Maschinenfabrik Berthold Hermle : C 32 U | RS 2 robot system | BWB-Betschart | Specialist in surface coating

From the left: Programmers Tobias Halter and Ulrich Breitenberger, Christian Simon, Area Sales Manager at Hermle (Schweiz) AG, and Thomas Furger, Head of CNC Machining at BWB-Betschart AG.

BWB-Betschart is a specialist in surface coating. The Swiss company entered the machining business in response to demand for aluminium components for furniture construction. Today, the furniture industry hardly plays a role - instead BWB often acts as emergency support for its surface-coating customers. A new 5-axis machining centre from Hermle, automated with an RS 2robot system, ensures adequate flexibility and capacity.

"The Hermlemachine floated in through this hatch in May 2020." Thomas Furger, Head of CNC Machining at BWB-Betschart AG, points to the opposite wall of a bright, low-looking hall. In addition to heavy load racks, roller carts and pallets with blanks and finished parts, there are several machine tools here - and they make a lot of noise. "The opening through which we manoeuvred in the equipment with a crane is only a few centimetres higher than the stainless steel cover of the tool spindle. We also reinforced the floor - for safety," describes Furger. The millimetre-precision work and the time and effort involved in the run-up were required because the machining department is located on the second floor. "It's been that way historically," adds Furger.

It all began in 1963 with an anodising plant of BWB Oberflächentechnik in the canton of Nidwalden, south of Lake Lucerne. Today, the parent company, BWB-Holding AG, operates twelve production sites in Switzerland, Germany, Romania and the Netherlands. The Swiss company specialises in electrolytic, chemical and galvanic surface coatings for applications in aviation, industry, medical technology and architecture.

Only the subsidiary BWB-Betschart offers machining of aluminium as an additional service at its headquarters in Stans-Oberdorf. "Our core competence is coating. Machining was added later at the request of our customers. About 20 years ago, for example, we received an enquiry from the furniture industry asking whether we could also take on the machining of aluminium furniture legs in addition to surface coating," says Furger. BWB-Betschart agreed and initially outsourced the work. Four years later, the company decided to set up its own profile machining centre. "These are the machines which were so loud," says Furger. Ten years ago, BWB went one step further and invested in its first 5-axis CNC machine for milling workpieces up to three metres long.