Quality is at the heart of Perdaen D’Hooghe, upheld by its owners and by extension, their team of 32 employees. By raising the bar time and time again, the company has managed to establish itself as an internationally renowned machine builder. This also includes using state-of-the-art machinery, in which Yamazaki Mazak plays a leading role. Thanks to the two recent additions, a VERSATECH and a VORTEX, repetitive work can now be fully automated, whilst maintaining the same quality standard.
The roots of Perdaen D’Hooghe go all the way back to 1954 when René Perdaen founded a company named ‘The Constructor’. In its early days, The Constructor focused on repairs and minor mechanical parts out of the workshop. Growing steadily, the company completed its first finished machine four years later in 1958, and then rebranded to become Perdaen D’Hooghe in 1969. “What characterizes our three generations is that we always work closely with our customers, locally and abroad”, says grandson and current manager Hans Perdaen. Hans, along with his brother Bram now have the the reins of the Sint-Niklase company, following their father Marc Perdaen.
Perdaen D’Hooghe has been following an international path for some time now, having drawn its first foreign contract in 1976. “We’ve never pinned ourselves down to one sector. We use our expertise in bringing together precision and complexity in machines and parts to service a variety of different industries.”
TAKING THE Step toWARDS unmanned OPERATIONS
Perdaen D’Hooghe is resolutely pioneering total solutions. “We see that our customers need a single partner that can completely unburden them, from design to the end product, whether it is a piece or a machine. Due to the accumulated expertise within the company and within the team, we make designs that combine multiple operations. Therefore, we never sacrifice accuracy or quality. The pieces have become more complex in recent years as our customers are also raising the bar more and more”, says Perdaen.
Due to the scarcity of good people, Perdaen D’Hooghe relies on a high-performance machine park. Yamazaki Mazak has been leading the way for years in the workplace. But to take the next step, the brothers incorporated automation, selecting a VORTEX and a VERSATECH V-100N/240 .
Repetitive, fully automatic runs
The strategy is clear. “We want to make repetitive work happen automatically on these five-axis machining centers, without sacrificing accuracy. They make it possible to process workpieces automatically with a very high accuracy finish.”
The VORTEX, which is already three years old, has been operational for 20 to 22 hours a day thanks to the accompanying
pallet automation. “The fact that everything comes from the same supplier is very convenient. We considered adding pallet automation to the VERSATECH, but we’re currently limited on space and budget. Therefore, we have developed our own calibers to be able to quickly switch between pieces.”
Breathing space to grow
The arrival of these refined five-axis powerhouses has brought about a lot. “The distinction is clear: small batches of challenging products or larger serial work lands on the work tables of these Mazak machines. They’ve given us breathing room to take on more work thanks to the extra unmanned shift and at the same time shorter on the ball. That makes it much easier for me to plan. But, it also gives us the opportunity to take necessary steps for growth.” To lay the foundation for that growth, Perdaen also replaced two QT lathes last year.
“We already knew the Mazak brand. Since installation, the Mazak machines have proven to be very good value for money, with a long lifespan. In addition, we value the excellent service. The proximity of service engineers means downtime is always minimal.”
Hans Perdaen, Manager
