A Taste of Brazil

This version of the TND 200 CNC universal automatic lathe from Ergomat was indroduced at FEIMAFE. It is the first of this series to feature live tools.

Taurus Wotan, an offshoot of a German machine tool builder, displayed its Cutmax 2PT that has a central location for sensors so that only one Ethernet cable is required to deliver sensor feedback to the Siemens control.

Mello, a Brazilian manufacturer of grinding equipment, offers its UNS-2 universal NC grinding machine for shops looking for a machine with capabilities that fall between full CNC and conventional models.

Zema, another Brazilian maker of grinding equipment, offers machines that have hydrostatic ways on all axes.

The FEIMAFE show included a “Thematic Island” that highlighted the importance of machining and skills training. Visitors could follow technological development and machine training from three eras. This period depicts a shop as it would have looked in 1942. Machines were restored by SENAI students.

Here’s what a typical shop would have looked like in the 1961 to 1985 period...

...while this section represents today's advanced machining, software and communications capabilities.

One portion of the SENAI vocational school in Brazil is dedicated to machine tool operator training. The confidence in the level of training provided is demonstrated by this 19-year-old student who is working with an advanced five-axis machine that is...

…one of the 10 CNC machines at the facility.

SENAI has a variety of vocational school subjects, medical, dental, IT, electrical and automotive repair (shown here). It focuses on integrating quality equipment and keeping class sizes small.

Romi is the leading Brazilian manufacturer of machine tools and plastic injection and blow-molding machines, has an integrated approach to manufacturing. It even has its own foundry creating castings for its machines and other applications. Since 2008, it has adopted the Lean Six Sigma methodology, seeking permanent quality and process improvements by maximizing cost efficiency and reducing non-conformity and waste. This image shows assembly of horizontal CNC turning centers using a sliding device for movement of the machines during the process in order to reduce time and provide better flow of material.

Made by Romi under license of Italy’s Iso Autoveicoli, the Romi-Isetta was the first car produced in Brazil. Approximately 3,000 of these compact cars were made from 1956 to 1961. This one is located in Romi’s Brazilian headquarters. Standing next to the car is company leader André Luís Romi (left) and Mario Knoll, international sales manager.

Here’s a shot of what Andreas Meister, Ergomat’s president and CEO, calls “Hardinge Avenue” at his company’s facility in Sao Paulo. The dual-pallet machines enable setups to be performed on one pallet while the machine cuts parts on the other pallet.

Ergomat still produces A25 cam-actuated multi-slide lathes…

…that are essentially the same as what Hermann Traub developed in 1935.

Heller’s manufacturing facility in Sao Paulo features advanced machining equipment such as this Multitec by Waldrich that can hold 5 microns of straightness over 2 meters.