COMPANY

PROFILE

Luren Precision
Co., Ltd.
With roots in gear research,
this company continues
developing new designs for
its cutting tools and gearmanufacturing equipment.

By Russ Willcutt

As featured in the May 2011 issue of Gear Solutions Magazine

Seventeen years ago a group of gear specialists from

Taiwans government-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) recognized a local market need
they were equipped to fill. As specialists in designing
and manufacturing gears and cutting tools, while also
working in the area of heat treating, they realized the
need for a high-quality gear cutting tool manufacturer
in Taiwan, so thats what they set out to do.
A group of individuals led by Chuck Chen, our
founder and president, established the Luren Precision Co., Ltd., in 1994, according to Gerald Kuo, who
joined the company in 2004 and is now general manager of its Chicago office, which opened its doors in
July of 2010. The companys first hobs and shaving
cutters were made available to the Taiwan market the
next year.
The early years saw many new developments in gear
cutting technologies and machines, including a CNC
relieving lathe for hobs, a CNC serration machine for
shaving cutters, and CNC hob sharpening machines,
which were used internally for many years before being offered to the public. The company obtained ISO
9001 QA system certification in 1999, and by 2001
Luren was the formal gear cutter supplier for companies such as Honda and Musashi. Hob sharpening machines and worm grinding machines were introduced
in 2005, with 2006 marking the launchand CE System approvalof Lurens horizontal gear profile grinding machine. That was also the year that Luren joined
the American Gear Manufacturers Association. Other
products were developed along the way, including
spinning pumps and driven tool holders.
As for its gear-specific offerings, its hob cutters include multi-gashes, bore and shank-type, special profile, sprocket, spline, worm hobs, milling cutters, and
carbide and inserted-blade hobs. Shaver cutters are
conventional, diagonal, plunge, and underpass, with
shavers for internal gears as well. Its line of equipment includes standard and universal hob sharpening
machines, worm thread grinding machines, horizontal
gear profile grinding machines, and Lurens flagship
model, the LFG-8040 vertical gear profile grinding machine. To date Luren has sold over 100 machine tools
worldwide.
We dont manufacture gears and sell them on the
open market, according to Darian Ditzler, sales engineer, but we do make gears for our own use, such
as in our spinning pumps and driven tool holders.
Weve also invested in top of the line machines like
Klingelnberg, Leitz, and Abar-Ipsen for manufacturing
and testing our gears and hobs. But our pride and joy
is the LFG-8040, which was launched in 2009. We

are getting some great feedback with

this machine.
With a maximum workpiece diameter of 800mm, the LFG-8040 features Fanuc CNC controls and proprietary Luren software that allows the
user to simply enter the dimensions
of the final piece and go to work.
Lurens own service engineersnot
subcontractorsinstall purchased
equipment and remain on-site to
provide training until the operator is
comfortable with the process. The
machine also features an onboard
measurement system, an automatic
stock dividing feature, and diamond
rotary dressing, which are all standard. Troubleshooting can be done
online, saving the customer time
and money. New machines currently
in design include a vertical grinding machine with a maximum workpiece diameter of 1,300mmideal
for applications in the wind energy
marketand a generation-type gear
grinding machine, to augment its
cast of profile grinders.
Our 1,300mm grinding machine is
being developed in collaboration with
one of the major national universities
in Taiwan, Kuo explains, and were
also very excited about the development of our generation-type grinding
machine as well.
With four dedicated sales offices
located around the world, an established network of sales representatives, and a healthy mix of academic
and entrepreneurial philosophies,
Luren will continue conducting R&D
into new cutting tools and equipment
for the gear manufacturing industry.
Weve spent 17 years building our
reputation overseas, and were eager to position ourselves as a quality OEM throughout North America,
as well, Ditzler says. We look forward to showing gear manufacturers
our hob sharpening machine at Gear
Expo, because we feel we can deliver
a very high quality machine tool that
is reasonably priced.

To learn more:
Call (847) 598-3555, e-mail sales@luren.com.tw, or go online to [www.luren.com.tw].

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