SORALUCE receives Red Dot Award 2016
SORALUCE FXR Milling Boring Machine has been awarded with the international distinction for high design quality after proving its design excellence in the most important international product design competition.
From a record number of 5214 participants, from 57 nations, SORALUCE FXR milling boring machine stood out and has been the winner of the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2016, being one of this year’s best of the industry.
The Red Dot jury, consisting of 41 expert independent designers, design professors and specialised journalists, discussed all entries live and on site according to the strict Red Dot statutes.
Within an overall DANOBATGROUP project, where SORALUCE is integrated and supported by DHEMEN, a company dedicated to industrial design, SORALUCE has created a new range of machines that revolutionize the market, thanks to the incorporation of a new design concept that responds to the needs of the operator with greater ergonomics and safety, something that has a direct and sine qua non influence on the success of advanced manufacturing. Aware of the vital importance of this aspect, SORALUCE has taken a radical turn in the design of its machines so that they better adapt to the needs of the operator and of the entire production process, to thus fully optimise the potential of the high-technology of the machines to supply the highest possible productivity in the solution.
When we talk about technological innovations we think on applications that improve the performance of the machines through higher speed and precision in the machining processes or through a reduction of production costs, but SORALUCE goes beyond this concepts. In accordance with its philosophy, based on the continuous improvement of its products, in the last two years this innovative manufacturer has focused its efforts on launching to the market a new generation of machines that incorporate advances never seen in this field. The SORALUCE FXR milling boring machine is an example of this revolution.
The new generation is the expression of SORALUCE’s values: reliability, precision and competitiveness. Within these concepts, customers find huge improvements in maintenance, ergonomics, high dynamics and safety in the work environment.
The New SORALUCE Generation is based on a complete revision of the machine from the user’s point of view focusing on improving operation efficiency and developing a Total Machine Concept, that takes into account the machine but also the complete working area as a whole in order to guarantee and optimal final result. All the interactions of the operator with the different machine elements are analysed for an optimal implementation and are studied to optimise from the clamping and loading of the workpiece to its removal from machine and its subsequent clearing. The environment and its processes must be linked to the machine’s own work, making all parts of the entire process as simple, safe and as ergonomic as possible.
With this new design concept, SORALUCE has added to its equipment large number of innovations not only with the aim of facilitating work and making them a safer environment, but also to simplify maintenance and to minimise stoppage time thus increasing the productivity and profitability of the machine.
The evolution taken in design makes it easier to operate and maintain the machine. SORALUCE has launched onto the market a new generation of machines which have a more ergonomic working environment and maximum protection for the operator.
IBON ROMAN, Head of Industrial Design at SORALUCE, explains “Customers have realised that the new generation of SORALUCE machines goes beyond the frontiers of production. We have a new vision of the concepts of the machine, both milling and boring machines, as well as multitasking centres or vertical lathes. We are based on the idea that different parts of the machine require a different treatment and therefore we break down the different areas of the machine: Working Area, Human Area, Maintenance Spots, Logistic Area and we define the concept of Total Machine. All of the innovations that SORALUCE incorporates to its products every year are designed to both improve the user-machine relationship and to optimise the customer’s production processes to their full potential. In fact, one thing is linked to the other, in such a way that if the operator’s safety and comfort are increased, at the same time we are increasing the efficiency of the machine and therefore its productivity. If to this we add the reliability of the solutions that SORALUCE provides – with highly contrasted experience and worldwide recognition in the field of milling heads – and the advanced automation in the change of tools that our machines offer, efficiency and profitability are fully guaranteed´.
SORALUCE New Generation, Total Machine Concept
+ Working area
+ Human area
+ Maintenance spots
+ Adaption
= TOTAL MACHINE CONCEPT
A cabin made for the operator
An example of this is the new concept of operator’s cabin in the awarded SORALUCE FXR. which includes numerous improvements such as better visibility and accessibility to the work area, an electrical elevation system that is smoother, safer and which requires less maintenance, a work area with better lighting and a desk, a foldable chair, a panel for drawings and a cabinet for special tools, or the addition of comfort elements such as better acoustic insulation, among others.
Minimum stoppage times
SORALUCE has taken into account improvements to the maintenance of the machine, rationalising the installations throughout the entire design, a centralised location of the components to be revised for a correct monitoring of the machine’s state and improved access to these areas by replacing removable panels with shutters or doors. In addition to all this we have the addition of dedicated signage with the aim of guaranteeing improved visual ergonomics in maintenance operations.
