Fine Filtration Systems

Modern cutting tools that meet today’s growing demands for tolerance, performance and efficiency can only be produced economically under optimal production conditions. A look behind the scenes at the global tool manufacturer, Jongen Tool GmbH, and their new production facility in Germany reveals the technical complexity involved in manufacturing inserts and solid carbide end mills with consistent high quality. In order to accomplish all this, Jongen employs modern grinding and measuring technology as well as fine filtration systems "made in Germany" by VOMAT.

Jongen was founded in 1974 and currently employs 290 people. With innovative ideas and high quality cutting tools, Jongen has created a name for themselves in the metal and plastics processing industries worldwide. Examples include thier UNI-MILL milling tools with the recently introduced 428 series tools for aluminum machining in mold making as well as the new FP T 09 tangential tool for milling corners and planes.

Günter Hofmann, Managing Director and head of design and development at Jongen states: "Jongen is on a focused and healthy expansion path. Based on very good economic results, we always strive to improve our production technology on the cutting edge. This enables us to respond to market needs in a very short time."

In addition to the four existing production halls, the company located in Willich, Germany recently brought a new 15,000 sq. ft.  (1,400m²) production facility into service and this location has further options for capacity expansion. The new building incorporates state of the art environmental and workplace technology. Power is provided by two block power heating plants that supply not only electricity, but also ensure heating and cooling of the halls via heat exchangers.

Günter Hofmann: "Temperature variations are the greatest enemies for reproducible tool quality. Therefore, our entire production environment from manufacturing to testing and packaging is temperature controlled. We also strive to entirely control our value chain. Therefore we rely on a high level of vertical integration which allows us to influence all relevant quality parameters in-house. For example, we manufacture our own carbide and coat in our own coating machines. For utmost quality, we use only the most modern grinding and measuring technology. As part of this production philosophy, the production hall was fitted with a state of the art fine filtration system, which is a key element for economical and high-quality tool production. "

To accomplish what they had set out to do, Jonge brought VOMAT, the specialist for fine filtration systems from Treuen, Germany, on board. Vomat builds high performance filtration systems which incorporate compact design; a small footprint while still packing all needed technical advantages for the respective requirements. With various add-on components, the systems can be tailored from stand –alone units to large central systems and can be easily integrated to fit any customer’s specific workflow.

Günter Hofmann states: "Our high expectations combined with our special production needs were setting the bar very high. Vomat was the only company to guarantee the 'feasibility' of the filtration concept desired by Jonge. Their system provided, among other technical advantages, a small footprint, superior filtration, accurate cooling, as well as energy and recycling solutions that were adapted to our needs. All this provided crucial arguments to go for Vomat.”

VOMAT installed a ZFA 3600 and a ZFA 2400 central systems at Jonge. One system provides clean oil for the insert production unit and the other for the tool cutting department.  The ZFA 2400 has a capacity of approximately 24,000 liters of cooling lubricant and is housed in a separate room with 14 grinding machines connected to it. Lars Adler, production manager at VOMAT: "Because every little inconsistency in the manufacturing process of cutting tools may have serious consequences for the end result, optimal production conditions are essential to achieve consistent, repeatable quality. Jonge used to have many small stand-alone filtration units, installed in immediate vicinity to their grinding machines, throwing off a lot of heat. Today the heat stays outside the building and the gain of space is phenominal."

Low-maintenance technology ensures energy-efficient full-flow filtration, ensuring that clean and dirty oil is separated 100 percent.  High performance pre-coat filters are designed to extract even the tiniest particles. This allows the filters to maintain NAS 7 quality for a long time combined with unmatched service life. Another advantage is the energy efficient on-demand filtration and backflush operation, which is only activated depending on the contamination level of each filter element. All-in-all, this ensures a continuous clean oil supply and filter elements and grinding oil can remain in the system for a long time.

Apart from the ground breaking design used in VOMAT systems, another benefit is the high control accuracy and precise temperature control. The grinding oil temperature will be maintained in a range of ± 0.1 K. This is an important prerequisite for reliable quality production. Lars Adler: "VOMAT technology ensures that almost no heat is introduced into the medium so none of the grinding machines axes will expand or contract. Even small nuances in expansion or contraction could lead to variations in quality, particularly in smaller sized tools. "

Pre-coat filtration systems don’t require any filtration aids which usually render the contaminated sludge as non-sellable. The recycling process is fully automatic. The sludge is deposited into a drum ready to be collected by a recycling company of your choice.  All Vomat systems are PLC controlled and can be serviced and monitored remotely, via WIFI.

Günter Hofmann: "Jongen has implemented a future orientated and powerful tool production plan under clean, quiet, and environmentally conscious conditions which enables us to continuously grow and fulfill the requirements of our customers."