SPK® Engineering Team
Sudden lapses in service life for otherwise reliable cutting tools are often difficult to explain and threaten users and metal machining companies with serious production issues. The CeramTec SPK® Engineering Team can help, not only in severe cases but also with any questions users may have about machining applications.
When a cutting tool does not work as expected, the machining process does not deliver the desired results in terms of tool life, service life or quality, when production quantities are too small due to inadequate cutting parameters and existing production capacities thus reach their limits, it’s time to contact one or more of the members of the CeramTec SPK® Engineering Team. Depending on the requirements, the team may comprise field service technicians, process and design engineers. To quickly assist customers in cases such as these, the team members are located in the key financial hubs around the globe, core European countries, in the US, Mexico, India and China, and in CeramTec’s own regional branch offices located strategically throughout the world.
An integrated View of the Machining Process
When it comes to solving machining tasks, the first contact is a well-trained field service technician, who assesses the situation on site. These technicians have extensive practical expertise, enabling them to resolve most machining issues on the spot. For more complex usage scenarios, technicians can request the help of one of the SPK® Engineering Team’s process engineers.
Process engineers first investigate the cause of the problem in order to filter out the actual machining task at hand from the wide range of possible issues. Standard tasks include reviewing the cutting parameters, inspecting the blade, learning more about the positioning of the workpiece and checking the cut allocation. If it is still not possible to hone in on the problem, additional tests can be performed ranging from an analysis of the component material or a detailed inspection of the cutting machine.
When it comes to machining new components, for example in OEM projects or when restructuring existing machining processes, the SPK® Engineering Team can offer crucial support right from the start. As a reliable partner, the team performs many of the necessary tasks independently or offers its expert assistance. The spectrum of tasks ranges from defining cutting materials and determining cutting geometries to drafting processing plans, time and profitability calculations all the way to designing special tools and clarifying the positioning of the workpiece.
Market Advantages through process-reliable Machining Solutions
In many cases, the CeramTec SPK® Engineering Team’s work closes the productivity gap found in existing machining processes when their investigation began. The result is a significant reduction in processing costs per part on the one hand, while the SPK® Engineering Team is able to ensure the component quality customers demand in a process-reliable way on the other.
The team’s work ensures new design specifications and OEM projects are economical right from the very first cut. The CeramTec SPK® Engineering Team specializes in delivering technologically and economically optimized cutting results in all of its projects in order to provide customers the cost and quality advantages they expect.
