Details

January 2019

Why it is worthwhile buying quality tools at Hjerno

Tools that are ready for production and that work from day one. Longer life span. And technically competent feedback from a house filled with specialists.

These are just some of the reasons why it - according to Aage Agergaard, Managing Director at Hjerno Tool Factory - will virtually always be worthwhile paying a little more for a quality tool produced at Hjerno than a standard tool bought in Asia.

"In the end, you quite simply get a better product. Our tools have a provable far longer lifespan than a foreign tool. Among other things, this is due to the fact that the time spent on producing tools here at Hjerno is used on simulations, sample optimisation, consultancy support, project participation and a host of other services. This means that the project will be much more well thought through, because the customer can use us as specialists and sparring partners along the way," says Aage Agergaard.

He also highlights the fact that with a tool produced in Odense the customers avoid the addition of the six weeks of transport by sea, which for example an East Asian tool will usually need.

Payback time of a maximum of one year
Another parameter is the fact that Hjerno delivers tools ready for production, which - thanks to meticulous testing and sample optimisations - are ready to be included into the customer's production from day one.

"The customer will get a more efficient high-speed tool, where everything around the tool is optimised. Our calculations show that even if the customer pays the famous 30 per cent more for a tool from Hjerno than from a manufacturer in China, the tool from Hjerno has paid itself back within a few months and at most within one year – partly because we can quickly adjust the tool and carry out small repairs. Due to our own specialists we also have the opportunity to be present when the tool is commissioned in the customer's production," says Aage Agergaard.

All Hjerno tools are equipped with a two-year warranty, which as a rule is much more than what the foreign tool factories offer. At the same time, it is almost impossible in practice to enforce such a guarantee towards a foreign supplier – with transport back and forth and repair at the foreign factory it may easily take four to five months before the tool is back at the customer's location.

In-house optimisation of foreign tools
Aage Agergaard makes no secret of the fact that Hjerno to a lesser extent offers tools manufactured in the East to Hjerno’s customers. But in this case we are talking about tools, where Hjerno itself supervises the process from start to finish, and where it makes sense that it is a "low-cost tool".

"We handle the entire construction ourselves, we instruct the Asian factory in how all of the parts are to be manufactured, we disassemble the tool when it arrives to Hjerno, measure the critical parts and, if necessary, we manufacture new parts, and then reassemble the tool. But that being said, it is still a tool primarily for simpler tasks, small quantities or as a kind of prototype," finalises Aage Agergaard.