OKI Launches New Series of EDM Wires Featuring Roundness of 0.25 Microns for All Its Products

OKI Electric Cable (President: Kazunari Kobayashi; head office: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture), an OKI Group subsidiary, launched a new series of electrode wires for wire-cut electrical discharge machines (WEDMs)(*1) used in die machining and other processes. The new electrode wires offer improved 0.25 micron roundness (roundness referring to variations between maximum and minimum wire radii) across the entire series of products. Released in Japan in May 2020, this series of products targets the WEDM market for high-grade dies, medical equipment components, aerospace components, and other applications that require high-precision machining. Sales will subsequently expand into the European and US markets. The annual sales target is 3 billion yen.

New manufacturing technologies have been established to achieve 0.25 micron roundness for all electrode wires of the new series—a quarter of the figure for previous products—and all production lines for electrode wires have been upgraded, successfully reducing the lines that form on machined surfaces due to radius variations. The results improve machined surface quality dramatically compared to results with conventional electrode wires and cut the time required for processes like mirror-polishing after electrical discharge machining, contributing significantly to total cost reduction for customers.

Since launching sales of electrode wires in 1976, OKI Electric Cable has been providing high-grade, high-precision electrode wires to customers worldwide for nearly half a century. OKI Electric Cable electrode wires have gained market recognition for their quality due to their compatibility with automatic wire connection functions (functions for automatically feeding and reconnecting wire that breaks) offered by most of WEDMs, which account for a large share of the current market, in addition to high resistance against breakage and wear. OKI Electric Cable will continue to strive to offer ever-improved products and services to ensure customer satisfaction.

• *1 :Wire-cut electrical discharge machine (WEDM)

  WEDMs use wire of the approximate thickness of a human hair for metal machining. Wire electrical discharge machining refers to melt processing without contact with the workpiece being machined by applying electrical power (heat produced by discharge phenomenon similar to lightning) to melt and cut metal.

Founded in 1881, OKI is Japan’s leading information and telecommunication manufacturer. Headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, OKI provides top-quality products, technologies, and solutions to customers through its info-telecom systems and printer operations. Its various business divisions function synergistically to bring to market exciting new products and technologies that meet a wide range of customer needs in various sectors. Visit OKI’s global website at https://www.oki.com/.

• Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. and Oki Electric Cable Co., Ltd. are referred to as “OKI” and “OKI Electric Cable” in this document, respectively.
• The names of the companies and products mentioned in this document are the trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective companies and organizations.