Published 8/1/2019

Machine Tool Builder Stresses New Strategies for Serving Moldmaking Customers

A new facility, new compact CNC and new customer service strategy for moldmaking customers is celebrated at Zimmermann open house.

Edited by: MMT Editorial Team

Zimmermann Inc. hosted its first open house event last week at its newly constructed U.S. headquarters in Wixom, Michigan. The purpose was to demonstrate the FZ33 Compact milling machine, the latest of its Compact Series available for the moldmaking industry. Ideal for machining aluminum and other light materials, including composites, the Gantry-style FZ33c has a compact footprint but generous capacity.

Zimmermann’s theme for its open house was The Hall of Champions, sending the message to guests and customers that Zimmermann machines are built for champions by champions, and they are supported by the champion supplier partners noted in the signage.

A live demonstration of the Zimmermann FZ33 Compact milling machine was conducted throughout the open house event. Here, screens show a rendering of the toolpaths programmed using Tebis America Inc. CAD/CAM software as the machine actually performs its operations using a Zimmermann VH30 milling head.

A Heidenhain 640 Series control was featured on the FZ33 Compact at the open house, but customers have the option to purchase a Siemens 840 control instead.

A wall graphic displays the latest models of milling machines offered by Zimmermann, including gantry styles and the FZH400 horizontal machining center, as well as corresponding milling heads for each model. For the FZ33c, customers have the option to purchase the VH20 or VH30 milling head. Zimmermann manufactures its own milling heads and has since 2007.

As part of its Hall of Champions theme, Zimmermann featured sporting trophies that were machined on its FZ33c. Here, an aluminum soccer trophy was designed to provide guests with an example of the multiple surface finishes that can be achieved on the milling machine. The company also had an American football trophy displayed and was finish machining a golf trophy during the open house event.

While guests waited to see the finished golf trophy being machined on the FZ33c, they perused tabletop exhibits of products and services from Zimmermann supplier partners. Here, Haimer USA provides a look at tool holders and tooling technology offered to help customers get the speeds and feeds they desire with optimal tolerances required. Visitors were also welcome to “adopt” Haimer’s fuzzy, yodeling mascot, the marmot.

How often does anyone get to see the inner workings of a CNC milling machine’s spindle? Weiss GMBH, a Siemens Company, was represented by team members from its spindle service division. A spindle similar to this one was installed on the FZ33c, they said. Imagine the precision that goes into the manufacture of these spindles, and yet most users see only the very end of it (shown on the left end here) while the rest is installed deep into the CNC machine’s milling head.

Mapal Inc. displayed a selection of its cutting tools for 3D milling, including Impeller Special tools and Titanium tools, during the Zimmermann open house.

This FZ30 Gantry style milling machine was also located inside Zimmermann’s Wixom, Michigan, showroom. It was built in 1998 and features a Heidenhain control. The machine is being refurbished and is for sale, according to Zimmermann.

It is easy to see how machine tool designs have evolved over the last 20+ years, especially when you can look at them under one roof. The 1998 Zimmermann FZ30 is at left and the new FZ33 Compact is on the right (as if I had to call it out).

At last, the golf trophy that was being machined during the Zimmermann open house is finished and being carefully removed by a team member from the FZ33c.

A closeup view of the newly machined golf trophy as it sits on a work holding pallet on the floor of the FZ33c milling machine, which was featured during the Zimmermann open house last week.

Geared for Growth

According to Lena Kiesel, marketing manager, this event’s purpose was intended to not only introduce customers to the FZ33c, but to let them know that the newly-constructed 13,200-square-foot Wixom facility now features a showroom, offices and a warehouse stocked with items like standard spindles, cables, milling heads (which Zimmermann has manufactured in-house since 2009) and other critical replacement parts. “For many years we had an office building here with a small team of representatives, but we decided it was time to expand and in December 2016 we opened this new facility,” Kiesel says. “We want to provide our U.S. customers with more accessibility to not only spare parts, if needed, but technical support and maintenance services.”

While Zimmermann can do some spindle repair work in-house at the Wixom facility, much of the repair work is still done in Germany, so the company has spares of specific, critical parts and offers an exchange program to customers to help them keep their machines running while repairs are being done.

According to Cornelius Kiesel, president of Zimmermann USA, the company currently has 15 of its Compact line machines running in U.S. customer facilities, and demand is increasing. With a growing team of support specialists across the country, Zimmermann is positioning itself to react quickly when customers call. Wixom is the U.S. headquarters, but the company also has technical sales and service representatives in Los Angeles, California, Mexico and Wichita, Kansas, in addition to three permanent subcontractors.

Compact Footprint, Large Capacity

The FZ33c is an ideal fit for mold manufacturers who machine a lot of aluminum, whether for prototyping or production molds for automotive, for example. “The FZ33 Compact is recommended for the aluminum applications and smaller workpieces,” Dominik Kohlschmidt, service engineer, says. Other materials that can be machined on the FZ33c include Styrofoam, carbon fiber and other composite materials. In certain applications, steel can be machined but only for very small stepovers or finishing. For high-speed hard milling the FZ40 is recommended. “The FZ40 Compact is what we call the big sister to the FZ33 because with steel or Titanium you need a heavier spindle, larger-sized toolholders, and so on, which we offer. The overall idea behind the Compact series is to give the customer more productivity in a smaller footprint. Every square foot of equipment space is money. We try to help the customer save on space but also get the most out of the space they are using with our machines.”

Kohlschmidt says the FZ33c features the recently introduced Heidenhain 640 Series control, but customers may also choose a Siemens 840 control from its Solution Line series. “That is the big choice with the Compact line of machines. You can choose the control, you can choose the milling head (for the FZ33c, choose the dynamic two-axis VH20 or VH30) and you can choose the size on the Y-axis,” he says. He adds that an added benefit of the Compact series is the installation time, which typically takes only four to five weeks, plus there is no need to pour a foundation. “We are also proud that we build our own milling heads so that we can offer our customers one solution. They do have a choice of spindles, though, and that includes Siemens Weiss or Fischer brand spindles.”

In addition to Heidenhein, Siemens, Weiss (A Siemens Company) and Fischer, other partner suppliers for Zimmermann machines participated at the open house, including Tebis America, Mapal, Haimer USA, Unisorb, Keller USA Inc. and Zoller. Lena Kiesel says that the theme of the open house, “The Hall of Champions,” represents the close partnerships Zimmermann maintains with each of these companies for their benefit and their customers’ as well. “We made champions the theme because the machines are made for champions; we made them, so our employees are champions; the machines are champion quality and all of our partners are champions as well,” she explains. Further supporting its theme were displays of sporting trophies that were made on Zimmermann machines. An aluminum golf ball trophy that was rough machined earlier and was being finish-machined in the FZ33c during the open house.

I asked whether the FZ40c was larger than the FZ33c, but Kohlschmidt says they are comparable. “The FZ40 is just stronger,” he says. “It has the same working area (X-axis is 98 inches, Y-axis is 118 inches and Z-axis is 49 inches). We are only trying to give customers who cut aluminum or lighter materials the option to purchase the FZ33c. Customers who want to cut both aluminum and steel will choose the FZ40c.” He says the table size and side walls are a little bit bigger on the FZ40, plus it is heavier, so it has the rigidity required to do heavier work.

Check out the slide show, above, to see more highlights about the FZ33c and the Zimmermann open house event.