A 20-year partnership - precision right from the start

REACHING A TURNING POINT THANKS TO OTEC PRÄZISIONSFINISH

Volker Hensel and his former employer experienced a real turning point back in 2003 when they started using OTEC’s CF disc finishing machine, which reduced their valve spring processing times by 96%. Volker and his business partner Horst Blank then opted for OTEC’s technology expertise when they founded their company four years later.

Volker Hensel talks to us about what makes his company’s over 20-year partnership with OTEC so special from a personal and business perspective.

Volker, tell us about your company’s development and what role OTEC has played in it.
“OTEC were hugely supportive right from the very beginning. Helmut Gegenheimer and his team provided us with good-quality, second-hand machines to help us get our mass finishing contracting business off the ground and gave us in-valuable process development guidance. We are still collaborating on joint research and development projects to this day. We are extremely grateful to OTEC for everything they’ve done. An inquiry we received from a leading German manufacturer of costume jewellery was a watershed moment in our company’s development. They wanted us to rework their stainless steel discs manufactured in China.

With support from OTEC, we swiftly devised a process recipe designed to meet the necessary quality criteria. The customer was so impressed with the endresult that we were tasked with the entire manufacturing process for the discs. Ever since then, we have specialised in manufacturing mirror-polished stainless steel punched parts.”

Would you say that Hensel & Blank has grown alongside OTEC?
“Looking back, it’s clear that we definitely have. Our valued expertise as a trusted mass finishing contractor can be traced back to our collaboration with OTEC. We have solved lots of process definition challenges together with OTEC experts on so many occasions over the years. Without this support and knowledge transfer, we certainly wouldn’t be where we are today.”

In your experience, are there surface refinements that OTEC disc finishing machines are particularly suited to?
“OTEC disc finishing machines are perfect for small and micro parts with exacting surface and edge geometry require-ments. The machines and accompanying processes enable us to achieve just about any target roughness cost-effectively.” 

What would you say are the advantages of OTEC machines and processes?
“OTEC CF disc finishing machines deliver rapid, high-quality processing results as well as great flexibility. This means we can process even small batches for our customers economically. Our programmed process recipes ensure a wide range of workpieces and components can be processed to a consistently high-quality even with different operators.

What’s more, our operations are not held back by issues with wear parts: our employees can quickly and easily replace them. The machines are also intuitive to operate, meaning new recruits can be trained in no time.

Using OTEC’s DF-Series drag finishing machines, we specialised primarily in the preparation of cutting edges for punches and dies for stamping tools. Our finishing processes increase tool service life by up to 500%.”

Volker, what do you think makes your collaboration distinctive – what do you value about OTEC Präzisionsfinish?
“Our long-standing collaboration in process definition and sample processing has been exceptional. I would like to thank Walfried Wölk and Mauro Ferdinandi specifically. The two men have extensive experience and a keen interest in our processing tasks and challenges.

OTEC is always more than willing to find custom solutions when modifying recipes or machine programming, and we can always rely on quick response times when purchasing spare parts and abrasives.”

Thanks for your very interesting perspectives, Volker. We wish you all the best.

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