Liechti Engineering AG celebrates 150th anniversary

Liechti Engineering AG, a subsidiary of GF Machining Solutions, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this month. Established in 1865 as a farm equipment manufacturer, Liechti Engineering is now a global leader in the production of airfoil machining solutions for the aerospace and power generation industries.

Throughout its 150-year history, Liechti Engineering's driving goal has been to produce high-quality machines that increase customers' efficiency. That goal has led to a wide range of innovations.

In 1983, the company began specializing in single- and multi-spindle milling machines for high-speed cutting of complex curved surfaces such as turbine blades and impellers. Advancements in this area continued, with the Turbosoft plus CAM programming system for 5-axis airfoil manufacturing in 1987, Turbomill 5-axis machining center for medium-sized turbine components in 1994 and Turboblisk machine for highly dynamic 5- and 6-axis machining in 1997.

Liechti Engineering introduced the g-Mill in 2002, substantially expanding the range of applications served by its technology. In 2008, the company introduced the first Turbomill with g-technology, representing another significant innovation within the industry.

The company merged with GF Machining Solutions in 2014 and continues to develop and offer standard-setting single- and multi-spindle machines. Liechti Engineering has been a leader in creating solutions for ultra-dynamic machining of titanium, Inconel, titanium aluminide and high-alloy steels. The resulting technologies are used by such luminaries as General Electric, Pratt & Whitney, Safran-Snecma, Siemens, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems and Sulzer.