The perfect time for a cost-optimized investment

The right investment in the future can take you a decisive step forward now. We therefore have the perfect offer for you:

Secure our powerful VMX 42i 3-axis machining center, significantly below list price and available for immediate delivery.

Your advantages

As your partner with more than 50 years of industry experience, we guarantee this quality and service.

Your machine package at a glance

Any questions? Discover more details and benefits of our offer in the campaign brochure.

Don’t miss this opportunity and contact your HURCO sales partner today.
Of course, you can also contact us via our contact form.

Due to a system change, we have to close our spare parts store for one week.

Please note that between 30.10. – 07.11.2023 no spare parts can be ordered and shipped.

From 08.11.2023 our colleagues are again available for you as usual under Tel: +49 89 905094 55 and ersatzteile@hurco.de.

 

The perfect time for a cost-optimized investment

The right investment in the future can take you a decisive step forward now. We therefore have the perfect offer for you:

Secure our powerful VM 10i Plus 3-axis machining center, significantly below list price and available for immediate delivery.

Your advantages

As your partner with more than 50 years of industry experience, we guarantee this quality and service.

Your machine package at a glance

Any questions? Discover more details and benefits of our offer in the campaign brochure.

Don’t miss this opportunity and contact your HURCO sales partner today.
Of course, you can also contact us via our contact form.

HURCO’s focus for this year’s EMO will be on automation and simplification of programming processes. The company will demonstrate how free-form surfaces are easy to program for processing right at the machine using the HURCO control system. Tried-and-true parts-handling systems will be exhibited as well. “Contract manufacturing is all about completing orders quickly and reliably. We help our customers successfully meet these demands by providing machines and software that can meet the challenge,” explained Sebastian Herr, Applications Technology Manager at HURCO.

 

Automation with ProCobots

Procobot Automation Knickarm bei Beladung

At the Hanover trade fair, HURCO will present ProFeeder, a solution that’s part of the company’s own ProCobots brand. ProFeeder can be used with different HURCO machines, based on operational needs. At EMO, the parts-handling system will be shown working with the TM 8 Mi lathe. The cobot is mounted on a chassis with wheels for this demonstration. It requires just one automatic door, which can be ordered as part of a new project. The doors can be retrofitted on all the machines ordered.

The ProFeeder is easy to integrate into your processes. Just set it up via the user-friendly WinMax software from HURCO and the Automation Job Manager solution developed specifically for ProCobots. “The flexible performance of our control system is plain to see here. With the automation solution, its job manager loads the parts without problems,” said Sebastian Herr. “The cobot’s software is not required. This eliminates problems with data transmission and accelerates your processes. With the two screens, the operator also gets to work in a familiar environment the whole time. Plus, the interfaces haven’t changed. There are lots of images, not much text – and all the other features of the WinMax control system. The system is fast. It is also dialog-oriented and includes every step that needs to be initiated in automated parts handling.”

 

Implementing custom automation processes

HURCO’s CNC machine tools can be connected to most robotics and automation solutions via an open-source interface. To this end, HURCO cooperates with 28 partner companies. The network includes, for example, Robojob, EROWA, Kösters or Ecosphere with established standard solutions and companies such as Zorn Maschinenbau, which offer customized solutions as special machine builders.

With this partner network, HURCO can create efficient automation solutions that perfectly meet customer requirements, even for single-components and small series production.

 

Program free-form surfaces right at the machine

The second major topic at the company’s booth at EMO: further simplification of direct programming right at the machine. “We want to help our customers run an efficient operation, even when the market shrinks turnaround times and resource availability. That’s why our control system is constantly learning,” Sebastian Herr said. New this year: the Surfacing option.  HURCO’s Solid Model Import software option makes it possible to import 3D models formatted as STEP files right at the HURCO machine. The Surfacing option expands the import capability for solid models to include the surface data set. The new functionality makes it possible to use the control system to program even complex free-form surfaces at the machine for processing. According to Sebastian Herr: “Before this development, you always needed a CAM workstation to handle free-form surfaces. With our new Surfacing function, the process is simple and happens right at the machine via the control system.”

HURCO at EMO: Hall 12, Booth D68

 

Visit the booths of HURCO’s partners to see even more HURCO solutions:

Automation partner for contract manufacturers

HURCO knows how to create bespoke metal-cutting and machining concepts, and the machine tool manufacturer will be demonstrating its implementation expertise yet again at METAV 2022 in Düsseldorf. From June 21 to 24, the focus will be fixed on manufacturers of one-off parts and limited production series, with advice on application-oriented solutions available at Stand A10 in Hall 16.

