In January 2018, EMS Hamburg purchased a new Makino U3 Wire EDM machine to replace the existing machinery. The new Wire EDM machine is used to cut tool steel up to dimensions of 24.8” (L) X 17.71” (W) X 10” (H) to support our stamping operation’s progressive die construction and maintenance.

The Makino has significant performance improvements over our previous machine, the Agie 100C. We are achieving real world speed improvements of 10X. In addition, we are seeing surface roughness improvements in the range of 63 Ra to 16 Ra (for a 4 pass cut), which provides improved die life. With the increased speed of the new Makino machine, Hamburg has been able to utilize the spare capacity to cut tool steels for Attleboro, which was previously sent to outside subcontractors.