With all these improvements, SORALUCE strives for a total man-machine relationship because it understands that it is the only way to achieve maximum productivity in machining processes. The high technology in its products and the possibility of customising each one of the manufacturing solutions only reinforces the guarantee of an investment that has managed to surpass the current limits on profitability.
Enlightening technology through Soraluce’s Home of Innovation concept
SORALUCE is committed to actively listening and maintains a very close relationship with customers at all levels, whether they are the company executives, production managers or the operators.
All of this information and experience is analysed and processed at our central R&D&i department, which works in direct collaboration with IK4-IDEKO, technology centre of DANOBATGROUP, the group we both belong to, and which in turn is in contact with the international networks of universities and other research centres. IK4-IDEKO, located in the vicinity of SORALUCE, has over 120 engineers and 24 doctors, leads innovation in the sector with intensive coo-operation with 40 international research institutes and universities throughout the world and has taken part in over 50 European projects.
This is where customers’ needs find solutions that combine the theoretical concepts of scientific research with the complex reality of milling, boring and vertical turning technologies.
SORALUCE central R&D&i is a multidisciplinary team of engineers from the mechanical, electronic and applications fields. This department is responsible for product evolution, software, heads, accessories and options development. They gather all the inputs from customers and open investigation programs with our research centre IK4-IDEKO to develop the technologies that are materialised and implemented in SORALUCE products, with a close monitoring of the production process. All these new technologies are transferred to the Centre of Excellence in Limburg, BIMATEC SORALUCE, where German engineers test the machines under the most demanding circumstances. The Centre of Excellence is the SORALUCE International technology testing centre and the SORALUCE Academy site.
BIMATEC SORALUCE combines German engineering knowledge, 25 years of leading experience in the German market and the support and service for the five continents, being SORALUCE’s 2º worldwide service hub.
It has a workshop of 2000 m2 and a set of machines covering complete SORALUCE range for internal and customer’s trials, besides its own technology department where customized solutions are developed.
This is how future technology is born in SORALUCE and how SORALUCE assumes technological leadership with its Home of Innovation. Technology born from listening to the market, customers and users.
This way of workinghas led SORALUCE to become a pioneer and mark on the market: setting new standards in milling, boring and turning technologies.
The customers can be certain that when buying from SORALUCE they get the technology that they need not mention they are making the right investment, either buying a premium machine with the required customizations, or relying on SORALUCE to perform the most complex custom made projects.
This ecosystem is our Home of Innovation, which seeks to turn into a reality the technology that will become tomorrow’s new standards, and where SORALUCE invests 6.5% of its net annual turnover, committed to continue being the sector’s technological leader.
Our objective is to improve our customers’ revenue providing them with a technological advantage and real progress.
SORALUCE, wide experience
SORALUCE is the worldwide milling, boring and turning technology leader. Throughout its 50 years of history it has continuously made innovative and pioneering contributions in engineering that have become industry standards. Customers recognize SORALUCE for its expertise in milling, boring and turning solutions, always guided to improve customer’s efficiency and productivity and for its technological capacity to customize each product based in the customer’s individual needs, likewise generating turn-key projects, designing and setting up complete lines according to quality, efficiency and cost parameters required by the investor.
The European brand has extensive experience with over 2,500 machines sold, nearly half of them in Germany, a highly demanding market. It has also been determined that over the years, 80 per cent of customers have trusted its products again.
SORALUCE is part of DANOBATGROUP, machine-tool division of MONDRAGON Corporation, one of the most important holdings in Europe. With nearly twenty top-level manufacturing plants in Spain, Germany, UK and the United States. It also has its own R+D centre with 120 engineers and 24 doctors. DANOBATGROUP provides one of the most complete and solid multi-technological offer on the market. In 2015 it has achieved a turnover of about 260 million euros with a workforce of 1300, enabling it to continue with a high investment in I+ D+ i, considering to approximately 9 % of its turnover.
About the Red Dot Award:
In order to appraise the wide scope of design in a professional manner, the Red Dot Design Award is broken down into the three distinct disciplines: the Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept. The Red Dot Award is organised by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany. With more than 17,000 entries in 2015 alone, it is one of the largest competitions in the world. It was in 1955 that a jury convened for the first time to assess the best designs of the day. The name and brand of the award were developed in the 1990s by Red Dot CEO, Professor Dr. Peter Zec. Since then the sought-after “Red Dot´ is the revered international seal of outstanding design quality.
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