HURCO VMX42Di mit Procobot Roboter und Bediener

Pliening, May 2022: Machine tool automation is a top-priority item on the agenda of contract manufacturers devoted to limited and medium-sized production runs. The salient considerations extend from extending machine operating times to ways of compensating for scarce personnel resources. The trend toward individualized products and smaller batch sizes is proceeding at a lightning pace, but automated processes to meet the challenge are often already available. The choice of which solution to select is defined by the specific manufacturing job and the available infrastructure. When it comes to automation, there are no universally applicable rules, which is why consultations are so important. Another reason why HURCO places such priority on direct personal contact with its customers.

“Both our sales and support staff, as well as our applications technicians, can frequently be found in consultations at the customer’s premises. Based on the machine inventory and the on-site production structure, we determine precisely where we can provide support, and what kind of automation makes sense,” emphasizes Sebastian Herr, Application Support Manager at HURCO of Germany. “These consultations are just one of the focal points defining our presence at the exhibition in Düsseldorf.”

Structure-based automation

Procobot Automation Knickarm bei Beladung

HURCO cooperates with its partners to offer to users exactly the right automation solution. “This expands our spectrum and makes us extremely flexible,” notes Herr. “Ultimately, the market already offers tried-and-tested solutions, and we integrate these in our own projects.” One of the options that HURCO offers contract manufacturers for their stand-alone machines is automated loading. While this includes a part-handling system to put the parts in the machine, automated loading of two interlinked machines is also available. “Often, cobots represent a good start in automation. These are fast, teachable, flexible systems that work together with the operator.” Users have the opportunity to clarify this technology’s suitability for their own operations at the HURCO stand, where they can also discuss whether an articulated-arm robot should take over part-handling chores in a manufacturing cell. HURCO responds to complex challenges with custom-tailored solutions for loading and pallet handling – tasks that can be combined on almost all HURCO machines.

Individual is standard

The foundations for rapid and application-oriented implementation of automation solutions, including digitalization, monitoring and evaluation, are contributed by a Windows-based operating system and the MT Connect open-source interface featured on HURCO assemblies. Network-supported DNC interfaces can be employed for mutual communications between machines and robots. “This network and interface architecture supports individual adaptation of automated systems to reflect user requirements, as well as creation of integrated production systems and blockchain solutions between the contract manufacturers and their clients,” underlines Herr, who also promises the in-depth consultations to support the process. The organizational tasks for automated manufacturing are then assumed by a project-management system developed by HURCO, or a system that incorporates the automation solution of an appropriate partner.

At METAV, users can also discuss how to select the most suitable concept with HURCO specialists, along with implementation of a specific automation solution in a process that even embraces optimization during running production operations. “We are looking forward to technical discussions in Düsseldorf,” concludes Herr.

 

 

Alexandra Banek - HURCO Marketing ManagerKontakt:
HURCO Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Alexandra Banek
Gewerbestraße 5 a
85652 Pliening
Phone +49 89 905094 29
abanek@hurco.de

Blog article

HURCO introduces yet another market innovation by offering you the option of program-ming free-form surfaces directly at the machine. This feature lets contract manufacturers take on jobs that were previously too time-intensive or unprofitable by allowing them to dispense with the detour through a separate CAD/CAM system.

Pliening, Germany, March 2022:

Greetings to my friends in the machining world. My name is Sebastian Herr and I manage Applications Technology at HURCO.

I want to use this article to acquaint you with a new function incorporated in our HURCO control software. I will start by focusing on the option of programming free-form surfaces right at the machine.

As many of you know, HURCO control software has already accommodated those of you wanting to read in 3D models directly using the STEP format for some time now. This “Solid Model Import” feature not only substantially reduces programming times but also provides protection against programming errors.
The new function is an extension of the existing “Solid Model Import” option. Where surfaces and solid edges of a CAD model were previously selected, you can now program 3D surfaces directly at the machine as free-form surfaces. This level of latitude is underpinned by the Solid Model Import because the scans of STEP component surface geometry form the foundation for subsequent processing.

