E-Sharp News February 2025

Did you know ANCA has been developing precision custom solutions for more than 25 years?

For over 50 years, ANCA has been at the forefront of precision grinding, continuously pushing technological boundaries with industry-first innovations. While ANCA machines are known for their versatility, no two cutting tool manufacturers are the same – each has unique challenges and production needs that can go beyond off-the-shelf solutions.

Meeting this gap, are ANCA’s Custom Solutions: a tailored process enabling customers to collaborate directly with ANCA engineering experts to develop bespoke solutions that solve specific manufacturing challenges. This approach ensures a seamless connection between standard machine capabilities and customer-specific requirements, providing solutions that maximise efficiency and output.

ANCA's Custom Solutions are driven by the need for a streamlined, structured method to respond to unique customer requests, while maintaining ANCA’s high standards. ANCA’s tried and true process makes Custom Solutions accessible and efficient, eliminating the need for third-party integrations that lack seamless compatibility with ANCA machines. Thanks to this approach, ANCA can respond rapidly, delivering precisely engineered solutions. ANCA's experience in custom collaborations results in powerful and valuable market insights that continue to drive ongoing innovation for the industry.

Customisation in action

One example of ANCA’s Custom Solutions in action is its collaboration with Swiss manufacturer Fraisa, to automate its tap production. With high labour costs in Switzerland, Fraisa needed a solution that could run unmanned for 50 hours while maintaining precision. The result was a customised TapXcell, integrating in-process measurement using a Renishaw MP250 touch probe to ensure ±0.002mm accuracy.

ANCA also developed an extended capacity turntable and integrated its RedaX remote monitoring system, enabling real-time tracking and seamless connection to Fraisa’s ERP system. This automation increased productive grinding hours from 105 to 150 per machine per week, cutting costs in half while improving efficiency. More than just a cost-saving measure, Fraisa’s workforce benefited through upskilling opportunities, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks.

Josef Maushart, CEO and President of Fraisa said: “ANCA has the capability and will to answer our specific requirements and collaborate with our teams to customise a solution fairly quickly. From previous projects I knew they had an experienced engineering team with the capabilities and capacity to take on complex challenges such as automating tap grinding.”
 
An established process sets you up for success

The success of ANCA’s Custom Solutions is built on several key factors, including:
 

• A dedicated team of engineers specialising in Custom Solutions
• A structured process to clearly define customer requirements and project scope
• Continuous collaboration with customers throughout development
• Long-term support for implemented solutions

Many innovations originally developed as Custom Solutions have since become standard ANCA offerings. These include the pop-up steady tool support system, an advanced tool cleaning solution in the RoboMate loader, and more specialised developments like grinding solutions for femoral heads and indexable inserts. All of these are high-quality solutions that come with full technical support.

Duncan Thompson, ANCA Product Manager, said: "At ANCA, we prioritise close collaboration with customers to fully understand their unique challenges. This involves conducting in-depth consultations, considering how the custom solution integrates into existing operations, and ensuring ease of use for operators without compromising machine performance. Recognising that customers may already have established processes, ANCA remains adaptable – offering improvements while maintaining a structured development framework."

While ANCA’s Custom Solutions supports customers in core markets like aerospace, automotive, and cutting tool manufacturing, it also creates opportunities to engage with customers in new applications and markets. ANCA's structured, yet flexible process for quickly accessing specialised machine capabilities, sees ANCA continuing to lead in the industry with consistent solutions that are precisely tailored to meet customer needs.
 

11 February 2025