A legend goes – the future comes


DERIX production hall: CMS goes, Hundegger comes

After 25 years: DERIX replaces its once highly innovative CNC joinery system

The DERIX Group has been producing customised, high-quality engineered timber components for almost 100 years. Twenty-five years ago, the company purchased a highly innovative CNC joinery system for this purpose, with which the DERIX Group was one of the first companies in Europe to be able to precisely join extremely large-format timber components. With the introduction of this CNC technology on a large scale and the precise, automated joinery of very large components, the DERIX Group secured itself a leading role in joinery and thus a decisive competitive advantage. ‘Our CMS has been used to cut timber constructions for outstanding buildings such as the Expo roof in Hanover, the airport terminal in Ireland, the elephant house at Cologne Zoo and the airport in Oslo. At the time, it would not have been possible to precisely bind such large components without this machine,’ recalls Markus Derix, managing owner of the DERIX Group. ‘With the support of our CMS joinery system, DERIX realised projects that were previously almost impossible to realise in timber – and set new standards for timber construction as a whole,’ enthuses Derix. After a quarter of a century of outstanding service and the realisation of unique projects, the time has now come for the CMS to be replaced: Due to the age of the system, future bottlenecks in the procurement of spare parts are foreseeable. As the reliable functioning of the machines is a top priority in production, the company took a forward-looking approach and replaced the system. This is why the DERIX Group is now saying goodbye, reviewing the flagship projects and welcoming the new system, which is in no way inferior to the old one: The new 5-axis gantry machining centre from the manufacturer Hundegger is a new-generation system and therefore even offers numerous advantages. Gunnar Neubert, who works in production planning at the DERIX Group and is responsible for the smooth changeover of the system, is looking forward to the new machine: ‘The Hundegger is more specialised than its predecessor and, thanks to further developed software, enables automated programmes. In addition to the 5-axis unit of the old CMS, it has three 3-axis units, which reduces the frequency of tool changes and enables a faster machining speed to be achieved. Furthermore, the new machine can access a tool changer with up to 100 tools. By replacing the automated CNC system, the DERIX Group is making another important investment in the future and once again demonstrating how much value the company places on its state-of-the-art machinery, which is used to produce and process the large-format timber components with consistently high quality and in a resource-efficient manner. Most recently, the DERIX Group purchased a specialised high-pressure press at its Westerkappeln site, which is used to efficiently produce ribbed and hollow core slabs using state-of-the-art technology. A fully automatic painting machine is also one of the new highlights of DERIX’s machinery.

DERIX flagship projects
Pioneering timber buildings thanks to advanced technology

Expo Hannover (2000) © German Trade Fair AG

Elephant House Cologne (2004) © DERIX-Group

Oslo Airport (2017) © DERIX-Group