Smart machines, smart production behind the number 5

CHIRON, STAMA, CMS, FACTORY5: Since 1st August, the CHIRON Group's range has included a new brand. And with CHIRON Swiss SA, which was previously known as Mecatis SA, they now have their own company in Switzerland. Both partners benefit from this acquisition: The CHIRON Group is adding small, highly precise machining centers to their range, along with an innovative digital platform for networked production. While CHIRON Swiss can now distribute and sell their products and services across the world and has access to the Group's entire service network.

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»The FACTORY5 machining centers perfectly round off our product range below series 08, meaning that we can strengthen our offering for the watch and jewelery industry, as well as medical and precision engineering. This means that we can now optimally meet the demand of many customers for compact, highly dynamic machines for microprocessing,«, explains Dr. Claus Eppler, Head of Research and Development at CHIRON.

For Samuel Vuadens, founder and former CEO of Mecatis, and now Managing Director of CHIRON Swiss, the advantage »lies in the strength of the CHIRON Group. We were looking for an internationally renowned partner who understands the effects of digitalization on the industry and with whom we can work to further expand our expertise. The integration into the CHIRON Group offers us the best opportunities for further stable growth, to distribute and sell our products internationally, and to even tackle large projects. We are also looking forward to intensive brainstorming with the aim of coming up with additional innovative products and services.«

Samuel Vuadens, Managing Director of CHIRON Swiss. The trained mechanic and mechanical engineer who specializes in mechatronics began his professional career at Affolter Technologie, where he was already developing his first highly precise machines. In 2007, he founded Mecatis with Pierre Fournier and, in 2017, he developed the Micro5, which is not much bigger than an ordinary coffee machine.
Samuel Vuadens, Managing Director of CHIRON Swiss. The trained mechanic and mechanical engineer who specializes in mechatronics began his professional career at Affolter Technologie, where he was already developing his first highly precise machines. In 2007, he founded Mecatis with Pierre Fournier and, in 2017, he developed the Micro5, which is not much bigger than an ordinary coffee machine.

Micro5: For micro-precision
The highlight of FACTORY5's product range is the Micro5 milling machine. A machining center with 4 or 5 axes, yet the »5« in the name stands for so much more than this. It also represents the ideal ratio of machine size to workpiece – 5:1. In terms of weight, it is also 5 times lighter than conventional machines in the same performance class. Lightweight and small, the Micro5 can be set up almost anywhere and is also quick and easy to move location without changing the machine settings.

The »5« also stands for maximum efficiency: When compared with conventional CNC machines, the energy consumption during the dynamic machining of microtechnical components is not just 5 times lower – it is 50 times lower. This saves valuable resources and guarantees an even quicker return on investment thanks to massive savings on energy costs.

Micro5 – one of the 1000 most efficient solutions in the world
In 2019, the Solar Impulse Foundation awarded the Micro5 the world-renowned Label #1000 for the 1,000 most efficient, most innovative and most environmentally friendly technologies in the world. The foundation, which was launched by Bertrand Piccard (son of the famous deep-sea researcher Jacques Piccard and the first person to circumnavigate the globe in a solar-powered aircraft), brings together start-ups, companies, institutions and organizations with the goal of combining economical and ecological targets and demonstrating that the gulf between economy and ecology is irrelevant.


FACTORY5: Greener, smarter, better connected
FACTORY5 is more than just the brand name of all of the products and services from CHIRON Swiss. There is a clear philosophy behind the name: Experts and skills from the industry are brought together at a virtual location, on a platform, in order to pool their expertise for the benefit of the customers. In addition to production expertise – design, manufacture, measure, service – this also includes management applications, such as MRP, CRM, HR and even the automation of marketing campaigns. And, of course, »smart machines« like the Micro5. Intelligent production tools, which form a separate ecosystem when combined with other elements: www.factory5.tech – a physical and digital factory with a vision for a greener, smarter and better networked industrial world.

CHIRON Swiss SA
Founded in 2007 as Mecatis SA, CHIRON Swiss, which is based in Isérables in the Swiss canton of Valais, is a dynamic company with a young team. At present, the company, which is the youngest foreign subsidiary of the CHIRON Group, has 18 employees. Flat hierarchies, intensive collaboration and the input of individual ideas are central elements of the corporate culture.

Find out more about the new Swiss colleagues, the production of the innovative machining centers and one of the most beautiful views of all of the CHIRON Group's sites in a video:

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