Sustainability
Smart is clean too
A new factory has nothing to unlearn
We started in 2022 with a clean slate. That went for our software and our robots, and just as much for the question of how clean a machining company can work. So our roof is covered in solar panels, the machines also run when the power grid is quiet, there is no oil in our coolant and not a single chip ends up as waste. Four choices, one by one below.
Power from our own roof
The roof of our factory in Opmeer is covered in solar panels from ridge to gutter. We use the power they generate for our machines.
Running when the grid is quiet
Our robots work 24 hours a day, at night and in the weekend too. That spreads our consumption over the whole day, instead of asking for everything at the moment the whole country needs power.
Cooling and lubricating without oil
Our machines cool and lubricate with Folia A by TotalEnergies. A water-based coolant, without mineral oil, made from renewable raw materials. Read more about it below.
Chips and tools become new metal
Machining is taking material away, so chips come with the job. With us none of them is lost. All our chips and all our worn-out tools go to the recycler and are melted down into new metal.
Folia A: water instead of oil
In machining, fluid runs over the tool and the product all the time. It cools, lubricates and carries the chips away. Almost everywhere that fluid is an emulsion of mineral oil in water. We chose something else.
Folia A by TotalEnergies is a water-based coolant, without oil. It is made from renewable raw materials of biological origin. It is designed for aluminium and suited to the other metals we machine.
Want to know more? TotalEnergies describes the range on its page about Folia.
What that brings
- For our people. No hazard symbols on the drum. Less mist and less odour in the hall, and kinder to the skin.
- For the environment. No mineral oil and no boron. The bath lasts longer, so less fluid is needed and less has to be disposed of.
- For the machines. Cleaner machines and a cleaner shop floor, and tools that last longer.
- For your product. No oil residue on the part. It comes out of the machine cleaner and needs less finishing, and the high cooling capacity keeps product and tool cool while machining.