1679
In 1679 the Dutch government founded the Ordnance factory “Artillery Inrichtingen” (A.I.) for the production of ammunition. A.I. started producing machine tools which they required for their own production. 1939 A.I. started selling machine tools to 3rd parties under the Hembrug brand name. More than 10.000 have been supplied worldwide since then. 1969 The company started the development of a turning machine with hydrostatic bearings under the registered name Mikroturn®. First application: memory hard disks which needed a very smooth surface. 1973 In 1973 the Dutch government separated A.I. in two different companies, EuroMetaal and Hembrug. In 1982 Hembrug was privatized and moved to Haarlem. Hembrug decided to focus completely on the development, assembly and marketing of precision and fully hydrostatic turning machines.
1989 Start of research of finish hard turning within submicron (It 3-5) tolerances on the Mikroturn® series.
1994 Development of the Slantbed Mikroturn® 100 CNC, specially designed for finish hard turning of medium sized components up to a diameter of 310 mm. 1997 Development of the Slantbed-Mikroturn 50 CNC for finish hard turning of small sized componants up to a diameter of 120 mm. 1999 Start development of the Vertical-Mikroturn series for large large componants up to a diameter of 1.000 mm. 2004 Start development 4-axis Vertical-Mikroturn® 950 CNC allowing to simultaneously machine inside and outside diameters of large ultra precision componants. This simultaneous way of machining allows a reduction of cycle-time up to 40% compared to a two axis way of machining. 2008 Hembrug took over the further development and marketing of the 5-axis fully hydrostatic 5-axis milling machine Nano-Focus from its former sister company Hemtech. In 2008 the Nano-Focus was awarded the Dutch Golden Technishow Innovation Award. 2008 Start of the development of the Mikroturn® 1400 CNC. Hard turning and finish grinding combined in one hybrid vertical lathe. 2009 Opening of new assembly hall. This temperature controlled hall is especially designed for the assembly of large machine tools.The new building also creates the space needed to expand other disciplines, such as engineering, R&D and production management.
