 machines with desktop machines being the mainstay of the business until 1997 when the first full size machining centre was delivered - the Kern MMP.
From this point, the MMP has been adapted to accommodate a polymer concrete base for rigidity, accuracy and damping purposes.
The continued development now sees the machine named the Micro.
The company like the product range has grown to cater for the growing needs of the marketplace - however Kern maintains its position is to remain as a leading provider of precise machine tools.
As Kerns' managing director, Rudolf Riedel said: "We are one of Europe's largest manufacturers of micro machining technology.
We are not only here to build machines, we are here to provide the most accurate machines on the market.
Kern is one of the very few machine tool manufacturers that also provides a subcontract service and this allows us to give customers the confidence that our machines can meet the extremely high accuracy demands placed upon them.
The subcontract business helps customers to manufacture prototypes and this lowers the customers' risk of acquiring a machine incapable of meeting their needs".
* Subcontract operations - Kern's subcontract business shows customers with intricate and extreme accuracy needs the machine capability and also proves to be the ideal training platform for Kern employees.
Kern apprentices receive a grounding in not only programming and machine building but machining and machining strategies and this gives Kern staff an implicit understanding of the machines.
The accuracy and productivity levels of the Kern range of machines have noted some high profile customers such as EADS Aerospace with manufacturing companies including Iscar, Ceratizit and Sandvik to name a few.
In fact, all machines that roll off the Kern production line produce a NAS component with a tolerance of +/-2 micron as an acceptance component before shipping to the customer.
UK distributor or Kern machining centres is Deckel Grinders.
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