Electronic component manufacturers achieve the productivity and part quality essential to staying on pace with increased consumer uptake of electronics with GF Machining Solutions’ new AgieCharmilles FORM S 350 die-sinking electrical discharge machining (EDM) solution.
From information and communications technology (ICT) to automotive, we live in an increasingly connected world, where electronics’ artificial intelligence is becoming smarter and making life more efficient and comfortable. The evolution of this intelligence depends on electronic components performing better and at a price that is acceptable to the market. With the AgieCharmilles FORM S 350, electronic component manufacturers can easily and with extreme repeatability deliver perfect machining accuracy to satisfy their ICT and automotive customers’ demand.
Thanks to AgieCharmilles FORM S 350’s state-of-the-art design with breakthrough generator technology, accuracy-enhancing stability, thermostabilization and productivity-boosting machining quality, customers in electronic component manufacturing easily meet their ICT and automotive customers’ stringent quality requirements.
Breakthrough generator technology
One key to AgieCharmilles FORM S 350’s ability to drive customers’ success is its latest-generation Intelligent Power Generator (IPG), conceived especially for superfinishing and precision applications. The IPG represents a breakthrough over standard EDM by overcoming historic process challenges when using copper electrodes, including electrode wear induced by electrical discharge multiple reopening. As a result of groundbreaking work by GF Machining Solutions’ EDM Research and Innovation department, speed improvements
of 40 percent and corner wear reduction of 50 percent can be achieved. As a result, electronic component manufacturers are virtually unlimited in their ability to achieve highest accuracy, copy precision, surface quality, and performance in any conductive material; even in mini and micro applications.
With the machine’s new discharge circuit for spark erosion power modulation and the flexibility to maximize material removal, customers can reach unprecedented levels of quality and efficiency. Finishing details are achieved by reducing the spark gap to just a few microns. At the same time, thanks to AgieCharmilles FORM S 350’s embedded technologies, customers’ micromachining processes are optimized so that they consume fewer electrodes. Reduced electrode consumption positively impacts customers’ profitability in a number of ways, including shorter machining times and reduced downtime. In addition, the lifetime of high-precision, multi-pitch electrodes are extended while preserving maximum respect for details.
Conceived for mastery of accuracy
Engineered to ensure highest repeatable precision, this solution is the foundation for electronic component manufacturers’ machining stability. Thanks to its short C-axis construction and oversize cast iron frame, extreme mechanical stability and precision are ensured throughout the lifetime of the machine. That means customers’ accuracy is uncompromised by part weight
or dielectric volume. Precision is further advanced by AgieCharmilles FORM S 350’s robust construction absorbing all machining forces, so a precise gap between the part and electrode is maintained.
Perfect repeatability is an important factor in reducing unproductive time. AgieCharmilles FORM S 350 users experience the lasting positioning precision that only linear glass scales can guarantee. They eliminate classical errors like backlash, thermal expansion, and wear effects. Furthermore, GF Machining Solutions’ dual loop positioning system—a closed loop measuring system providing infallible precision—eliminates the need for periodic maintenance and calibration, whatever the travel. State-of-the-art Swiss assembly ensures that this solution delivers the production consistency customers demand.
Start with stable machining conditions
Workshop temperature fluctuation will never impact customers’ part machining precision, thanks to this solution’s dual thermostabilization system. It is a major innovation when working close to micron dimensions. Pulsating air circulates through the cabin and is cooled in real time in accordance with the dielectric temperature and is measured by a double, differential probe. The whole structure of the X, Y, and Z axes is similarly thermostabilized. With this solution’s continuous thermostabilization of the dielectric, there is no waiting for thermos-stabilization prior to setup, so users achieve flawless positioning and geometrical precision right from the start.
One-source solution provider
As a one-source solutions provider, GF Machining Solutions is the one partner with the expertise to optimize electronic component manufacturers’ global processes with solutions adopted to their electrode machining needs. One example is the Mikron MILL S for machining copper and graphite electrodes with high accuracy in preparation for the EDM process. This solution fits perfectly into customers’ manufacturing process chain: It delivers speed and quality at the highest level, processes copper and graphite (wet or dry) in a single machine, offers unbeatable flexibility in three- and five-axis applications, and ensures highest productivity per square meter with Automation.
Another example of GF Machining Solutions’ expertise is the higher degree of autonomy guaranteed by its System 3R Automation solutions. Automation keeps production going, whatever the time of day or day of the week, so customers get shorter lead times, higher productivity, and quicker payback on their capital machine investment.
Like every solution from GF Machining Solutions, the AgieCharmilles FORM S 350 is backed by a comprehensive range of Customer Services to help customers achieve the highest performance with their equipment.
Germany 
