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Faster, more efficient and more precise: DRM at STF brings many advantages

One cutting solution for all applications

STF produces large-format system solutions. Thanks to a DRM, sheets, pipes and beams can be processed automatically. A quantum leap on many levels

Published 27.01.2026 | Erich Wörishofer

Company profile:

STF Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbHIndustriestraße 294529 Aicha vorm WaldGermany

STF Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH develops and produces plastic recycling systems for the global market. Systems for recycling PET bottles are in use in Australia and Canada as well as in Egypt, Tahiti and Japan. The approximately 80 employees at the main site near Passau also take care of a second business area: the company designs and manufactures heavy machinery and special systems for large customers, for example port facilities, base frames and housings for gas and water turbines or test benches for tanks and helicopters.

www.stf-group.de

3D cutting center for processing sheet metal, tubes and beams
The machine and plant manufacturer STF has invested in a flexible 3D plasma oxyfuel cutting system from MicroStep, which can be used to automatically process sheet metal, tubes and beams. For the company from Bavaria, this represents a quantum leap in the handling of large-format tasks.

Machine profile:

DRM

Working area for sheets: 21,000 x 3,500 mm
Cutting of pipes Ø 30 - 700 mm and a length of 10,000 mm
Cutting of beams up to HEB 1000 mm and a length of 6,000 mm
3D plasma rotator "pantograph" with tilting up to 120° for weld preparation on beams, pipes, and plates + auto-calibration feature (ACTG®)
2x 2D oxyfuel cutting
Laser scanner for measuring of the real shape of pipes, profiles, and beams
Scanner for Additional Beveling Process (ABP)
Vibration table for discharching slag and small parts

Large automation systems are used in the recycling of plastic. Separating, shredding and sorting are work steps before PET bottles, for example, can later be given a new lease of life. Large-scale solutions for the whole world come from a small town near Passau. This is where STF Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH produces plastic recycling systems as well as special machines of extraordinary dimensions. With the investment in a multifunctional cutting center from MicroStep, the cutting of sheets, tubes and beams has been automated since 2019. For STF, this means a number of advantages. Production is now faster, more efficient and more precise. "MicroStep was the manufacturer that had the best overall package. This is a positive effect that runs through the entire company."

When customers come to STF Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH near Passau in Bavaria for help, it is usually for heavy, large-scale and complex tasks. The products are almost exclusively custom-made and weigh between 5 and 40 tons. The company has two core tasks and in both of them, a well-thought-out idea is ultimately turned into a great result that is used worldwide. "Our main business is the development and manufacture of plastic recycling systems. Our second line of business is heavy engineering, where we build special machines for large customers with high quality standards. These are not series products, but actually individual machines," says Reinhard Friedl, technical operations manager. "Our customers know that: We are flexible, we react quickly. We respond to their wishes and listen to them."

After intensive work by the 80 employees, the products leave the factory in Aicha vorm Wald and are assembled and put into operation around the world. These include plastic recycling machines for PET bottles, for example, but also port facilities, cranes, tank-helicopter test rigs or base frames and housings for gas turbines and water pumps on oil rigs. Everything is done in-house: cutting, bending, assembling, welding, machining, painting, final assembly, test runs and delivery. The challenges are growing. Where once 1 ton per hour was processed, today it is 3 tons. Where once the demands on the quality and tolerances of semi-finished products and products had to be met manually, today the highest standards must be met, especially in the plastics recycling plants. "The systems are getting faster and faster, bigger and bigger, and the output has to keep growing. This is a challenge for design, programming, production and assembly," says Christian Kühberger, who is responsible for work preparation.

The old system was too small – looking for a solution with significantly more options

In addition to the expertise that STF has acquired over the years, it also needs the appropriate mechanical support. And as is usual in many companies, cutting is the first step – as the machines grew, so did the problems. The 3D plasma cutting system used was getting older and the table length was no longer sufficient for all tasks. Accordingly, more and more additional equipment was purchased. "We had very long waiting times and very high prices for our components of 12 meters and more," says Reinhard Friedl, looking back. This issue has long been a thing of the past. Since mid-2019, STF has relied on a cutting center with an enormous degree of multifunctionality for cutting. After lengthy consultation, the company invested in a DRM from MicroStep, which can cut tubes and beams in larger dimensions as well as flat material using a plasma rotator. An oxyfuel torch for thicker sheets is integrated, a laser scanner is used for sheets, tubes and beams and offers a multitude of advantages.

