Reishauer NZA

The Reishauer NZA is a CNC gear grinding machine that combines both continuous generating grinding and profile grinding in a single platform, enabling it to handle a broader range of gear geometries and applications than either process alone can address. The NZA occupies a unique position in Reishauer's lineup as the company's multi-process gear grinder, designed for shops that need the throughput of generating grinding for standard production work alongside the flexibility of profile grinding for gears with complex flank modifications, large modules, or non-standard tooth forms. Reishauer developed the NZA to reduce the total number of machines required in a gear manufacturing cell without compromising the process quality that has made Reishauer synonymous with precision gear grinding.

In generating mode, the NZA employs Reishauer's signature threaded grinding wheel process — wheel and workpiece rotate in synchronized continuous engagement, generating involute tooth flanks across the full face width in one continuous pass. In profile mode, the machine dresses the grinding wheel to the exact tooth gap profile and grinds each tooth space individually, enabling it to produce gears with tip relief, root relief, profile modifications, and lead modifications that cannot be achieved with the generating process alone. Switching between modes requires a wheel change and reprogramming, which the NZA's CNC control handles with standardized, repeatable tooling change procedures designed to minimize downtime.

The NZA handles gears up to 260 mm in diameter and modules up to 8 mm, covering the overlap region between automotive and small industrial gear applications. This makes it particularly valuable in shops that grind automotive transmission gears (where continuous generating is optimal) but also occasionally receive large-module industrial gears or gears with extensive flank modifications that require profile grinding. The machine supports up to 400 mm face width in profile mode, enabling long-shaft gears and wide-face industrial gears within the 260 mm diameter limit.

At approximately $900,000-$1,300,000, the NZA is priced between Reishauer's production-only generating grinders and the full industrial-capacity machines. It competes most directly with the Kapp Niles KX series and multi-process offerings from Liebherr. For job shops, small-volume industrial gear producers, and R&D/prototype departments that need maximum process flexibility in a single machine investment, the NZA's dual-process capability provides an economically attractive alternative to purchasing separate generating and profile grinding machines.