MAG Acquires Samputensili

MAG has acquired the gear hobbing and chamfering/deburring product line of Samputensili GmbH in Chemnitz, Germany, as part of a broader alliance between the two companies.

Samputensili is a producer of gear and screw manufacturing equipment, owned by the company SAMP out of Bentivoglio, Italy, near Bologna.

 According to MAG, the acquired company will be renamed "MAG Modul Verzahntechnik, GmbH." This business will include the gear-cutting portfolio, as well as the functionality, services and know-how for hobbing. The operations will remain in Chemnitz to take advantage of the technological expertise and experienced production workers there.

In the future Samputensili will focus on gear tools, gear grinding machines, as well as multi-purpose manufacturing centers for gears and screw-type workpieces.

In North America, Star SU LLC will continue as the sales and service organization for all gear manufacturing products as produced by MAG and Samputensili.

MAG and Samputensili have also formed a partnership to coordinate sales, application expertise and service operations for their joint gear manufacturing products. The agreement includes a product development plan for a new generation of gear machining centers to combine manufacturing processes in integrated systems.

Markus Grob, President MAG Europe, explained this move as part of a trend toward integrated solutions: "Both partners will benefit by expanding their range of offerings, allowing them to jointly open up new growth opportunities. This strategic alliance represents an important step forward for MAG's core business strategy by enlarging the portfolio and integrating complementary technology into its existing machine lines. Our ability to integrate turning and hobbing operations in a single machine will bring customers considerable savings in cycle time, setup and part handling."

Antonio Maccaferri, Chairman of the Board of the SAMP Group endorses the decision for the strategic partnership: "Samputensili and MAG complement each other in the best possible way, bringing together expertise in various manufacturing fields. Above all, we do not just move with the latest market developments in gear manufacturing – we are also able to set new trends which will change the way gears are made in the future. MAG and Samputensili are able to provide unique solutions in the gear manufacturing sector, including all processes from the soft blank to the finished gear."

New technology already being exhibited
MAG and Samputensili have already exhibited turning centers that incorporate the new hobbing technology at both IMTS 2010 and at the AMB machine tool expo in Germany. At IMTS, MAG and Samputensili introduced integrated gear hobbing capability for vertical turning centers (VTC) in table sizes one to eight meters. At AMB, MAG exhibited a configuration of its VDM 1000 that incorporated hobbing capability for workpiece sizes up to 1,150mm diameter and 1,000mm height. The VDM machine is offered with 5-axis and multi-spindle options, as well as B- and Y-axis variants, with driven tools, milling spindles, tool changing and workpiece automation options. The Y-axis hobbing unit is a new option and works with the B-axis bi-directional turn/mill spindle to provide complete machining capabilities for gears. Functionality and operator interfaces based on Samputensili software are integrated into the turning center’s control, so programming hobbing operations is simple and intuitive. A multi-tasking turning center was also introduced at AMB for complete machining of gears including turning, drilling, milling, tapping and hobbing.