Machinefabriek Otten is a Dutch company specialized in machining, welding and assembly. In 2018 the company purchased a Correa FOX M 110 gantry milling machine, with the aim of producing independently guaranteeing a higher precision.
Machinefabriek Otten B.V., based in Breda (Netherlands), is focused on producing peripheral equipment for welding robots such as security guarding or guiding systems for the robots or workpieces turning systems. Ben Otten´s grandfather founded Machinefabriek Otten B.V. in 1887; over the years, the company´s core business has changed to adapt to customer needs.
In March 2018, Machinefabriek Otten B.V. purchased a Correa FOX-M 110 gantry machine. “Previously, the large milling work was outsourced,” says Ben Otten the current director of the company. “This had some major drawbacks; such as, high transport costs. When my regular supplier had a machine failure or workforce problems, I had to find another supplier with delivery times increased to 6 or even 10 weeks”.
After compiling a shortlist, Mr Otten and his son visited several manufactures at EMO in Hannover, "some brands were dropped in advance, because we looked for a specific type of machine” explains the director. They also looked for brands that offer security, as well as a reliable representative; Landré is the representative of Correa in the Netherlands. “Landré was no stranger to us, we even have bought a lathe in the past from them; it is known as a reliable organization” says Mr Otten.
The Correa FOX M 110 was a good match for Machinefabriek Otten B.V., gantry machines have a static table and the bridge moves along the beds, it is characterized by high rigidity, process reliability and a long service life, and it allows drilling, milling and even turning operations. This model combines exceptional robustness, great versatility and high precision when machining medium and large parts. Due to its high thermal stability, the Correa FOX-M delivers excellent results in both milling and finishing at high speeds.
“The whole purchasing process went fairly quickly. The purchase was arranged in 3 months; after that, Nicolas Correa took 9 months to build and install the machine.” The machine was started up after an operation training given by a Correa applications engineer.
Machine manufacturer Correa was and is still ready to provide service; in the initial phase, a scale unexpectedly broke and a technician came from Germany the day after. When he was unable to solve the problem, another technician came from Spain with a new scale. “Normally this is not so fast with a machine of this size. Machine manufacturer Correa is clearly used to the fact that there is a lot of pressure on the operation of such large and complex machines,” says Mr Otten with satisfaction.
With the purchase of the Correa FOX M machine, several problems have been solved for Machinefabriek Otten B.V. "It is advantageous both economically and organizationally, we are in charge of the process and can immediately change the machining parameters and take the work back. The current situation also has advantages in terms of development: “We have changed certain production sequences to optimise the process with better quality. The parts must be machined with very specific tolerances of a few hundredths of millimetre on a length of 6 meters. This is possible with our Correa machine because it works very accurately” Mr Otten concludes.
