EDM photography from AGIE since 1954 now online

EDM pioneer AGIE SA has been part of the GF family for 25 years: In July 1996, Georg Fischer AG acquired a majority stake in the Ticino-based company and merged AGIE with its subsidiary Charmilles Technologies AG in Geneva to form the Agie Charmilles division. Today, the Electric Discharge Machining Technology Division forms the core of the Machining Solutions Division.

AGIE stands for "AG for Industrial Electronics". The company was founded in 1954 and presented the first electric discharge machine at the European Machine Tool Exhibition in Milan in the same year. In 1955, AGIETRON was registered as a trademark. Together with Charmilles Technologies, AGIE is one of the pioneers of electric discharge machining technology. This technology allows electrically conductive materials of any hardness to be machined with the highest precision. It is based on the principle that sparks jump between an electrode and the workpiece to be machined, which remove the material by melting.

Just in time for the 25th anniversary, the GF Corporate Archives have digitized over 600 early photographs of AGIE since 1954. Around 400 of them are accessible in our picture gallery. They show the production in Losone, the colorful aesthetic machines with clear shapes or the assembly at customers. There is also evidence of the early connection between GF and AGIE: As early as 1972, AGIE supplied GF's machine factory and large steel foundry in Schaffhausen with its famous AGIETRON precision machines.

Enjoy browsing through the photos and the history of AGIE!