Zimmermann's recipe for success: 'Through the financial crisis, we will be stronger!'

Zimmermann, based in Denkendorf near Stuttgart, Germany, is the world's leading manufacturer of five-axis gantry milling machines. The company is known for designing and producing high-performance gantry milling machines for the automotive, aerospace manufacturing industries and more. 'Zimmermann's sales in 2008 reached an all-time high since its establishment, completely unaffected by the financial turmoil,' said Rudolf Gaenzle, managing director of Zimmermann, in an interview with this magazine. 'Judging from the orders so far this year, , and it was not affected in any way.' What's more interesting is that the largest contribution to Zimmermann's performance in 2008 turned out to be the US market. As the starting point of this global financial turmoil, the United States is also the market that has been hit the most. Why did Zimmerman achieve excellent results in this market? Rudolf Gaenzle, Managing Director of Zimmermann, 'Zimmermann's research and development speed has always been at the forefront of international peers, and we continue to introduce innovative technologies to ensure a leading position.' Mr. Gaenzle said: 'Our gantry milling machines are widely used in automobile manufacturing. , aerospace manufacturing, shipbuilding, energy industry and other fields, machine tools are also sold all over the world, and will not be restricted by a single industry or region, which is the supporting force for us to maintain great vitality.' 'Last year, the United States was our sales force. The best performing market, the automotive market is affected by unfavorable factors, but the aviation sector has received several large orders.” In-depth research and development for the aviation market As we all know, the workpieces involved in aircraft manufacturing are complex in shape and have special requirements for clamps. All put forward stringent requirements on the machine tool. In the face of fierce market competition and huge cost pressure, aircraft production suppliers and manufacturers are forced to jointly address technical and cost challenges in order to provide customers with the perfect solution. 'Aircraft components often have their own special requirements and characteristics. Whether it's complex machined shapes, difficult-to-machine materials, or extremely high precision requirements, or just some simple but huge dimensions...all these challenges , all need to be satisfied to the greatest extent through increasingly perfect processing technology.” Mr. Gaenzle proudly said: “Zimmermann has a suitable milling machine for each of the above applications. Take the commonly used materials in the aircraft industry as an example. We can provide practical solutions for the processing of composite materials and certain sandwich structures, titanium alloys, aluminum alloys, and even honeycomb materials.” Rudolf Gaenzle said that Zimmermann’s gantry milling machines can process up to 40,000mm or more. component, which is longer than the wing of a Boeing 747. What is commendable is that it is fast and efficient at the same time, and the accuracy can reach 0.02mm. 3-axis milling head attracts attention At CIMT 2009, Zimmermann launched the newly developed 6-axis gantry CNC milling machine FZ100 equipped with 3-axis milling head M3 ABC for the first time. At the heart of the machine is the epoch-making M3 ABC milling head. With the milling machine FZ100 and the 3-axis milling head M3 ABC, 6-axis machining was successfully achieved. Not only that, it sets new standards for machining aluminum alloys, composite materials, mold mold materials, and high-speed cutting steel and cast iron with high stock removal. It can be said that this processing concept has solved the technical bottleneck encountered by the traditional 2-axis fork milling head and 5-axis simultaneous processing for a long time. Not only has the quality of the machine been improved overall, but the precision of this milling machine can also be calibrated regularly and quite easily, allowing it to last for many years without sacrificing efficiency. According to reports, the new 3-axis milling head can increase the processing efficiency by 4 times. In addition, the FZ100 adopts the VCS-5ax stereo compensation system of the latest generation 840D system of Siemens, which makes the geometric accuracy error of the machine tool fully compensated for the first time. 'In order to develop the M3 ABC milling head, our company has established a wholly-owned subsidiary, GIMBAL, as the company's Ru0026D center.' Mr. Gaenzle said, 'In 2009, Zimmermann will continue to expand the research and development of new milling head projects. , and launched a new generation of 2-axis milling heads, and through the research and development of milling heads in our company, we can design and manufacture more ideal model solutions for users, and better provide customers with diversified and tailored technologies. Support.' He further emphasized: 'We can provide customers with rapid service, including remote diagnosis and 7 × 24-hour telephone service.' The Chinese market is of strategic importance. Speaking of the impact of the financial crisis on the future market, Rudolf Gaenzle said: ' We can already feel the impact of some unfavorable factors. It is expected that the US market will be affected to some extent, and all three giants of the auto industry are facing difficulties. In the aviation industry, Boeing's order delay may also cause a knock-on effect. In contrast, although China's GDP growth rate has been lowered compared to previous years, the 4 trillion yuan investment policy and other economic revitalization policies implemented by the Chinese government are undoubtedly quite beneficial to economic development.' 'We are quite optimistic about the growth of the Chinese market. There are huge opportunities, such as the large aircraft project launched in China,” Mr. Gaenzle revealed that Zimmermann had begun to cooperate with China Aviation Technology last year and became the latter’s strategic partner in the field of gantry milling machines. He further concluded: 'Actually, Zimmermann is still full of confidence in the global market in 2009. After many economic crises, our formula for success is: through the crisis, we will be stronger. I believe that with the diversification of products and leading technology, we will be able to seize the opportunity and continue to develop during the economic transition period. Although the current global auto market is in a low