Group
The Waterjet Group is a conglomerate which has grown steadily. It quasi-depicts the development of Waterjet.
Today, 6 different companies belong to the Waterjet Group. Waterjet Holding AG is itself a part of the Waterjet Group and it regulates the financing of the various companies in the group, all of which provide services in the domain of water jet cutting.
The company „Maurer and Affentranger, Waterjet“, founded in 1989, commissioned its first water jet cutting machine in September of the same year. In 1992 it became Waterjet AG. By focusing on water jet technology, expertise and know-how could be steadily increased. In addition to the improvement of existing machines, cutting systems and concepts, this includes, more than anything else, the development of new ones.
The building of the research and development laboratory for abrasive waterjet micro technology and the development of AWJmm® precision waterjet technology were crucial steps in this continued development. Today the research / development laboratory is an independent company and a member of the Waterjet Group (Micromachining AG).
The company Waterjet AG today employs around 40 staff and possesses 28 machines from leading manufacturers in this field, in a large machine park dedicated to 2D, 2.5D and 3D and all micro-cutting processes. The micro-cutting processes were transferred to a separate company which is a part of the Waterjet Group (Microwaterjet AG).
Today, Waterjet AG is a world-renowned specialist for individual solutions and process and machine developments.
Infrajet AG was founded in 2005 by Waterjet Holding AG. To this day, Infrajet AG is responsible for maintenance and upkeep of the buildings, and the furniture and its management.
In addition, it buys, sells and rents infrastructure, systems, vehicles and buildings for various material processing methods. It provides infrastructure for the water jet technologies and maintains it. Furthermore, it provides all kinds of service, maintenance and consultancy services in the domain of waterjet technology.
Micromachining AG was founded in 2003 and can be traced back to Walter Maurer‘s initiative, when a client was looking for a product which could not be produced up until that time: never before had cutting in such small dimensions been accomplished – with this being the case, the fact that there was no machine up to the task, spoke for itself.
After intensive research and development work toward the manufacture of a precision water jet cutting machine, the initial prototype was able to be commissioned. The newly developed procedure, which uses precision water jet technology AWJmm®, uses a high-precision water jet with a cutting accuracy of +/- 0.01mm and a positioning accuracy of ±0.005mm. In oder to ensure precise tolerances and surface finishes, a specially equipped testing laboratory for Microwaterjet was built.
The result of this innovation is a technology which bridges the gap between known technologies such as abrasive water jet cutting (macro range) as well as traditional methods such as EMD and laser fare.
Micromachining AG is a centre of excellence for research and development work in the domain of waterjet cutting. It develops both new cutting methods and new cutting systems for all the companies of the Waterjet Group.
Today, the machines developed for the micro waterjet cutting process are manufactured and sold, under licence, under the name Microwaterjet®. Micromachining AG remains the owner of the patents and the trademarks.
Microwaterjet AG was founded in 2009 and specialises in the domain of micro waterjet cutting. After Micromachining AG developed the precision waterjet cutting technology AWJmm®, its own company (Microwaterjet AG) came into being; a product of its self-developed technique and the subsequent orders with ever more sophisticed specification features.
The company is a European leader in the application of abrasive waterjet cutting technology and it operates 10 cutting machines. With the consistent application of its proprietary precision waterjet technology AWJmm®, which increases accuracy tenfold and reduces the cutting gap by a factor of 5, Microwaterjet is an essential partner to Micromachining AG as far as research and further development of AWJmm ® are concerned.
Abritec AG is responsible for the distribution and sales of all types of abrasive and blasting means, as well as that of all waterjet cutting-related wearing parts e.g. tubing.
Abritec AG has many years of experience in the field of surface cleaning and surface treatment. It positions itself as a provider of optimal process results services in the domain of high-pressure water cutting. This service focuses on process optimisations which are tailored to individual customers. In particular, this includes the consideration that optimal abrasive material is used for each application.
Furthermore, Abritec is a specialist in the disposal of cutting means and technical support as well as the recycling of abrasive materials.
The company WS-Tech in St. Gallen is a partner of Waterjet AG and part of Waterjet Holding AG. It is a specialist in 2D water jet cutting and, by extension, a specialist in foam insertion solutions and similar special products.
Located in St. Gallen, it covers the market for clients in East Switzerland.