Gérald Badan SA, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, had a new managing director — Carlos Almeida — at the beginning of 2015.

An engineer who was familiar with the Tornos range of turning machines, he soon installed the latest Tornos SwissNano (www.tornos.com) machines to supplement the company’s existing Tornos Deco and cam-type machines.

Based in Moutier, Switzerland, Gérald Badan specialises in bar turning for the connector industry, but with more than 50 cam-type machines for the manufacture of simple parts and large-scale production, plus four Tornos Deco
10 machines for the production of complex workpieces and smaller batches, it did not have ‘medium range’ machines.

Mr Almeida said: “We considered several options, but the SwissNano was the one that best fitted our requirements; and while the machine’s TISIS software was different to the TB-Deco software familiar to our operators, they found it was very easy to use — and more efficient.”

One of Gérald Badan’s operators, who is experienced with both cam-type and Deco machines, said: “If you are accustomed to the Deco, the machining area of the SwissNano might seem a bit scary, and the available space is rather limited.

“However, the machine offers good visibility, due to its front access, and setting it is simple; it’s just a matter of familiarity. That said, the LNS Tryton bar feeder was completely new to me, but it can feed both tube and bar, and it works in total harmony with the machine.”