VDW participates in Spanflug

The German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW) becomes a minority shareholder in the start-up Spanflug.

The German Machine Tool Builders' Association (VDW) has acquired a minority stake in the Munich-based start-up Spanflug Technologies. Spanflug primarily operates a manufacturing platform for CNC turned and milled parts. These are required for CNC lathes used in the production of musical instruments and camshafts, among other things. Spanflug also offers a fully automated procurement process, from immediate price calculation to ordering in the online store.

"As both sides are interested in long-term, close cooperation, a financial contribution from the VDW was very quickly considered and implemented in addition to the content-related cooperation," says founder Markus Westermeier. The Executive Director of the VDW, Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, says in a press release: "The participation offers great potential, both for our member companies and their customers as well as for the entire mechanical and plant engineering sector in Germany. The aim is to secure the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in Germany in the long term through the use of chip flying technology and the associated efficiency gains."

The VDW has around 300 members and represents 90 percent of the industry's turnover. Spanflug was spun off from a project at the Technical University of Munich in 2018. With the VDW participation, they want to accelerate and expand the development of their platform. "The VDW has extensive industry knowledge and is therefore the ideal partner for us on this path," says Westermeier. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.