Dormer Pramet tasks its product management and development department with creating and producing new tools every year. Jan Bittner is a member of a member of the production team. Jan joined Dormer Pramet in January 2015 and became a part of the company’s project to develop an assortment of high-feed milling tools. Almost three years later, a new range of SBN10 cutters and BNGX inserts were launched into the global market. Incidentally, the time taken to introduce a product is an indication of the investment a manufacturer makes to create a new product which adds value to customers for many years to come. The following is Jan’s story.
At Dormer Pramet, the process of creating a new tool begins with its product management department which identify the market needs and gaps in the company’s current assortment. Karel Tiefenbach is the company’s product manager for indexable milling and he created a concept brief and clear objective for the development team.
Dormer Pramet’s aim was to create an assortment of tools for its double-negative cutters, which allowed high feed rates for increased productivity. The design needed to be for double-sided inserts to maximize the economic value (four-edges) and provide good chip-control, allowing for a higher ramping angle.
At the same time, the tool needed to offer process security and a versatile range for mold and die operations, covering roughing to finishing.
Jan began the process with Jan Vlček from the company’s product design & information department, responsible for all aspects of tool development. This includes creating high quality data on every tool produced, the design of products and supporting manufacture.
The department’s first task in designing a new high feed milling tool – later known as SBN10 – was to research what products were already available in the market from competitors and how Dormer Pramet could be different, while still meeting the needs of customers.
