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Some production needs call for machines designed to measure: very tight tolerances, out-of-standard dimensions, machining cycles that combine several stages into a single pass. These are the conditions under which custom industrial machinery design becomes the most effective way to achieve the required result. It’s in these contexts that we most often work at Pieffe Disegni, an outsourced mechanical design studio based in Piacenza.
Among the projects that best illustrate our approach to special machine tools are a machine tool for processing sheet metal destined to be formed into large-diameter tubes, ultra-compact rotary tables for aerospace applications, a 52-meter multipallet system built for Ferrari Corse, and tilting heads and axis heads with different kinematics depending on the type of machining required.
An off-the-shelf machine responds well to standard requirements, designed for a broad market. When production calls for something more specific — a particular footprint, a high operating speed, the integration of several machining stages in a single pass, or fitting into an already existing plant — custom machine tool design becomes the most effective answer.
In these cases, the project starts from the client’s real technical requirements: axis travel, part dimensions, type of production. This holds true for transfer machines built for multiple machining cycles just as much as for smaller-scale solutions, designed for a single production step.
The path we follow to design a special machine tool follows the logic of the Pieffe Disegni Method. It starts with technical dialogue with the client to gather the real constraints of the project: what the machine needs to process, with which materials, within what dimensions, and with what level of automation. From here, a first 3D model is developed, which allows us to define the shapes and masses of the main structures and to arrive at an initial sizing of the axes.
At this point, FEM analysis comes into play, allowing us to verify the stiffness-to-mass ratio of the structure from the design stage onward, identifying which components have the greatest impact on overall performance and where to focus optimization efforts. A step that makes it possible to identify the most effective solutions early on, ensuring faster, more targeted testing.
Next comes the technical drawing, the document that gathers all the information needed for construction: materials, treatments, tolerances, assembly instructions.
With the Pieffe Disegni Method, every project is checked by a colleague not directly involved, to guarantee quality and consistency with the client’s requirements.
When the client requests it, we can also support them through the stages that follow the design phase — all the way to construction and testing — coordinating with a network of specialized partners we have worked with for years, many of them, like us, from the Piacenza mechatronics district, a center of excellence recognized internationally.
Many of the components we develop come from a project built entirely to drawing, starting from the client’s constraints. This applies to mechanical components built to drawing for a specific plant, as well as to machining work carried out to drawing to integrate existing machines with new functions.
Even when the solution calls for a high degree of customization, the goal is to build a machine that integrates into the client’s production process from the very first day, while keeping operation simple. For this reason, wherever possible, we design modular systems — quick tool changes, accessory units designed to be installed and removed easily — that allow the machine to be quickly adapted to different production runs, maintaining continuity even when the production cycle changes.
The principle of custom design also applies to the components that accompany a special machine tool. The equipment for machine tools that we design is built to position and secure the part safely, simplifying assembly operations.
The same goes for machine tool fairings, which we design to contain chips and coolant fluids and to guarantee operator safety in compliance with the Machinery Directive: a concrete example of how “custom” also applies down to the details, which together make up the plant as a whole.
It’s the same principle that guides revamping: an existing machine can be rethought and updated with the same methodological rigor used for a new machine, assessing where to intervene in order to extend its useful life and performance.
A machine designed to measure delivers precision and operational continuity from the very first start-up, integrating fully into the client’s production cycle. It means production continuity, faster start-up times and immediate integration into processes already in place at the company.
This approach requires a more in-depth initial analysis, which then translates into a machine designed to work exactly as intended, right from its first start-up.
Every production requirement calls for its own specific assessment: sometimes it’s enough to work on a single unit or a dedicated piece of equipment, other times it makes more sense to rethink the entire plant, as in the case of a transfer machine or a multipallet system. The assessment needs to be made case by case, starting from a genuine technical conversation about production requirements.
If your company has a production process with specific requirements, this is exactly the kind of technical conversation we often have at Pieffe Disegni: we can talk about it, starting from the real constraints of your production cycle and the characteristics a special machine tool should guarantee.