Impressive range of options and process reliability

A quantum leap in automated production in the company. But the road to the multifunctional system was a long one. The first impulse was to buy a new and only longer 3D plasma cutting system. It was only in the course of research and subsequent consultations that the desire for a machine for more than just flat material crystallized. "We asked several manufacturers and looked at what the machines can actually do and what the range is. Two manufacturers remained, with whom we also had demonstrations," Kühberger looks back. An analysis of the parts to be processed in the company brought certainty: "MicroStep was the manufacturer that offered the best overall package. We saw that: We can process tubes, we can process beams, we can execute bevels on large sheet thicknesses, we can also carry out additional, subsequent bevels – we have many applications for this too. The MicroStep machine had the greatest possibilities," says the work planner responsible for cutting.

Automation instead of time-consuming manual beveling, beam notching and tube processing

And these are being used more and more. STF processes sheet metal from 3 to 180 mm (mainly structural steels from S235 to S690), beams from HEB 200 to HEB 1000 and tubes from 50 mm to 700 mm in diameter with wall thicknesses of 3 to 50 mm. Where tubes and beams used to be cut and notched manually, STF is now many times faster and more accurate. The large number of automated weld seam preparations also saves an enormous amount of time. Only a small amount of sheet metal is kept in stock; most of it is order-related and processed just-in-time.

"A positive effect that runs through the entire company"

"We are very satisfied. The machine runs well. We weren't promised anything that doesn't work. We can cover our entire spectrum ourselves and even expand it," emphasizes Reinhard Friedl. "This is a milestone from the old machine to the new one. We are trying to exhaust the machine to the last detail," says the operations manager. His colleague Christian Kühberger adds: "And the best thing is, we still have room for improvement. We can always think of more nonsense that we can do with the machine." The market is becoming ever tighter and prices have to be calculated more and more tightly. For Kühberger, a cutting solution that has paid off on many levels. "Logically, because we can now do a lot automatically at the very beginning, we save a lot of time and then have more manpower for assembly, welding and other reworking. We also have significantly higher component accuracy. These are all positive effects that run through the entire company."

"Because we can now automate a lot at the very beginning, we save a lot of time and then have more manpower for assembly, welding and other reworking. We also have significantly higher component accuracy. These are all positive effects that run through the entire company."

Christian Kühberger

Work Preparation | STF Maschinen- und Anlagenbau GmbH

OVERVIEW OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PLASMA AUTOGEN CUTTING SYSTEM DRM:

3D cutting center with plasma rotator for sheet metal processing on 21,000 x 3,500 mm

STF opted for MicroStep's strong specialist, the DRM series, due to its combination of versatility and robustness. A Tecloga OXYtrac 35205 1050 HD vibration table was integrated instead of the standardized CNC cutting table. The vibration table enables small parts and slag to be discharged into a designated collection container. A work surface of 21,000 x 3,500 mm is available for 3D sheet metal processing. "We have many different customers with different applications, with lots of bevels and different angles," says Christian Kühberger.

"Pantograph" plasma rotator for 3D processing of sheet metal, tubes and profiles

With the integrated "Pantograph" plasma rotator, inclination angles of up to 90° (up to 120° one-sided) can be achieved. The endlessly rotating bevel unit enables extended 3D processing of sheet metal, tubes and profiles. A powerful Kjellberg HiFocus 440i neo is connected as the plasma power source.

Two fully automatic oxyfuel torches for higher material thicknesses

Sheets up to 180 mm thick have to be cut at STF for heavy machine construction. For thicker materials, two fully automated oxy-fuel torches have been integrated into the DRM in order to cut quickly and efficiently in parallel cutting mode.

3D processing of profiles up to 1,000 mm edge length

When building heavy machinery, beams are often required as a frame construction or as a platform. Using the 120° rotator, H, U and L profiles up to HEB 1000 can be cut and notched precisely and automatically in a separate zone at one end of the system. STF achieves the greatest possible precision in profile processing through the use of innovative MicroStep technology. The tube cutting device rotates the profile into position, while a laser scanner installed on the gantry records the surface geometry in the cutting area of the workpiece. The 3D CAM software mCAM® compensates for production-related deviations from the ideal contour, corrects the parameters based on the 3D scan and sets the cutting paths accordingly. "The combination of torch and laser scanner gives us greater component accuracy and immense time savings," says Christian Kühberger.

Fully automated processing of tubes from 50 to 700 mm in diameter

Tubes from 50 to 700 mm in diameter with wall thicknesses of 3 to 50 mm and lengths of up to 10,000 mm: The integration of a zone for automated tube processing is regularly used at STF and has led to enormous advantages in production. Where previously cutting was done manually with makeshift tools and cut-outs with and without bevels, this is now done efficiently by the DRM. The result: with the new solution, the company is five times faster at cutting tubes to size.