HERMLE USA is known by its customers for fabricating the most precise machining centers in the world. Committed to providing complete machining solutions, the company is a subsidiary of Maschinenfabrik Berthold Hermle AG in Gosheim, Germany. As a premium, single-source 5-axis machining and automation leader headquartered in Franklin, Wisconsin, the company has served North American industrial giants with next-generation manufacturing engineering and premium machines since 1987.
HERMLE USA’s world-renowned service includes expert customer training, field service, and applications assistance. Moreover, its relentless innovation continues to drive its evolution. And now, a new range of machines, GEN2, will be launched at its 5-Axis Summit 2025 taking place from September 9th to 11th at its headquarters in Franklin, Wisconsin. As a result, the company looks forward to significantly expanding its North American presence following the event, which promises to be as memorable as it is resource packed.
The event will feature live demonstrations of cutting-edge 5-axis and automation technologies, expert-led presentations on AI, motion control, and process integration, and insights from nearly 40 industry-leading partners. It will provide visitors with three days of machine demonstrations, respected keynote speakers, and technology presentations that will inform, educate, and guide audience members in discerning their needs. Expert speakers will include Dr. Jens Kummetz, HEIDENHAIN’s Head of Application Development and Dr. Joseph Koch, Open Mind’s Executive Director of Development, to name a few, while companies like Siemens, Blum, MOLDINO, and more will also be represented. The true star of the show, however, will be HERMLE USA’s new collection of future-proof machines.
The new GEN2 machine centers are described as integrated, future-ready, and providing machining production in a single setup. Each unit comes complete with 13 processes in one 5-axis machine center. Combining market-disrupting efficiency and characteristic precision, these machines lead a historic market shift. New models include the C 250, C 400, C 650, C 12, C 22, C 32, C 42, and a robotic system, the RS 2 GEN2, which can be configured with up to three identical or different HERMLE machining centers. In this way, HERMLE USA intends to make these its most memorable and sought-after machines to date, bringing its entire collection to nine models.
While nine models may appear like a large number, HERMLE hides sophisticated simplicity in plain sight. “Underneath, all our machines look pretty much the same. That allows HERMLE to be dedicated to only one machine product,” says Markus Puntigam, Vice President of Sales and Marketing North America, pointing out that sizes do differ. “Therefore every service technician you talk to is an expert on your machine,” he says. “Every customer you talk to will tell you we make outstanding machines.”
In addition, while the machines serve many industries, they are ideal for fabrication outfits that demand specialized kinematics. Highly anticipated for their high-performance integration and unmanned operational efficiencies, the company believes that the GEN2 machines are built for a new era. “This platform doesn’t just evolve our machines; it completely reinvents what’s possible in a single setup. For shops looking to stay competitive, this is your iPhone moment,” said President and CEO Gunther Schnitzer in a press release.
While GEN2 may look similar to older models, the difference between the new and older models is the introduction of PROFINET systems over the earlier protocol, Profibus (process field bus). These protocols are at the heart of each machine’s communication architecture. Based on ethernet with response times of less than 1 millisecond, PROFINET allows engineers to incorporate the latest smart IO-sensors and more sophisticated CNC features, assisting the company in future-proofing its technologies.
Boasting superb spindle uptime with sustainability and automation excellence in mind, these machines exemplify the company’s legendary dependability, with the added benefit of modern technology and capabilities to bring machining into the 21st century. HERMLE USA’s greatest achievement with the fresh iteration of its time-tested 5-axis technologies—which also reduce the amount of floorspace, time, and labor needed to run them—is the fact that previously diverse arrays can now be integrated into a single platform. Some of its diagnostics and performance-enhancing improvements also include sensors compatible with the internet of things (IOT), together with the most advanced HEIDENHAIN -model drive converters, ensuring the machines’ continued relevance in service tools’ ever-evolving interface technologies.
Fully aware that its customers only make money when their machines are running, Puntigam is frank about the impressive capabilities of the company’s new machines. “GEN2 is built to keep spindles turning—longer, smarter, and with fewer human interventions,” he says. “This is the future of manufacturing.” And this is why GEN 2 was developed with the mission of giving machine shops greater superpowers. Working leaner, more efficiently and at lower cost per piece production-wise, these machines feature everything from contour broaching and advanced diamond polishing and grinding to energy efficiency and temperature and ultrasound measuring.
They also offer improved coolant filtration, advanced spindle diagnostics, and much more. HERMLE USA’s GEN 2 machines even manage workflows through automated, space-saving pallet assessments. Troubleshooting is another breeze with CNC archives providing all the details the team needs to diagnose remotely, test, and rectify any issues with the help of high-end technologies and its field staff, where remote correction is not possible. “This capability really sets HERMLE apart from the rest of the industry,” says Schnitzer.
There is also the ZM30 tool magazine housing 30 additional tools in half the space; moreover, HERMLE customers and HEIDENHAIN TNC7 owners will soon have access to an extensive training video library, making owning these machines an even greater pleasure.
Alongside its growth in the United States, the company’s presence in Mexico and Canada is expanding, with its team of engineers, service technicians, and general support staff also growing at a steady pace. Strategically anchored with good access to two international airports and a robust labor force at its Franklin base, part of this unrelenting drive to provide sophisticated yet easy integration was achieved by establishing a new facility in Mesa, Arizona last year.
Close to the city of Phoenix, with additional critical component storage capacity to better serve its West Coast clientele, this is not the company’s only recent expansion. June 2020 saw the company announce the conclusion of an extensive $3 million expansion of its Wisconsin facility. The project’s mission was to render a state-of-the-art facility doubling the size of its North American headquarters with the addition of 15,000 square feet to better serve and grow its local client base, and it has certainly achieved that. The new technology center aims to improve the area’s labor force by upgrading skills through its high-tech service technician and apprentice training syllabus based on its time-tested German program. With several complete machining centers as well as a showroom where its machines can be viewed up close, the center serves as a comprehensive learning hub where potential owners can get their first sense of the ease of ownership and quality that HERMLE machines provide.
“As more people get to know the incredible quality of the machinery and the team that stands behind them, HERMLE will keep growing quickly,” said Manuel Merkt, former President and COO, in a press release at the time. “HERMLE service is as world-class as the machines, and much of that is because HERMLE is proactive. This expansion will ensure HERMLE is even more prepared to serve all customers just as diligently as the company grows.”
To achieve this vision of growth, the facility now offers increased warehousing, improving response time for shipping high-demand components to local customers.
As a company known for combining perpetual evolution with time-honored skill, HERMLE USA is poised to continue evolving in response to the ever-changing needs of its markets while growing its reputation and capabilities. To be sure, this team is excited to demonstrate the latest technologies at the upcoming summit, September 9th to 11th in Franklin, Wisconsin. HERMLE USA’s Marketing Manager, Jeremy Williamson’s, invitation speaks for itself: “Until you see, hear, and feel what our technology can do, it’s hard to understand the capabilities,” he says. “Readers should attend the 5-Axis Summit and see for themselves.”
