This year, the major trade fair SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN in Essen took place without the companies of IBG Industrie-Beteiligungs-Gesellschaft and thus also without ABICOR BINZEL, Thermacut, and other members of the ABICOR GROUP. Since many professionals and enthusiasts from around the world interested in welding and cutting technology were already in Germany, we used the opportunity to invite them to our ABICOR GROUP headquarters in Buseck. Here, the member companies ABICOR BINZEL, ASTARAS, HERR Industry System, Photonic Tools, Thermacut, and WELDSTONE presented their areas of expertise, offering visitors a hands-on experience.
Guests either traveled on their own or boarded a specially chartered bus from the Essen exhibition grounds to Buseck. The day began with guided tours through all four production sites. Many were particularly impressed by our machining operations and the high level of manufacturing depth. The variety and complexity of the parts, as well as the logistics system and the value of goods in stock, also attracted great interest. The tour additionally included the torch assembly department, the ARCLab, and concluded in the showroom. After sharing a lunch at the rooftop cafeteria, the visitors split into smaller groups for product demonstrations at the Innovation & Technology Center (ITC) and in the outdoor area in front of Plant 4.
Each of the ABICOR GROUP member companies presented a selection of their products – either through purely informative presentations, with experts available on site for questions, or through live demonstrations.
Since the ABICOR GROUP headquarters is also the ABICOR BINZEL headquarters, we were able to showcase all of our focus products: MIG/MAG and TIG manual torches together with their consumables, such as the new E3® PRO tungsten electrode. Fume extraction torches and systems of the xFUME® series also drew a lot of attention, in particular the new compact extraction torches xFUME® PRO 20 and xFUME® PRO 301. The new liquid-cooled combination unit of power source and fume extraction, xFUME® POWER 450M+ – also available as 350M+ for gas-cooled applications and only recently officially launched – demonstrates what effective health protection looks like in practice. In addition, the latest extraction unit, xFUME® COMMANDER with brushless motor for manual, cobot, and robotic welding, was exclusively presented to the visitors ahead of the official product launch.
On the automation side, a variety of solutions were shown at different stations: the MIG/MAG robotic torch MPP PRO, the TIG electrode exchange system ABITIG® CT TEX, the robotic fume extraction torch xFUME® ABIROB® in combination with the powerful xFUME® PRIME extraction unit for robotic welding, the iBOTone® welding cobot, the iROB® 401 AC/DC power source from the iROB® series, the iST ARC seam tracking sensor, and the MICO 3D weld seam inspection sensor. In the laser sector, the tactile laser heads MPH Tactile and MPH Ti were explained and demonstrated.
Thermacut welcomed visitors at the Cutting Applications Center with plasma cutting systems and cobot applications for thermal cutting.
ASTARAS, CANTESCO, HERR Industry System, Photonic Tools, and WELDSTONE were represented with information booths.
To balance the extensive technical input, guests enjoyed a photo booth between the stations for some quick, fun snapshots. This was very well received and led to plenty of humorous situations and pictures.
The two-day customer event was very positively received and seen as a welcome contrast to the parallel SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN trade fair. The relatively high number of overseas visitors at the ABICOR GROUP headquarters underlined the strong international attraction of this leading global exhibition.
ABICOR GROUP CEO Prof. Emil Schubert commented on the event: "The consistently positive feedback from both days confirms that our portfolio is well positioned to support those who work with our products in their often very demanding tasks – in line with our credo »Empowering the metalworking industry«. As ABICOR GROUP, we are definitely planning to participate in SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN 2029."
Don't miss the latest developments in the welding industry with our free news subscription. Choose what you want to learn about and get exciting e-books, blog posts, videos and product news delivered straight to your inbox.