YPSOTEC Celebrates Centenary With Tornos Multispindle

The Swiss company Ypsotec was founded in Grenchen, Switzerland in 1916 as Décolletage AG, the company focuses its activities on high-precision bar turning, just as the initial French company name ‘Décolletage’ implies. Now, as a subsidiary of the Ypsomed Group, Ypsotec specialises in manufacturing systems for the treatment of diabetes.

On its 100th anniversary, the company decided to take the next step towards the future and enter the field of multi-spindle technology, choosing a Tornos MultiSwiss 6×16. Early on, Ypsotec discovered the benefits of numerical control (CNC) technology, purchasing its first CNC machine in 1980. Since then, Ypsotec has been maintaining its technological leadership by continually investing in the constant renewal and modernisation of its production facility.

The motivation is simple, by investing the customers will benefit from an unmatched quality, cost and performance ratio. Eleven years ago, Ypsotec decided to establish a second production facility in Tábor in the Czech Republic and both sites follow the same principle. The facilities are equipped with state-of-the art machines that guarantee impeccable quality. Ypsotec Tábor primarily focuses on work that requires a higher portion of handling with operations such as milling, grinding and assembly.

Full range of services

The services offered by Ypsotec comprise much more than just the bar turning of micro parts. The company also conducts a variety of further technologies such as milling, turning on fixed-headstock lathes and turret lathes, grinding, laser welding, laser marking and assembly. Nowadays, the company’s strength lies in the fields of assembly and laser engraving. As Ypsotec’s CEO, Mr Maurice Meytre declares: “We are extremely flexible. We provide customers with turned and milled parts of the highest quality and can also perform laser engraving and laser welding tasks. In addition, we undertake the assembly of simple or even complex sub-assemblies. Ypsotec has been certified to the quality standards ISO: 9001 and ISO: 13485. We ensure our customers receive unconditional quality of the products and services rendered by us,” the CEO emphasises.

Today, only 10% of the company’s output is exclusively manufactured for Ypsomed. Over the past few years, Ypsotec has diversified its production. The company now offers various solutions for the medical industry and this includes manufacturing bone screws, sports prostheses and medical instruments. The business also targets other industrial fields such as the pneumatic, automation and even the drive engineering sectors. For customers all over the world, Ypsotec produces batches from 100 to 100,000 pieces.

Challenge met

An urgent major order for 1,300,000 pieces by one of Ypsotec’s customers brought the company to rethink its operation. First, the company managers had planned to outsource production to China for financial reasons but they understood they had to invest in new technologies to remain competitive. Ypsotec thus got the impetus to break new ground and the MultiSwiss entered the stage. Sales and Marketing manager Mr. Jürg Aegerter decided to enter into negotiations with his customer to jointly find a solution for in-house production of the parts. According to COO Piero Tschanz, the targets set were difficult to achieve with the existing single spindle lathes: “We had to increase our productivity. At the same time, we wanted to avoid structural measures such as a plant expansion. Multi-spindle technology quickly came to the fore. After an initial analysis, the Tornos MultiSwiss soon turned out to be a solution that aroused our interest.”

An obvious choice

As far as ergonomics are concerned, the machine boasts various assets. It has fully integrated peripherals, excellent access to important areas and unequalled ease of use. In addition, maintenance has been facilitated enormously. The open machining area with front access is marvellous, as the operator can literally enter the machine. To facilitate work set-ups, Ypsotec is banking on Göltenbodt quick-change tool holders that prove to be highly flexible and very easy to use.

The MultiSwiss machine is the most compact machine currently available in the market and it is easier to operate than any other machine. Ypsotec’s decision for this machine was reinforced by the excellent collaboration between the technical staff of Tornos and Ypsotec. The initial machine set-up was carried out in Moutier where the responsible Ypsotec engineers got the opportunity to make themselves familiar with the MultiSwiss machine. “To date, the machine has proved to be a reliable partner and we are fully satisfied with the result. It was very easy for our employees to get accustomed to the new technology and the significant advantages of the machine features in terms of floor space as well as tremendous productivity. The hydrostatic bearings on this machine offer distinct benefits with regards to tool life and surface finish.”

Comprehensive service

“Tornos’ service is outstanding and fully meets our expectations. The rapid response and highly professional service are guaranteed. Should any question arise, we can rest assured that we get a fast and profound answer – even where machine programming is concerned. We are very pleased with our choice and feel confident that Ypsotec will be very well positioned for the competition for many years to come with this new machine.”