StarragTornos

StarragTornos Group is a Swiss industrial company headquartered in Rorschacherberg that develops, manufactures, sells, and services precision machine tools. The group was created through the merger of Starrag Group and Tornos Holding AG, with the combined company entered in the Swiss commercial register on 7 December 2023. Its two principal operating divisions retain distinct historical identities and technical specialisms: Starrag focuses on high-performance machining for demanding industrial components, while Tornos concentrates on precision turning and automated production systems. The group’s product portfolio covers milling, turning, drilling, grinding, and related machining processes for metal, composite, and ceramic workpieces. Its equipment includes five-axis machining centres, horizontal and vertical machining systems, CNC sliding-headstock automatic lathes, multi-spindle machines, machining centres for complex precision parts, and associated production technologies. StarragTornos also supplies manufacturing packages that can combine machine tools with process software, workholding, tool holders, automation, and peripheral equipment. The company serves sectors in which dimensional accuracy, productivity, repeatability, and the ability to process difficult materials are commercially important. These markets include aerospace, power generation, transportation, watchmaking, medical and precision engineering, and other advanced manufacturing applications. Starrag-branded systems are associated with the production of turbine blades, impellers, blisks, and complex structural components. Parts produced using the group’s machines have been used in major aircraft programs, including the Airbus A380 and Boeing 787, according to the company’s reference material. The group combines a long-established Swiss machine-tool heritage with a geographically distributed manufacturing and service network. In 2024, the Starrag division employed 1,396 people across nine production sites in Switzerland, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and India, while the Tornos division employed 638 people at several production facilities. The combined workforce was approximately 2,034 people. StarragTornos markets products under multiple established brands inherited from the two predecessor groups, allowing it to address both large, complex workpieces and high-volume production of small, highly precise components. Starrag’s lineage reaches back to 1897, when Henry Levy established a Rorschacherberg workshop making threading machines for the textile industry. The business later moved into lathes and milling machines, developed an early five-axis milling machine, and expanded through acquisitions including Heckert, Dörries Scharmann Technologie, and Bumotec. Tornos traces its origins to 1880 in Moutier, where Nicolas Junker began producing machines for small watchmaking parts. Its history includes the integration of the Pétermann and Bechler businesses and the acquisition of Almac. The merger created a larger publicly traded Swiss machine-tool group with complementary capabilities in high-performance machining and precision turning. StarragTornos Group AG is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. In the 2024 financial year, the group reported approximately CHF 494 million in sales, CHF 15.4 million in operating profit, and CHF 11.85 million in net profit, according to the cited reference material. The company is managed through group leadership alongside divisional responsibility for Starrag and Tornos.

StarragTornos brings together two important strands of Swiss machine-tool history. The Starrag lineage began in 1897, when Henry Levy established a workshop in Rorschacherberg to produce threading machines for the textile industry. These machines mechanised a task associated with embroidery production and helped the business develop an early industrial customer base. By 1910, the workshop had produced thousands of machines. The textile crisis that followed the outbreak of the First World War pushed the business toward metalworking equipment. In 1917 it began producing turret and parallel lathes, followed by milling machines from 1920. The company adopted the name Starrfräsmaschinen AG Henri Levy and later Starrfräsmaschinen AG. During the 1920s it expanded its facilities and workforce. After Levy’s death in 1947, the company continued to grow and established a strong position in precision machine tools. In the post-war period it developed what is described in the reference material as the world’s first five-axis milling machine, an important step in the development of advanced multi-axis machining. Starrag pursued a more international and acquisition-led structure in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It became publicly traded in 1998, acquired Heckert Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH in Chemnitz in the same year, and subsequently operated under the StarragHeckert holding structure. In 2006, the group acquired a controlling interest in Toolroom Technology Limited and the activities of Société d’Instruments de Précision. In 2011 it acquired Dörries Scharmann Technologie from the insolvent A-Tec Industries, bringing brands and technologies including Dörries, Scharmann, Droop + Rein, Ecospeed, and Berthiez into the group. In 2012, Bumotec SA, known for machinery used in watchmaking and related precision applications, became part of Starrag, and StarragHeckert AG was renamed Starrag AG. Tornos has an earlier origin in Moutier. In 1880, mechanic Nicolas Junker began making machines for small watchmaking components. The company, then known as Junker et Cie., introduced mass-produced lathes in 1886 and contributed to the development of the Swiss-type lathe. Financial difficulties led to the bankruptcy of the original business in 1905, but a successor Tornos company was established in 1914 and resumed the manufacture of automatic lathes. Tornos operated in a competitive regional machine-tool environment alongside businesses associated with Joseph Pétermann and André Bechler. It acquired the Pétermann plant in 1971 and later incorporated Bechler’s business. These combinations resulted in Tornos-Bechler SA in 1981. The company adopted the name Tornos SA in 2001, bringing the three historical names together under one corporate identity, and was listed on the stock exchange that year. Tornos expanded its capabilities through the 2008 acquisition of Almac in La Chaux-de-Fonds. It also established production facilities in Xi’an, China, and Taichung, Taiwan, in 2014, followed by a Polish plant employing 40 people in 2022. The modern group was created when Starrag Group Holding AG merged with Tornos Holding AG in 2023. Starrag AG became a subsidiary of the new StarragTornos Group, while the two operating divisions continued to carry their respective technical and market identities. StarragTornos Group AG was registered on 7 December 2023 and is headquartered in Rorschacherberg. The group is listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The combined business addresses a broad range of precision-manufacturing requirements. Starrag supplies high-performance machining systems for large and complex workpieces, including aerospace structures, turbine components, impellers, and blisks. Tornos contributes expertise in CNC sliding-headstock automatic lathes, multi-spindle machines, and machining centres for small and complex precision parts. Together, the divisions offer equipment and supporting technologies for aerospace, power generation, transportation, watchmaking, and precision engineering. In 2024, the group employed approximately 2,034 people and operated through the production and commercial networks inherited from both predecessor companies.

