DESMA PRIORTIZES AGILITY, EMPHASIZES AUTOMATION
PITTSBURGH—Desma Elastomertechnik GmbH is looking—and thinking—global.
And its newest machines, part of the S4 line, prove that.
Scott Early, CEO and president of Desma USA Inc. said the company unveiled the S4horizontal machine in Nuremberg, Germany, during the recent DKT show. The machine, designed on a global engineering platform, is unique to Desma in that variations of it can be built and made available along with components at any of the company’s sites in China, India, Slovakia, Germany and the U.S.
“That represents the first of a kind of a vision of our machine series so that we can take advantage of manufacturing efficiencies in other parts of the globe and be more flexible as a company with our machine product portfolio,” Early told Rubber News during the recent International Elastomer Conference.
“It still has a Desma sign on it, it still has the Desma DNA in it, and from a distance it looksthe same. But when you get into the minutia about where holes are drilled on the bolsterand the type of tie rods that are sourced, etc., the local market in China might have adifferent spec than the market that is in Germany.”
So far, Desma has showcased a horizontal machine, which is common in Europe. A vertical model will be made available in the U.S. soon, Early said.
For Desma, the machine series represents two things: the company’s willingness to address the global market trends and its desire to better serve customers by becoming more agile.
“It makes us more flexible to respond to customer needs. It helps us. Where the market goes, Desma can be more reactive,” Early said. “This machine series has some ergonomic and performance features that are a step ahead of what our current machines are in terms of speed of opening of the mold carrier and closing and how big a mold you can put in the machine. It is an evolution of our Desma equipment.”
A focus on automation
If you notice that Desma’s machine offerings also allow for greater automation, that isn’t a coincidence.
“That is what a lot of customers are looking to do, control their destiny better with automation,” Early said.
There are a number of reasons for that. Labor issues for one, product quality for another.
For those that are looking to automate to improve or ensure product quality, Desmamachines are designed to give them control over every step of the process.
“As the boss or production manager you can go there and monitor the process. You canmonitor the raw material coming in, you can monitor your suppliers better vs. just getting acontainer of parts in and inspecting the quality,” Early said. “We are able to do that becausewe have a really good project engineering group in the States.”
Moreover, the need—or demand—for automation is universal, according to Early.Manufacturers large and small are looking for ways to automate.
“A lot of the projects that we are doing … they are not for a high-end custom automotivecomponent,” Early said. “They are very basic things.”
Regardless of the company size or product complexity, Hebron, Ky.-based Desma team ispositioned to help customers with its know-how and support.
“We have good German, DNA roots,” Early said. “The inherent Desma machine is a good machine.”
Rubber News | October 4, 2024
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