Passion, know-how and an insatiable appetite for innovation have made StM a leading international supplier of waterjet cutting systems. With great enthusiasm they have been developing future oriented solutions for production in particular for the steel, aluminium, metal, plastics, composite materials, stone and glass industries for more than 25 years at their company locations at Eben, in the district of Pongau, in Austria and Schweinfurt, in Germany. The StM name stands for high-end equipment which has been developed as modular systems for highly efficient individual solutions; for an unusually high customer focus and for their passion for the continual improvement of waterjet cutting technology.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
STM WATERJET: The best answer to all questions on materials – waterjet cutting. With the waterjet technology from StM almost any material can be cut – with no retooling expenditure or thermal influencing and with a high quality of the cut edge. The StM waterjet solutions range focusses on the most popular materials. Starting in the metal working industry and covers the stone and ceramic industry as well. One fast growing market is foam and plastic where we at StM see a more and more expanding market. To keep it in generel, companies who are cutting with waterjet cutting machines are very mixed in their size. From owner-managed companies up to large corporations.
E.E: What’s the news for 2020 about new products?
STM WATERJET: StM engineering designers have been encouraged to react to growing market needs and pushed themselves and StM forward to become an environmental saving pioneer. Being an innovation leader also means to focus on new products as well as on aspects regarding environmental regulations in advance. With the OneClean system StM included both aspects in one system with modular options which can be upgraded afterwards as needed.
E.E: What are the ranges of traded products?
STM WATERJET: StM offers various model series like EcoCut, MasterCut, PremiumCut, PremiumCut IFC (integrated frame construction) as well as the model in portal building method, which can differentiate technically and be adapted by auxiliary components to specific customer´s needs. StM EcoCut and MasterCut waterjet cutting systems are suitable for customers who work just a few hours up to 8 hours per day. StM PremiumCut 2D & 3D waterjet systems are designed for higher accuracy requirements, 5-axis and multi-shift operation. The encapsulation provides noise insulation, maximum safety and an ideal splash guard. It is therefore the perfect system, for example, for research and educational facilities or cutting environments with increased safety requirements.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
STM WATERJET: This is a tough question as it depends on what kind of industry we are talking about. For sure the automotive market is facing serious problems due to COVID-19. In other markets, eg. the stone-and ceramic industry we cannot see a decrease of market growth. Acting in different markets makes it easier for StM to operate and helps us to expand continuously. Please find more information of our key markets in point 2.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
STM WATERJET: Water is an indispensable resource for humans and animals. Due to global warming, water management is becoming increasingly important. The mining of raw materials, which are needed in the industry, is also a burden on the environment. Next to that fact companies have to react fast on market changes, especially in times of COVID-19.
The StM OneClean water cycle system cleans the process water so thoroughly that it can be re-fed into high pressure pumps again without hesitation. The separation limit of less than 1μm is achieved with the employed ultra-filtration system. There is an upstream cascade of sediment clarifiers and filters that are automatically cleaned and monitored. Water revitalisation and ultra-filtration round off the cleaning step. During the use of the StM OneClean water cycle system, only the water lost from evaporation needs to be replaced.
Thinking about environment issues means also to think about the operating resources needed during the cutting process. Up to 50% of the consumed abrasive sand during the cutting process can be recycled depending on the abrasive sand used. This procedure saves procurement, disposal, transportation costs and particular helps to save the environment. The recyclable portion of the used abrasive is filtered with a StM patented wet sifting process after the hydrofiltration stage, components that are too coarse and fine are removed. Recycling of the used abrasive is therefore quick and easy without interrupting the cutting process. Also the drying process is extremely energy efficient. After drying, the abrasive sand can be mixed 50/50 percent with new abrasive. Tests have shown that the cutting process has a similar quality as when using 100 percent new abrasive sand. Next to saving resources this innovation is highly economic for companies as well.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
STM WATERJET: StM engineering designers have been encouraged to react to growing market needs and pushed themselves and StM forward to become an environmental saving pioneer. Being an innovation leader also means to focus on new products as well as on aspects regarding environmental regulations in advance. With the OneClean system StM included both aspects in one system with modular options which can be upgraded afterwards as needed (see point 6).
A continously ongoing development of StM waterjet cutting machines is crutial to meet customer´s needs. Next to the models EcoCut, MasterCut, PremiumCut, PremiumCut IFC and MicroCut, StM developed another waterjet cutting machine – the StM Cube. The StM Cube waterjet cutting systems have all the technical specifications of EcoCut or MasterCut incl. a hood cover and thus provide even more safety and convenience.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2020?
STM WATERJET: The most important thing will be that COVID-19 will not spread further in Europe. A further economic downturn will be difficult for the European market to cope with. We are in good hope that this will not happen and waterjet cutting with all it advantages will grow in 2021 on forward.