More than just a new lease of life: Berkoa continues to develop advanced retrofitting projects with customised solutions for each customer and each need.
In the midst of industrial transformation, where connectivity, efficiency and sustainability are now essential requirements, concepts such as ‘retrofitting’ fall short of describing what companies like Berkoa are doing in the machine tool sector. We are talking about true advanced remanufacturing, where not only is the useful life of a machine extended, but its full functional value is restored, adapting it to current standards of automation, precision and safety.
A clear example is Berkoa’s recent project with a Danobat Toyoda grinding machine, which has gone from being a conventional machine to becoming a connected, secure tool ready for integration into Industry 4.0 production environments. The intervention included a new FANUC FS Oi-TF CNC control, replacement of servomotors and regulators, development of custom software, installation of smart sensors, remote connectivity, new cooling, filtering and hydraulic systems, and full compliance with CE regulations with enclosures, emergency stops and active safety devices. All this with a single objective: to recover the industrial potential of the machine and adapt it to the customer’s current needs.
For Berkoa, every project starts in the same place: talking to the customer. “Our main goal is to give each customer the machine they really need. To do this, the first step is to sit down with them, understand their specific problem or need, and then offer them a specific solution. In some cases, we can start with a second-hand machine, and in others, we have to build it from scratch,” explains Andoni García-Abad, director of Berkoa Machine Tools. This philosophy is summed up well by their slogan: You name it, we make it.
The company has extensive experience in retrofitting and remanufacturing brands such as Danobat, Voumard, Tacchella, Trevisan, DMG, Haux, Dormer, among others. All of them have been converted into more efficient, safer and connectable equipment, capable of responding to new production challenges.
Beyond retrofitting, Berkoa combines its technical knowledge with the development of its own machinery. Among its solutions, SoldAvanza stands out, its advanced rotary friction welding machine equipped with the patented BLSC 4.0 controller, which is also the basis for the digital twin they are currently developing, with real-time monitoring, simulation and continuous improvement capabilities. They have also developed IkasMak 5.1, a machine designed for vocational training centres that allows multiple machining processes to be practised on a single piece of equipment, replicating real production environments to train skilled operators from the outset.
With this overall vision, Berkoa represents a way of working that fits perfectly with the emerging concept of customised and regenerative machine manufacturing: designing, manufacturing, recovering, updating and transforming industrial assets with a sustainable, digital and future-oriented approach. It is not just a matter of reconditioning, but of generating value from what already exists, extending the life cycle of machines and improving their performance beyond their original condition.
In a sector where technological pressure continues to grow, Berkoa demonstrates that regeneration is also innovation.
Source: Metalindustria
