Manufacturers of threading tools are rare, especially in Europe – strong competition from low-wage countries has made business unprofitable for many producers. One exception is Johannes Boss (JBO). This company, based in Albstadt in Germany, is one of the world's leading suppliers of precision tools for thread production and inspection thanks to its exceptional quality and precision, as well as its innovative strength and customer focus. Probes from Blum-Novotest play an important role in the automated and extremely precise JBO tool production process.

As early as the late 1950s, JBO became interested in efficient production processes and set up an automation department. To this day, the linear and rotary units that resulted from this decision are an integral part of the sales range. Of course, work continues in Albstadt with the aim of optimising precision and efficiency in production. “These two factors are closely related. For instance, we used to have to stop the processing machine after about ten to fifteen parts had been produced because the material was extremely unruly. Then we had to measure the parts and, if necessary, adjust the processing parameters”, recalls Process Engineer Markus Beisel. “Since one operator supervises several machines, they were often shut down for a while before measurement was possible due to a shortage of staff. This resulted in an average production and measurement interval of about 30 minutes, which of course greatly reduces production efficiency.”