Programming 3D surfaces

You start the process of generating the required data sets right at the machine in the usual way by loading the desired component into the HURCO control. The HURCO machine’s touchscreen is used to program the previously imported data. The STEP file representing the various surfaces appears on the screen at the right. These can then be selected to generate associated data sets suitable for saving to support individual machining processes. The data sets embrace the entire array of additional commands, such as pivoting to new processing planes. A new feature is the “Surface” command that is now incorporated in the control system. Using this new functionality, even free-form surfaces can be converted into data sets for machining. WinMax supports this ability by generating a data set created specifically for the individual machining process. All the operator needs to do is enter the tool and the process parameters. The control system performs all of the calculations to define tool paths for the ensuing roughing and final finishing operations. Needless to say, this also applies to the subsequent pivot planes when you program multilateral machining.

Here are a couple of explanatory images to help illustrate the concept.


The first step requires selection of the surface to be machined. You then simply select the “Surface” data set – meaning the data set for the surfaces – from the option menu of the left.

 


The surface can then be machined with the applied tool. Precisely what you need for this machining operation.

 


The control system then generates a data set for the selected surface, after which all you have to do is enter the tool and the technology data. Then simply specify the optimal strategies for roughing and finishing and away you go. It goes without saying that finishing operations, including the required allowances, can be repeated as often as desired. Over and again until the desired surface has been machined to perfection.

 

By the way, the newer HURCO machines are equipped with a Multi-Touch display similar to that found on smartphones. You therefore only need two fingers to zoom in and out or twist and turn the part. This speeds up programming and makes it more convenient.

For those of you wanting to expand their knowledge of the Solid Model Import option, please proceed to our Tutorial.

Tool and milling cycles

For machining free-form surfaces, I recommend that you specify a spherical or torus cutter. Both are well-suited for use in machining 3D surfaces as they allow sequential, single-step changes in workpiece contact area. You can also employ the torus cutter to machine flat surfaces. The HURCO program database includes a multiplicity of standard tools of the kind essential for 3D machining operations. There is also an extensive array of machining cycles. The program calculates all of the necessary processing steps based on surface geometry.

Advantages of the expanded Solid Model Import function

What we all see: The complexity of machined parts is increasing. CAD/CAM systems for discharging programming duties are virtually indispensable. The new 3D capability may well save you the procurement cost of a complex CAM system, or the expense of commissioning a CAD/CAM service provider to generate the required models. In view of progressively shrinking delivery times this can be a genuine asset. It allows direct calculation and processing of job orders. Which saves both time and money. If a firm already has its own existing CAD/CAM station, Solid Model Import will free it up for use in processing other 3D parts.

Some of the HURCO machines purchased in recent years can be retrofitted with a software upgrade to support programming of free-form surfaces. With older machines you will have to consider whether investing in the upgrade would be justified.

 

 

 

Alexandra Banek - HURCO Marketing Manager

Contact:
HURCO Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Alexandra Banek
Gewerbestraße 5 a
85652 Pliening
Phone +49 89 905094 29
abanek@hurco.de

HURCO “Multi axes” series has been revised

HURCO has revised the turning centers of the “Multi axes” series. Designed for the turning and milling of medium-sized parts, the machines have been further developed, particularly with regard to the software.

Pliening, Germany, November 2021: The software bundle of the series now also includes Solid Model Import, which makes the models equal to the software status of the HURCO milling machines: same operating concept, same terminology, same features. This is of particular benefit to contract manufacturers who flexibly machine individual parts and small batches and carry out the milling work on a suitably equipped lathe. At the same time, they can quickly switch between their machines without having to make any changes to the control.

“With the lathe series, HURCO strategically rounds off its overall program,” classifies Sebastian Herr, Head of Application Technology. “Users do not have to use an additional control in their company with this. Those who appreciate the dialog control with the DXF and solid model import options on their milling machine are also right with the lathes.”

The “multi-axis” series comprises seven versions which – fully equipped – are supplied “ready to produce”. Depending on requirements, the user can fall back on more complex versions with turrets, driven tools and additional Y and W axes and specifically expand the machining spectrum. For example, a pocket with a straight bottom can be machined on a cylinder surface using the Y-axis; the TMX version with counter spindle can machine the front and rear sides. If, for example, flanges and pipe connectors are manufactured with the multi-axis turning centers, the applications of the TMX series extend to complex machine components.

 

Alexandra Banek - HURCO Marketing ManagerContact:
HURCO Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Alexandra Banek
Gewerbestraße 5 a
85652 Pliening
Phone +49 89 905094 29
abanek@hurco.de

Flexible workpiece handling for larger components

The 5-axis machining center VCX600i XP is a completely newly developed machine whose design was based on HURCO’s entire 5-axis know-how. The machine thus offers sustainable increases in performance, stability and accuracy compared to the previous 5-axis models.

