News and press releases

25/03/2009 Machining of high-quality prototypes with the CERATIZIT 'royal' insert Elcon Gerätebau in Croatia counts on MaxiMill 270 milling cutters from CERATIZIT when machining aluminium

Production manager Mirko Cutic answers the question why they have decided in favour of CERATIZIT tools: “It's quite simple: CERATIZIT has an optimum reputation in the field of aluminium machining. As 80% of our products are made of aluminium, the decision was taken very quickly.” For years Elcon employees have relied on CERATIZIT milling cutters of the MaxiMill 270 product line for rough and medium machining of various aluminium alloys applied together with the insert SDHT 0903AEFN-27P H216T, called the 'royal’ insert at Elcon.

Highly complex light components and prototypes
Rijeka on the Croatian coast. The Elcon Gerätebau company can be found in an almost idyllic location near a residential area. Elcon specializes in the manufacture of small batches. Highly complex components are mainly in demand, such as components for the casings of professional video-cameras or components for high-end microscopes and precision measuring devices.

A second string of the Elcon Gerätebau is the manufacture of prototypes. Husein Zlibanovic, managing director of Elcon states: “During the development phase and before the product enters batch production numerous companies commission the development of a prototype. We receive a drawing or even only a sketch which we then optimize. Subsequently we develop the optimum machining strategy and produce the components necessary for the production of the prototype. Currently we are processing an order from KTM for their X-Bow. About 130 prototypes will be built of this car and we will produce certain components for their suspension.” X-Bow, by the way, is the first car that is being produced by the Austrian motorcycle company KTM and represents a radical 240 horse power sports model with a weight of only 790 kilos.

Time is money: only a couple of days from the drawing board to production
At Elcon time is perceived in a very particular way. Production manager Cutic states: “When you only have a couple of days for the drawing, programming, tests and production, then time really becomes the main issue. Time for us literally means money - machine downtime is money lost. We really do appreciate the professionalism of Niteh, the CERATIZIT representative in Croatia. In Karlovac Niteh even maintains a warehouse for us. This ensures that the tools are at our disposal in no time at all.”

Elcon was founded in 1993. Managing director Zlibanovic says: “I started off in a small garage. But it became too small very soon and we had to move. The business concept of concentrating on small batches and prototypes has been very well received by the market. At the moment we have 30 CNC machines, including six 5-axis machines and 10 turning centres, at our disposal. We still have room on our piece of land to extend the production department - our application has already been filed with the competent building authority."