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For LEUCO in Switzerland, the Holz 2019 took place in an anniversary year: the company has been providing quality tools to wood-working companies for 50 years. During this time, the company for machine tools acquired an excellent reputation due to high-quality products, innovations and by focusing on the customers' requirements.

“In Switzerland, almost every manufacturer who wants to produce high-quality products must be our customer”, explains Reinhard Mathis, Managing Director of LEUCO in St. Margrethen, with a smile. In 1969, the company started with a resharpening center and the production of carbide-tipped circular saw blades. Today LEUCO is the leading supplier of carbide- and diamond-tipped machine tools and special tools according to customer's request with almost unlimited possibilities for the industrial and craft sector – including resharpening center.

The innovative tools some of which have made history already in the 70's were very decisive for the success. Groundbreaking products were the first hollow-ground tooth saw blades (Duplovit), the SuperProfiler, a universal cutterhead system with standard body, or ZeroPlan, a quick-clamping system for the through-feed processing.

Today the unique innovations such as the nn-System which minimizes the cutting pressure, increases the cutting quality, extends the edge life and is almost noiseless when in use contribute to this success. This system is already available for many product groups, e.g. the G5-System for finest cutting quality and low noise level processing or the p-System as shank-type cutters or cutters with bore which can achieve previously unattainable cutting quality and edge life.

Another important component for the success of LEUCO are customer-specific products. “These are mainly products developped according to the customer's requirement”, explains Reinhard Mathis: “If there is a bottleneck in the customer's production, we develop a tool which allows a faster processing.” Over the years, various solutions have been developed for Swiss customers. A cutter, for example, for joinery machines with an enormous milling performance and a high surface and edge quality. “You can move a silk tie along the wooden edge, it won't get caught on it”, says Reinhard Mathis.

LEUCO is always looking for solutions that allows them to offer customer-specific tools at the best price-performance ratio. Thus, the company has, for example, developed the Modula system for CNC tools. “We discovered that our customers have different needs, but the requirements made on the tools are similar”, says Reinhard Mathis. This was the cornerstone for the development of the Modula system which was used to configure and replace milling tools using prefabricated series elements. This Modula system is permanently updated and enhanced.

For 50 years, the emphasis has been put on a motivating corporate culture. Often the employees remain in the company for decades, the staff turnover is low. This is why the know-how remains in the company and can be developed further – for the benefit of the customers. “It's very easy", says Reinhard Mathis: “We are honest with each other, have jointly formulated objectives and say what we need. We share information and ask for feedback in a good and fact-based manner.”

And in the future – where will the journey take us? Furthermore, innovation, quality and special developments are at the center of our efforts. Cooperation with machine manufacturers will become more and more important. The developments will only be successful if tool and machine are coordinated with one another. The cooperation with the Swiss vocational schools and universities is to be continued. Finally, the topics digitalization and Industry 4.0 will promote a lot of innovations in the wood-working sector.

One thing is certain: “We will tackle the next 50 years ahead with the same passion that we have shown to our customers over the last 50 years,” concludes Reinhard Mathis.