In 2013, the Hessen company seized the opportunity to acquire a used Dörries vertical lathe type CTE 320 (produced in 1983) and with a new Siemens controller (840 D) fitted in 2001 from a Liebherr plant. "We were not willing to make any compromises in the retrofitting", the Technical Director recalls. "To ensure the quality was the same as with a new machine, we had everything replaced that did not meet our requirements". Retrofitting was carried out by DST Service, who replaced the entire hydraulic system and part of the electronics, as well as overhauling all of the guides. 

However, the used machine purchase was an exception, as the Starrag Group subsidiary normally only supplies new machines. "As a contractor, if we sell a used machine we only do so after a comprehensive retrofit", emphasises Hans Jeschke, Service Director at DST. "Our customers expect us to provide a used machine that will meet the same very high quality standards as a new one. That's why we overhauled the entire mechanical system so that it was as good as new".
 

However, this kind of rejuvenation is not always an option. Kurt Frings, Head of Service, Project Engineering and Field Service, explains: "The machine must be of a certain size and must have particular features such as a robust mechanical system. There needs to be some substance to work on to make a retrofit worthwhile". In Hünfeld, the retrofit definitely paid off, as the client received more than just a vertical lathe that was as a good as new, with an added extra. Service Director Jeschke says: "The used machine was given a high quality 12-jaw chuck with pendulum compensation, which would have cost the customer considerably more as a new investment". 

Author: Nikolaus Fecht, technical journalist from Gelsenkirchen, commissioned by Starrag Group
Pictures: Starrag Group/Ralf Baumgarten 
 

The Starrag Group is a world technological leader in the manufacture of precision machine tools for milling, turning, drilling and grinding small, mid-sized and large workpieces in metal and composite materials. Its customers include international corporations operating in the aerospace, transport, industrial and energy markets. Its portfolio of machine tools is supplemented by technical and customer services, which substantially add to customers’ productivity.
Its products are marketed under the following strategic brands: Berthiez, Bumotec, Dörries, Droop+Rein, Heckert, Scharmann, SIP, Starrag, TTL, WMW. The group of companies, which has its headquarters at Rorschacherberg in Switzerland, operates production sites in Switzerland, Germany France, the United Kingdom and India, along with sales and servicing companies in many other countries.
The Starrag Group is quoted on the SWX - Swiss Exchange (STGN).

For more information:

Dörries Scharmann Technologie GmbH
Michael Schedler
Hugo-Junkers-Str. 12-32
D-41236 Mönchengladbach
T +49 2166 454 0
F +49 2166 454 300
info@starrag.com
www.starrag.com