With the water jet technology, the Swabian company Stimpfle GmbH has established itself as a creative all-rounder in metal processing. In order to give himself and his customers even more leeway in the future, owner Matthias Stimpfle completely renewed his machinery. The main role is hereby played by an STM waterjet cutting system of the latest generation. After ten years, it replaces the proven STM cutting system and is intended to make the company's creative production solutions even more competitive – regardless of material and requirements. True to the motto "There's no such thing as impossible". After 100 days, it is certain: The plan works.

Mechanical engineer Matthias Stimpfle actually works in Wechingen in Swabia, but he is there far too seldom. Customers from all over the world now call on him when it comes to new production solutions. And Matthias Stimpfle loves to break new ground in metalworking. More meaningful ways. That is why he is also a convinced fan of waterjet technology and even after ten years of experience as a user still always surprised by the possibilities this cutting process offers him. For ten years, he has been operating an EcoCut system from STM with a 3 x 2 meter cutting table and a high-pressure pump with 4000 bar and 19 kW. In combination with a CNC press brake and milling machine, an NC lathe, departments for design, welding, pneumatics, electrical installation, assembly and direct links to IT specialists, he has thus created the operation of unlimited possibilities for himself and his creative mind. He handles 2D and 3D cutting tasks with batch sizes of 1–20,000 and processes granite, aluminium and stainless steel in flying change, nearly fully automatic. He is regularly faced with new, highly specialized requirement profiles for which he must develop a production solution. He constantly challenges his waterjet cutting system with new ideas – and is rarely disappointed. This has earned him a reputation as "full-service specialist without limits" in his core market. "If an idea can be digitized, then we can implement it", Stimpfle says. That's why the company completely renewed its machinery and aligned it with the perspectives of Industry 4.0.

In terms of waterjet cutting systems, he has opted for the latest EcoCut WS 3020 waterjet cutting system with Edge Tracker position laser in combination with the new high-pressure pump Ecotron 40.19 from BFT. This means he relies on the proven system with significantly higher performance according to the principle "evolution instead of revolution". The reason: "STM systems are smartly designed and very easy to maintain. The construction is based on the same quality components that we use for our robot technology," Stimpfle states. "The repeatability and the ingenious price-performance ratio additionally convince me. There was thus never any doubt that we would continue to rely on STM. He congratulates himself on this decision to this day. Thanks to STM support, the changeover to the new system was no problem. "The support was phenomenal without understatement. By remote maintenance via internet, the guys took care of us practically in real time, no matter how complex the question". Drawing would be much faster and easier with the SmartCut software of the new EcoCut and active ramp calculation with software-controlled abrasive quantity dosing also clearly improved operation efficiency. In addition, the lower pressure fluctuations and the general coordination of pump and system are perfect, the cutting heads are even more accurate and the service life of wearing parts like nozzles and focusing tubes is considerably longer. "With the same requirements, we now benefit from 25 % more power density and a 40 % higher cutting speed, can demand correspondingly higher hourly rates and also run the system fully automatic overnight," Stimpfle sums up. "Apart from the economic aspects, we also work significantly more environmentally friendly, more convenient and with more design freedom. This motivates just as much". The insight: In innovation-driven markets, very good products can do so much better in a very short time that the modernization of the machinery pays off every ten years. Especially if you can determine the growth potential for your own needs beforehand in black and white in the test centre, as with STM. For Stimpfle, this was reason enough for a radical break. He sold his old EcoCut to STM on commission without hesitation and got a good price for it. And this even though the investment had already paid for itself after six years. The restructuring did not hurt in terms of costs either.

Stimpfle is relaxed about the expected upheavals in the industry. He is practically completely self-sufficient and open to everything; the order books are full. He therefore sees no reason to set restrictive targets. The 49-year-old rather prefers more private freedom and a higher aesthetic standard in construction work. He has created good conditions for both with the new EcoCut. In short, it couldn't be better. Looking back, he had to realize: "At the beginning, everyone said: You will never use the plant to capacity. The opposite is the case. The entry into waterjet cutting was one of the best decisions of my life. An absolute forward-looking technology that I can recommend to everyone. Provided he's an entrepreneur, not a slacker. Because you have to risk something."