To be successful in the district of Tuttlingen, the centre of medical technology with the manufacture of orthopaedic instruments, bone screws and implants, you have to deliver exceptional performance. HIPP medical AG has quickly developed into an efficient partner and technological pioneer in this demanding environment. In order to fulfil its high production requirements, the company commissioned the first FLUIDLYNX NEATOIL BOX a year ago.
The HIPP Technology Group is characterised by constant innovation and the courage to try new things. Founded in 1993 by Markus HIPP in his parents' garage, HIPP Präzisionstechnik quickly became an established name in precision manufacturing. In 2008, HIPP medical AG was founded to specialise in cutting tools such as bone drills, instruments and implants for the dental sector.
All implants and orthopaedic instruments are manufactured specifically to customer requirements with a very high level of vertical integration and extreme precision. The company sees itself first and foremost as a strategic partner to its customers. It accompanies them from the initial idea, through ongoing development with tests and laboratory analyses, to production. Bone drills, thread taps, self-tapping screws and drill wires are precisely matched to the breaking forces, torque and heat development that occur. The decisive factor here is the design of the cutting edges. The best possible geometries are tested on the drilling tools using the finest sensor technology. Only titanium and medical stainless steel are machined. In the last five years, over 6000 different products have been produced in batches of between 1 and 1000 parts.
As the production capacities at the Kolbingen site were no longer sufficient, the new plant in Renquishausen was opened in 2022. The term ‘factory of the future’ really applies here. The plant surpasses many clinics in terms of ambience and cleanliness, the processes are optimised down to the last detail and the state-of-the-art, fully automated machinery ensures production technology with 100% quality control. The building also houses the design department, clean room production, automated measurement technology and component assembly.
Ralf Gfrörer, Head of Machining at HIPP medical, uses the latest generation of CNC multi-spindle and sliding headstock automatic lathes, fully automated milling centres as well as eroding and grinding machines. Fluid management was also analysed in detail during the move. HIPP medical uses only grinding oil to cool and lubricate all machines. This makes sense, as complete sterility and cleanliness are a must. The water in cooling lubricant emulsions harbours the risk of bacteria and fungi forming. These in turn can adhere to the workpieces, which requires intensive cleaning processes. Another aspect is sustainability: the cutting oil is recycled again and again and was even taken with us when we moved from Kolbingen to Renquishausen. This gave rise to the idea of automating the refilling, checking, filtering and reprocessing - HIPP medical turned to MOTOREX, its long-standing partner in the cutting oil sector.
Three years ago, MOTOREX, the Swiss technology leader in fluid management, developed FLUIDLYNX, a system that automatically monitors and controls water-soluble cooling lubricants. This system has proved to be extremely successful and is in widespread use. The technologists then developed FLUIDLYNX NEATOIL BOX for cutting oil, to which up to twelve machines can be connected. HIPP medical was the first customer in Germany to utilise this system. A year ago, six fully automated Fanuc Robodrill milling centres were connected to the NEATOIL BOX. The box, equipped with numerous sensors, controls the machines in programmable bypass cycles. The oil is sucked into the box with a vacuum pump and filtered to 3µm. At the same time, the box measures temperature, viscosity, quantity, particle condition and fill level. Oil is automatically added as required. The system works very reliably and is virtually maintenance-free; it is sufficient to clean the ultra-fine filter every two months and replace the oil drums as required.
After one year, Ralf Gfrörer sees numerous advantages in the system: ´12,000 to 14,000 litres of cutting oil circulate in our machining operations. The box extends the service life of the oil, reduces disposal costs and improves our chip management. Our employees are freed from ‘tedious’ tasks and can concentrate on the essentials.’ In the past, gut instinct and experience determined the quality of the cutting oil, but now the dashboard displays all relevant information such as fill level, temperature and particle composition for each machine. In future, this data will also be available via app. MOTOREX service technicians can already access the box remotely and install software updates, for example. FLUIDLYNX NEATOIL BOX has set another benchmark in metal cutting.
Die 1993 von Markus Hipp gegründete HIPP Präzisionstechnik wurde schnell ein starker Partner in Medizintechnik, Luft- und Raumfahrt sowie Automobilindustrie. Um das Angebot auf die Medizintechnik auszurichten, wurde 2008 die HIPP medical AG gegründet. 2019 legte der Einstieg der Schweizer Beteiligungsgesellschaft Kontivia in die HIPP Gruppe in Deutschland den Grundstein für weiteres Wachstum. Die neu gegründete HIPP Technology Group AG (Zürich/CH) umfasst HIPP medical AG, HIPP Präzisionstechnik GmbH, Wymed AG und MK Medical GmbH & Co. KG.
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