Successful house show in Meppen

Metalworking Europe gathered in Meppen on November 8 and 9. Hedelius can look back on a particularly successful house show. During those two days, the German machine tool manufacturer, together with numerous distributors and dealers, was able to greet more than 400 visitors from numerous metalworking companies from all over Europe.

There was also great interest among visitors in the Tiltenta 9, which was launched earlier this year.

Promas - which represents Hedelius in both Belgium and the Netherlands - also received several customers in northern Germany. Metaalvak took a tour of the exhibition floor with Nikolaj Opstoel, who signs for the distributor's sales in Belgium.

Danny Verstreepen (center) of the eponymous Atelier from Onze-Lieve-Vrouwe Waveren had traveled to Meppen with operators Jamie Laruelle and Sven Smits.

Compact surface
First station we stop at is of course the Acura 85 as Hedelius' first in Meppen. "The big advantage of the Acura as a milling machine is that it has a moving column and a fixed table that can pivot," Opstoel quips. "The big advantage is that you have a relatively large working range in a relatively compact area. As a result, the footprint of the machine is very small compared to other makes and models. The advantage of a fixed table is also that you always have your tools within easy reach and you don't have to keep moving the magazine with the table."

Service director Carlo van de Laar (right) and sales representative Alex de Gelder of Promas (left) on the show floor in animated conversation.

Swinging milling head
Also interesting to see was an automated version of the Acura 65. And that particularly related to pallet transport. But of course there was also room for Hedelius' other machine types. Like the Tiltenta. This type of machining machine has a single swivel head, but the machining area can be split with a partition wall giving you two separate machining areas. While you are milling in one machining area, the operator can load and unload in the other. But you can also choose to machine one, longer object, making the Tiltenta a very flexible machining center. Special attention from the trade audience at the house show was paid to the Tiltenta T9, which was launched at the beginning of this year. Again based on a range of smaller formats including the Tiltenta 6 and 7. The Tiltenta 9 is a five-axis swivel head machine that operates on the proven concept of a spindle and integrated rotary table. The table itself has a diameter of 950 millimeters and a working range of 1,250 mm. "This, like the smaller variants, always has a welded rather than cast construction and thus has great rigidity and precision," Opstoel said. "The moving column and also the slides on which it is pushed back and forth are 'very heavily' cast. All this makes it a stable machine. With all parts 'Made in Germany. The machine is put away at mold manufacturers, suppliers and machine builders as well as construction companies."

Also on display at the house show was an automated Acura 65 with automatic pallet loading.

Innovation Rain
There was a lot to see at Hedelius anyway because the manufacturer had certainly not been idle in 2018. Hedelius greatly expanded its portfolio of both large, flexible processing centers and small, compact milling machines. Several new machines were launched in the three-axis and five-axis ranges. Apart from the new types Tiltenta 9-3600 and 9-4600 in the five-axis range, in the three-axis range the Forte 65 Single was expanded with a smaller variant, the Forte 65 Single 700. In addition, a Forte 6-2300, a Forte 9-2600 and a Forte 9-3600 were added to the machine portfolio. In addition to the attractively decorated exhibition floor, visitors were able to take a look at production and there was an interesting seminar program. The mood at Hedelius was high because in October it had already achieved the same turnover as for the whole of 2017. In addition, a new, 1,500-square-meter hall for the storage of casting and steel parts should be ready by the end of this year, construction of which began in the spring.     

Benelux dealer
As a dealer in the Netherlands and Belgium, Promas has the cheaper Taiwanese brand Hartford in its portfolio as well as CMZ lathes in addition to high-end brand Hedelius. Since its inception in 2000 by Richard Hermans and Carlo van de Laar - commercial and service director respectively - the company has now grown to 25 employees. In Belgium, the company has now been on the market for five years. Including used machines, Promas has sold some 250 to 300 machines in both countries. Promas places a high priority on service. Of the 25 staff, as many as 13 are on the road as service technicians.

Text and image: Erik Kruisselbrink
Featured image: Nikolaj Opstoel (sales Belgium Promas) and CEO Dennis Hempelmann of Hedelius greet each other in front of the new Acura 85.