Doing a good job does not only depend on adequate machinery. Processing the material in a way that satisfies our customer´s needs requires more than that. In the first place, human know-how is the most important aspect. Learning never stops.

Firstly, I would like to describe my job in more detail. My main tasks are to produce plastic parts to the hundredth of a millimetre and to grind the prefabricated parts in shape. I change anything, that does not run smoothly enough so that after doing some post-processing, everything runs like a clockwork. 

Those steps take place at the external cylindrical grinding machine of the type TOS Hostivar UB 40 – 2000 CNC. I can process products of a maximum diameter of 400 mm and a maximum length of 2 m. What can be produced using this machine, are conical, cambered as well as cylindrical workpieces.

Entering wrong or unsuitable coordinates or not being concentrated enough results in dimensions, forms and surfaces differing from the plan. Therefore, the workpiece cannot be used. Differences of only some hundredths of a millimetre can lead to huge problems.

Processing the different materials like Asmathane, Asmaprene and Vulkollan is demanding considering the various degrees of hardness, the so-called Shore degrees of hardness (a measurement for the hardness of plastics). Programming the machine in a way, that a range of materials with different degrees of hardness can be processed, are all challenges man and machine have to face. 

Appreciation of me, the material as well as participation in decision making are very important aspects of my work at asma when working in the field of moulding. Those are all factors, that bring a lot of variety to my job, which is demanding and never makes me feel bored. These are also reasons for why I have been working at asma for almost 15 years now.   Besides machines, we should also invest in employees, human capital, to be perfectly equipped for changes in the market and remain successful.   Alois Klopf