1. 2024First reported full year of the combined group

   The group reported approximately CHF 494 million in sales and employed about 2,034 people.

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2. 2023StarragTornos Group is created

   Starrag Group Holding AG and Tornos Holding AG merged to form the StarragTornos Group.

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3. 2012Bumotec joins Starrag

   Starrag acquired Bumotec SA, expanding its capabilities in machinery for watchmaking and precision manufacturing.

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4. 2011Starrag acquires Dörries Scharmann Technologie

   StarragHeckert acquired the machine-tool group from A-Tec Industries, adding several established industrial brands.

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5. 2008Tornos acquires Almac

   Tornos acquired the Swiss machine manufacturer Almac in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

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6. 2001Tornos-Bechler becomes Tornos SA

   The renaming consolidated the historical Tornos, Pétermann, and Bechler identities under the Tornos name, and Tornos was listed on the stock exchange.

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7. 1998Starrag becomes publicly traded and acquires Heckert

   The Starrag predecessor entered the stock market and acquired Heckert Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH in Chemnitz.

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8. 1981Tornos-Bechler is formed

   The integration of Tornos and Bechler activities led to the formation of Tornos-Bechler SA.

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9. 1971Tornos acquires the Pétermann plant

   The acquisition strengthened Tornos’s position in the Swiss precision-turning industry.

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10. 1920Milling-machine production begins

    The Starrag predecessor expanded from lathes into milling machines.

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11. 1917Starrag predecessor shifts into machine tools

    Following the disruption of the regional textile industry during the First World War, the company began producing turret and parallel lathes.

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12. 1897Henry Levy establishes the Starrag predecessor

    Henry Levy founded a Rorschacherberg workshop that initially produced threading machines for textile manufacturing.

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13. 1880Tornos lineage begins in Moutier

    Nicolas Junker established a business making machines for small components used by the watchmaking industry.

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A Swiss precision-machine-tool group serving advanced manufacturing industries through high-performance machining, precision turning, production automation, and integrated manufacturing solutions.

• Starrag five-axis machining centresHigh-performance machining

  Starrag’s five-axis machining systems are designed for complex workpieces that require simultaneous or coordinated multi-axis cutting. They are used for high material-removal rates and demanding geometries in aerospace, power generation, transportation, and related industries. Typical applications include turbine blades, impellers, blisks, and large structural components. Starrag’s offering can be combined with process software, workholding, tool holders, automation, and other peripheral equipment.

• Tornos sliding-headstock automatic lathesPrecision turning

  Tornos sliding-headstock automatic lathes are intended for the efficient production of small, precise, and often geometrically complex components. The technology descends from the Swiss-type turning tradition associated with watchmaking and precision engineering in the Jura region. Systems are used where repeatability, fine tolerances, throughput, and automated machining of slender or intricate parts are important.

• Tornos multi-spindle machinesAutomated turning

  Tornos multi-spindle machines support automated production of precision-turned components in environments where several machining operations must be performed efficiently. They serve industrial customers requiring high productivity and consistent output, including transportation, precision engineering, and other component-manufacturing applications.

• Machining centres for complex precision partsPrecision machining

  The group supplies machining centres for complex parts across both large-workpiece and small-component applications. Depending on the platform, these systems support milling, turning, drilling, grinding, or combinations of processes. They are positioned for manufacturers seeking integrated, repeatable production of metal, composite, or ceramic workpieces.

• 2023Merge Starrag Group and Tornos HoldingM&A

  The two Swiss machine-tool companies had complementary capabilities: Starrag was focused on high-performance machining, while Tornos had deep expertise in precision turning and automated production.

  What changed. Starrag Group Holding AG and Tornos Holding AG combined to create StarragTornos Group, with Starrag AG and the Tornos division operating within the new group structure.

  Aftermath. The transaction created a broader publicly traded machine-tool group with approximately 2,034 employees in 2024 and activities spanning complex high-performance machining and precision component production.

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• 2024StarragTornos reports 2024 group sales of approximately CHF 494 million

  The group reported approximately CHF 494 million in sales, CHF 15.4 million in operating profit, and CHF 11.85 million in net profit for 2024.

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• 2023Starrag Group and Tornos combine to form StarragTornos Group

  Starrag Group Holding AG and Tornos Holding AG merged, creating the combined StarragTornos industrial machine-tool group.

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• 2023StarragTornos Group entered in the commercial register

  The newly formed group was entered into the Swiss commercial register on 7 December 2023.

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1. StarragTornos
2. Starrag official website