Pliening, Germany, July 2021: The VCX600i XP is aimed at users who work exclusively in the 5-axis range and primarily manufacture medium-sized parts. For this purpose, the SK-40 spindle can access performance data of up to 16 kW, 102 Nm and 12,000 min-1; there is space for 40 tools in the tool magazine. With a separately opening roof for crane loading, the workpiece handling of larger components is flexibly designed.

5-Achs-Bearbeitungszentrum VCX600i XP
5-axis machining center from HURCO with the Max5 CNC control

At the same time, the machine was designed to be very massive. Equipped with a rotary-swivel table and a moving column behind it, the VCX600i XP moves fewer axes in the compound, which increases accuracy mechanically alone. The swivel bridge is recessed in the bed and does not move in space, which has a positive effect with increasing component size or mass. The bridge and swivel table are equipped with torque drives, making them 100 percent 5-axis simultaneous capable – highly dynamic even in continuous operation.

Sebastian Herr, Head of Application Engineering at HURCO: “With the VCX600i XP, we are starting from pole position in the 5-axis machining center sector. It is designed for high-precision and -dynamic machining. In this way, we are taking into account the fact that increasingly complex and precise components have to be manufactured.”

 

Contact:
HURCO Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Alexandra Banek
Gewerbestraße 5 a
85652 Pliening
Phone +49 89 905094 29
abanek@hurco.de

The myriad is complete

Hurco GmbH has delivered its 10,000th machine in Germany with the sale of a 3-axis machining center.

Pliening, Germany, August 2021: With the sale of a “VM 30 i Plus” to the Martin Braun engineering office, HURCO has brought its 10,000th machine to the user in Germany. The 3-axis machining center, which has a clamping surface of 1,321 x 508 mm and a maximum

table load of 1,800 kg combined with a 15 kW spindle up to 12,000 min- 1, an SK40 interface and a tool changer with 24 places, is now machining in Enkenbach-Alsenborn near Kaiserslautern.

“We are very pleased about the sale of the 10,000th machine, as this is an expression of the appreciation of the German market and its special significance for HURCO,” says Michael Auer, Managing Director Hurco GmbH. “We are particularly happy for owner Martin Braun, who has been a convinced HURCO machine user for years.”

Machine parks with HURCO machines

Half of the machinery in Enkenbach-Alsenborn, which currently comprises 14 machining centers, consists of HURCO machines. Production is primarily for mechanical engineering, with the 3- and 5-axis centers characterized by flexibility, machining width and convenient operation. Why does Martin Braun always choose a HURCO machine? He finds, “The machines offer a competitive advantage, and the control is ideal for us.”

 

Read the full story here.

 

Contact:
HURCO Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Alexandra Banek
Gewerbestraße 5 a
85652 Pliening
Phone +49 89 905094 29
abanek@hurco.de

Demanding applications with high cutting performance and flexibility

The “VMX50Di” 3-axis machining center is designed for demanding applications with high cutting performance and flexibility. Based on our success factors of the smaller 3-axis models, the new development for this takes the “VMX 50i” as its basis. It is designed for machining aluminum as well as for small-part machining and the production of filigree contours on larger parts.

Pliening, Germany, September 2021: The main difference to the established series is, on the one hand, the significantly faster spindle, which is also even more dynamic during startup and braking: It thus provides a power of up to 22 kW and a torque of up to 140 Nm at a maximum speed of 15,000 min-1.

The target group for the VMX 50 Di is contract manufacturers in the single-part and small-batch sectors who typically require higher speeds for their machining operations. Here, the VMX 50 Di is designed for machining aluminum as well as for small-part machining and the production of filigree contours on larger parts. Tools with small diameters can be used particularly efficiently, ideally at high speeds.

Sebastian Herr, Head of Application Technology at HURCO: “Tools with steep taper SK 40 and SK 50 are widely used by our customers. In the contract manufacturing sector, for example, the SK 40 take-up is the benchmark. The VMX 50 Di is perfectly matched to this, as it is equipped with this mount as standard.”

More Information:
https://www.hurco.eu/products/3-axis-machining-centers/

Contact:
HURCO Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH
Alexandra Banek
Gewerbestraße 5 a
85652 Pliening
Phone +49 89 905094 29
abanek@hurco.de