Event at Groupe Recomatic: Surface Engineering, from Design to Smart Inspection

Recomatic will open its doors on 10.11.2026 for a half-day on Surface Engineering

What makes a surface “good”? Roughness, appearance, friction, wear resistance, functionality, or the ability to inspect it reliably?

This afternoon will follow the entire surface-engineering journey: from laser structuring and advanced polishing to functional coatings, industrial PVD processes, machine vision and AI-based inspection, before moving to fully automated surface-finishing solutions at Recomatic.

Through complementary perspectives from research, start-ups and industrial companies, we will explore how surfaces can be designed, finished, functionalized, industrialized and intelligently inspected.

Taking place from 13:00 to 18:00, this event is co-organized by Recomatic, Micronarc, and the CoBooster, with concrete insights from inspire, Swiss plasma Polishing, Argor Aljba, Platit, Dgtis and AI Swiss followed by a guided visit of Recomatic’s facilities, and a networking aperitif.

Program

12h45 Welcome coffee

13h00 Opening with Sébastien Wuillaume, Customer Service Director of Recomatic SA, Roland Hirschi, Director of Micronarc, and Joëlle Tosetti, Managing Director of CoBooster

13h30 Presentation from Nikolai Schröder, Postdoctoral researcher at inspire AG : „From light to function: Laser-engineered surfaces“.

inspire is Switzerland’s competence center for production engineering, conducting research and technology transfer to bring scientific advances into industrial practice quickly. It strengthens the innovation power and international competitiveness of Swiss manufacturing through applied R&D, interdisciplinary projects with industry, and training for professionals. Founded in 2004 and a strategic partner of ETH Zurich since 2010, inspire employs over 130 people across Zurich, St. Gallen, and Lugano.

13h50 Presentation from Benoit de Combaud, CEO of Swiss Plasma Polishing: „From rough to mirror finish in one step“

Swiss Plasma Polishing is a Swiss deep-tech company specializing in plasma-based surface finishing. We enable ultra-smooth, high-performance metal surfaces in a single processing step for demanding industrial applications.

14h10 Presentation from Mirko Zago, CTO of Argor-Aljba: „Advanced DLC Coatings for High-Performance Micro-Components“

Argor-Aljba is a nanotechnology coating specialist offering PVD/PACVD (HIPIMS) and patented Dropless® ta-C DLC coatings to improve hardness, wear, corrosion resistance and friction for tooling, medical, automotive, and luxury applications. From feasibility studies to production, they support customers as a technical partner at every stage.

14h30 Coffee break

14h50 Presentation from Andreas Lümkemann, CTO of Platit: „Engineering Cutting Tool Surfaces: From Advanced PVD Coatings to AI-Driven Inspection“

PLATIT AG is a Swiss manufacturer of PVD coating equipment for tools and machine components, part of the BCI Blösch Group, with over 550 systems installed worldwide. Combining ARC, Sputter, and HiPIMS technologies in modular, customizable machines, PLATIT also offers turnkey solutions covering the full tool coating process from pre-treatment to quality control.

15h10 Presentation from Marco Aloe, CEO of Dgtis : „Surface Quality Meets AI“

Dgtis is an integrator of industrial vision systems and the developer of a modular, scalable software framework designed to structure and support the development of business applications for industrial systems, including Industry 4.0 machine automation. The platform includes dedicated modules covering automation, vision, augmented intelligence, data fusion, and Industry 4.0.

15h30 Presentation from Stéphane Fallet, President of AI Swiss Association: „The current adoption of AI in Switzerland’s industrial sector and its potential to enhance quality control by leveraging existing infrastructure without requiring additional devices or hardware.“

AI Swiss is an association dedicated to promoting responsible, ethical, and accessible artificial intelligence. It works to strengthen AI literacy and human-AI co-thinking skills through education, research, and the development of open-source tools. AI Swiss is committed to ensuring that AI enhances human intelligence rather than replacing it, and that everyone can understand, control, and benefit from this technology instead of being shaped by it.

15h50 Presentation from Sébastien Wuillaume, Customer Service Director of Recomatic SA :  « High-Quality Surfaces, Every Time »

With over 65 years of experience, Groupe Recomatic brings together four brands: RECO, BULA, SWIS and COSMAP Srl, with a strong presence in Switzerland and international markets. The Group is a leading specialist in surface-finishing solutions, developing and manufacturing high-performance machines for polishing, grinding and satin-finishing. Since 1962, Groupe Recomatic has served demanding industries including watchmaking, luxury goods, medical technology, aerospace and other high-tech sectors.

16h10 Round Table

16h30 Visit of Recomatic

17h15 Networking aperitif

Presentation of the speakers

Nikolai Schröder, PhD from TU Dresden’s Chair for Laser-Based Manufacturing, is a Postdoctoral Researcher at inspire AG. His research focuses on laser surface structuring, particularly Direct Laser Interference Patterning (DLIP), and on optical process-monitoring methods for controlling micro- and nanoscale surface topographies during manufacturing.

Benoit de Combaud, CEO of Swiss Plasma Polishing. He also founded Combagroup and Infrascreen, developing and bringing to market innovative technologies for controlled-environment agriculture, and is currently affiliated with Berner Fachhochschule BFH. His background combines engineering, product development, entrepreneurship and the industrialisation of new technologies.

Mirko Zago, MSc in Materials Engineering from the University of Trento, is CTO of Argor-Aljba and has a technical background in materials, corrosion protection and advanced coatings. His work focuses on the development and industrialization of PVD/PACVD and DLC-based surface treatments, including tribological and functional coatings for high-performance applications.

Andreas Lümkemann, PhD in Physics from the Technical University of Munich, is CTO and Member of the Executive Board of PLATIT AG. With more than 20 years of experience in thin-film deposition and surface engineering, he works on advanced industrial PVD technologies including Cathodic Arc Evaporation (CAE), Direct Current Magnetron Sputtering (DCMS) and High-Power Impulse Magnetron Sputtering (HiPIMS), with a strong focus on coating architecture, cutting tool performance and process industrialization.

Marco Aloe, CEO of Dgtis, holds a Master’s degree in Microengineering. Before taking on the CEO role in April 2024, he gained experience at SICPA and ESO Group, where he sharpened his technical and management skills. Since stepping in as CEO, Marco leads DGTIS in delivering industrial systems software and vision integration, driving innovation and efficiency for clients across Switzerland.

For Stéphane Fallet, innovation is about what people and organizations can become when technology amplifies them. He is President of AI Swiss, where he connects science, policymakers, and industry to promote AI that strengthens human potential. As Partner at Embiggen X, he helps organizations automate what slows them down and strengthen what makes them valuable, while ensuring full data privacy compliance.

Sébastien Wuillaume is Customer Service Director and a member of the Executive Committee at Recomatic SA. He has a technical background and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in finance, law and economics. His work focuses on business development, project management and customer relations, contributing to the company’s strategic development and the implementation of its objectives.

Logistical informations

Date

Tuesday

10th November 2026

13h00

Location

Parking

Parkplaces are available on site.

Conditions of entry

This event is limited to 50 people.

The event will be in English, with the visit in English and/or French, depending on the attendees.

Registration