Page 17 - MetalForming magazine • December 2022

Servo-Press
Capabilities
PROMOTE PROMPT PROTOTYPING
Weiss-Aug’s medical-device and pharmaceutical-industry customers look to the firm to develop new methods to help speed their time to market. And, at the same time the firm must stamp parts to machined tolerances. Aiding it in its mission to quicken its pace of prototyping and product development: a pair of 60-ton servomechanical presses.
BY BRAD F. KUVIN, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
When we last toured the East Hanover, NJ, metal forming operations of Weiss-Aug Co., in mid-2021, we noted how impressed we were with the high volume of tiny, intricate and yet incredibly critical medical parts it produces. Learning how it manufactures components for the world’s leading medical/surgical- equipment manufacturers and phar-
maceutical companies, and preparing to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2022, we gained insight into how the company also had recently invested in press technology to take on larger med- ical parts, as well as earn new work for the automotive industry.
However, make no mistake—small, precise and intricate stamping lies at the heart of Weiss-Aug and the firm continues to invest in state-of-the-art manufacturing technology that allows it to remain a leader in this field. That follows the philosophy explained to me by Dieter Weissenrieder, Weiss-Aug co-founder/CEO:
“I believe that we’re much better served as a company and as a reliable partner by adhering to the philosophy: Don’t fight the equipment—invest in the newest and best equipment and if you have to fight something, fight the tooling.”
“We’re a high-technology company,” Weiss-Aug executive vice president Eliz- abeth Weissenrieder-Bennis (Dieter’s daughter) added, “focused on engineer- ing and advanced product develop- ment. A lot of our parts started out as machined components, so we’re often stamping to machined tolerances.”
In its efforts to remain a leader in providing intricate, precision-stamped medical/surgical parts and assemblies, the firm has invested mightily in its prototyping operations, to enhance its
flexibility and to decrease turnaround times for customers. Those investments include a state-of-the-art laser lab for developing custom sheet metal blanks, a robust metrology lab and two 60-ton servo presses—Komatsu HIF-60 mod- els equipped with a host of features that make the presses a perfect fit for Weiss-Aug’s work. Again, this builds off of Weissenrieder’s philosophy.
“Our medical-device and pharma- ceutical-industry customers look to us to develop new methods to help speed their time to market, and to provide product development and prototyp- ing,” he told me. “That requires us to operate, as I like to say, hanging over the edge a little bit. We push ourselves to take on new challenges and grow the company in ways that most other metal stamping companies would not, but that’s what has led to our growth and success for the last 50 years, and what will keep it going.”
The State of the Surgical- Instrument Market
Manufacturing surgical instruments requires the constant development of new products that add function during surgeries, but also products that sur- geons will find easy to use. Weiss-Aug customers in this arena want to present to surgeons new prototype products for feasibility testing, and then be able to react quickly to feedback from the
14 MetalForming/December 2022
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