Zayer and Tekniker reaffirm their joint approach in terms of machine tools

Although the COVID-19 pandemic is posing many major uncertainties, our economies and our societies are still progressing thanks to a robust industrial fabric and to the fact that a valuable collaboration exists between companies and technology centres. It is in this particular context that Zayer, one of our leading machine tool companies, and the Tekniker technology centre, a member of the Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), have today reaffirmed their joint efforts geared towards boosting R&D&I actions in the field of machine tools at the technology centre’s facilities in Eibar. Another goal is focused on helping to reactivate the economy of the industry.

This collaborative effort began in 1994 with a first joint project that was gradually reinforced over the years thanks to a number of outstanding actions until 2014, a decisive year for Zayer as it was then that the organisation signed on as a collaborative company of the technology centre. This did not only make it easier to coordinate R&D strategies and activities, but also maximised results and reinforced a relationship that has proved to be stable and productive over the years.

In this respect, both organisations recently signed a collaborative agreement to make available a high-performance Arion G machine, winner of the BIEMH 2018 award to innovation. The unit in question is a multi-functional, connected, versatile, accurate and easy-to-maintain machining centre.

In the course of today’s event, moreover, Zayer and Tekniker disclosed the projects they are currently working on together and for which the loan of the Arion G machine is going to be vital as it provides real operating environments and delivers results that it will be possible to transfer to the market quickly. In this regard, Iñigo Perez López, Zayer´s general director, has made a very positive assessment of the collaboration set up by both organizations by pointing out that the model chosen has allowed us to develop solutions that are very closely linked to the market´s requirements, with a much better follow-up and involvement of all the people that have carried out the projects and for which the machine made available by Zayer to Tekniker has been used.

A consolidated collaboration

Zayer and Tekniker usually collaborate in areas related to checking designs with finite elements and experimental actions for which Zayer machines have been used. Thanks to the Arion G machine currently up and running at Tekniker’s facilities it will be possible to address forward-looking projects that will not only widen market prospects for Zayer but also further the degree of maturity achieved in terms of the technology delivered by Tekniker, thus shortening time-to-market for products. In this regard, both companies have set the goal of developing projects that are innovative and competitive on an international scale and will serve to place the Basque industry at the forefront.

This connected and smart machine supplied by Zayer forms part of a joint project funded by CDTI that will end in 2021. It is focused on developing new multi-process capabilities to perform as many operations as possible on a single machine, guaranteeing quality by preventing process vibrations and increasing availability by knowing a machine’s real condition; i.e., actions that are vital to advance in terms of maintenance 4.0 and product quality.

This project is connected to another one that finished recently in which both organisations collaborated to improve machine accuracy based on a far more accurate laser-assisted assembly. Consequently, highly innovative measurement and monitoring tools were used. In this regard, laser assisted assemblies are executed quicker and more accurately. In fact, Tekiniker’s high degree of specialisation in terms of laser and metrology processes has been crucial to achieve this particular goal.

Regarding Zayer

Zayer is a high-tech machine tool company with more than 70 years of experience in the development of very large milling machines and machining centres. It has always offered its customers the very best of its entrepreneurial spirit and innovative capabilities. The organisation joined forces with Tekniker as a collaborative company in 2014.

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