In the last few years, an ever-growing number of companies has understood the importance of the availability of ground pieces to start their machining processes. Ground plates are in fact already squared on all sides and ground in the thickness. Therefore, this allows avoiding useless machine set-up and tooling times, with related costs affecting the price of the finished product, without taking into account the huge incidence of tools that often is not considered. The added value of ground plates is increased by the stress-relieving to which they are subjected in the steel mill, which allows achieving a more homogeneous product, therefore more stable to the heat treatment. For over 25 years, Intercom has been marketing high-quality ground plates, with an ever-increasing availability of sizes and materials ready in stock. Alloy, super-rapid, hardened and tempered steels and with high corrosion strength, the range is very broad. Widths and thicknesses are pre-ground with the necessary stock to be ready for the eventual heat treatment. The series is completed also by standard pre-hardened bars at 44-45 Hrc in Toolox and hardened blocks. Over the last few years, Intercom has widened the line of standard plates with the sizes on high demand of hardened blocks in 1.2379 or Sverker 21 and Vanadis 4 extra, already stress-relieved, hardened and ground, ready to undergo EDM machining. In this case, too, the availability of a hardened and ground block, as starting point for the implementation of EDM cut dies or punches, allows limiting the machining operations to the only EDM, thus avoiding starting from the milling and grinding of the crude steel block, as well as the heat treatment management. Against an expense exceeding the kilo cost of the only raw material, advantages are endless and the initial investment is quickly amortized, considering also the possibility of relying on ready material in the workshop for the management of eventual remakes due, for instance, to errors during the machining phases or variants in customers’ designs. On the wake of the constant quality-service pair, in the last year Intercom has added Boehlerit among the represented companies. The Austrian company, specialized in sintered hard metal products, can boast a good range of high-quality hard metal blocks for EDM, with resistance to corrosion and quality-price ratio as feather in the cap. The high quality is granted by accurate controls of the raw material and the availability of a big number of sizes in few days from the order. The availability of semi-finished materials quickly is not the only service supplied by Intercom. The company, in fact, avails itself of its own technological machine fleet, able to provide various subcontracting machining. Milling, turning, centreless, universal and horizontal spindle grinding, wire and plunge EDM make Intercom an ideal partner for those looking for flexibility and technical support, since they can rely on the support of a single company without having to subdivide the various machining phases among various suppliers. Precisely to increase the special machining service in the shortest possible time, the company has enlarged the number of machines equipping its factory, to organize at best its production of material upon customers’ demand and of standard guide elements. The latter are in fact ready in stock and they are shipped within 24 hours since the order receipt. The speed concept characterizes Intercom also in the tapping machines for dies. For over thirty years, in fact, the company has been leader in the production and sale, with technical support, of the mechanical tapping unit for dies. This product, still used worldwide, allows attaining the highest threading speeds at the lowest cost. It is in fact the cheapest system to perform multiple threads inside blanking dies. Nevertheless, the technological evolution and the will of creating a more and more performing product has led Intercom to patent in 2005 the electronic tapping unit that, unlike other tapping machines on trade that avail themselves of the use of compressed air or of lead screw, with a single electric start, allows attaining threads in small space and very quickly, saving design costs. Besides, the electronic panel allows keeping the production constantly under control, granting also productions with 100% of threaded parts. Quality, reliability and flexibility make then Intercom a partner, and not a mere supplier, for all those companies in the forefront, which cannot stop and wait but instead look for a fast solution for their needs, to face the challenges issued by the new more and more frantic and exacting market.
