Fastems Systems GmbH

A new part comes in. The batch is small. The tools are different, the fixtures need changing, and perhaps another order suddenly moves up the priority list.

By the time the machine is cutting again, quite a bit of productive time may already have been lost.

That is a familiar situation for many aerospace and defence suppliers. The parts are demanding, batch sizes are often small, and the CNC machines they run on are too valuable to spend their time waiting.

The question is not only how fast a part can be machined. It is also how much time disappears around the machining itself: during setup, while workpieces, pallets or tools are being prepared, or simply because the next job is not ready when the machine is.

Flexible automation can take a lot of that waiting out of the process. Pallets and workpieces can be prepared and supplied automatically, setup work can be shifted away from the machine, and production can keep running for longer without an operator, including overnight and at weekends.

And the hardware is only one side of it.

Fastems Manufacturing Management Software keeps track of the production plan and the resources behind it. If priorities change, an urgent order comes in or a required resource is not available, the plan can be recalculated accordingly.

That matters in high-mix, low-volume production. The aim is not simply to automate more. It is to keep the machines productive while the production mix keeps changing.

Fastems is showing how this works this week at AMB in Stuttgart, with both hardware and software on display.

If you are machining parts for aerospace and defence and want to see where more productive machine hours could come from in your own production, come and talk to us.

Fastems at AMB 2026
Hall 10 | Booth A51
15–19 September 2026

Get your free day ticket code →