What if you could get more production from your EDM process without simply adding more machines?

Or automate your EDM operation without requiring an operator to stop the process every time tooling needs to be changed?

Those are two of the manufacturing challenges Rapid Holding Systems and EDM Zap will explore at IMTS 2026.

From September 14-19 at McCormick Place in Chicago, visitors to EDM Zap Booth #338270, South Building, Level 3 will be able to see two specialized EDM systems featuring RHS precision workholding:

• A custom four-head EDM machine
• An EDM robotic system with automatic tooling capabilities

These are very different machines, but both address the same larger question:

How can manufacturers get more productive time from their EDM equipment while reducing unnecessary setup and operator intervention?

Why Rapid Holding Systems and EDM Zap Are Working Together

EDM Zap has been working with EDM technology since 1971. Today, the company develops EDM equipment, multi-head systems, automated production cells, robotic loading solutions, custom machines, and complete processes built around specific manufacturing requirements.

Their philosophy is simple:

“We don't just sell EDM machines. We engineer EDM manufacturing solutions that improve production.”

At Rapid Holding Systems, our focus is the tooling and workholding side of that production equation.

We provide precision workholding for CNC, EDM, and Wire EDM applications, including System 3R compatible tooling, EROWA compatible tooling, Wire EDM workholding, custom fixtures, and automation-ready setups.

That makes this collaboration a natural fit.

EDM automation is not only about the machine or the robot. The tooling also needs to locate, clamp, release, and repeat consistently.

At IMTS, visitors will be able to see how those pieces come together.

Four EDM Heads in One Machine?

Yes.

One of the systems being displayed by EDM Zap is a custom four-head EDM machine.

Instead of relying on a single EDM head, the machine is built around four heads operating within one system.

For the right production application, a multi-head configuration makes it possible to machine multiple features simultaneously. EDM Zap specifically develops multi-head systems around the geometry of the component and the throughput requirements of the application.

That creates an important opportunity for shops where EDM capacity has become a bottleneck.

Rather than thinking only in terms of adding another individual machine, a manufacturer can consider how multiple EDM operations could happen in parallel within a purpose-built system.

Why Workholding Matters More When You Multiply the Stations

Putting four heads on a machine is only part of the challenge.

Each working position still needs to be located and held consistently.

When production is multiplied across several stations, variation in the setup becomes even more important. Poor positioning at one station can undermine the productivity gained elsewhere.

This is where RHS workholding becomes part of the system.

Our precision workholding is being integrated into the four-head machine to help create a standardized and repeatable setup across its working positions.

The objective is not simply to clamp something to a table.

It is to create a production system where:

• the machine,
• electrodes,
• fixtures,
• workholding,
• and process

all work together around the application.

EDM Zap takes a similar approach to its custom equipment. The company describes its custom machine development as engineering the complete process, including electrode design, fixturing, power supply configuration, automation, and cycle sequence.

What Could a Multi-Head EDM Approach Mean for Production?

The exact benefit depends on the application, so we would not claim that every four-head machine automatically produces four times as much output.

But the principle is straightforward.

When several EDM operations can happen simultaneously, manufacturers have an opportunity to:

• Increase throughput
• Complete multiple burns in parallel
• Make better use of machine floor space
• Reduce the amount of operator attention required per operation
• Standardize repetitive EDM production
• Build the machine around high-volume or specialized applications

That can be particularly interesting for repeat production where the same or similar operations need to be performed consistently.

And at IMTS, you will not have to imagine what four heads inside one EDM system look like.

What About Automating the Tool Changes?

The second project addresses a very different bottleneck.

Imagine investing in EDM automation, but an operator still has to stop what they are doing every time an electrode or tool needs to be changed.

That limits how autonomous the process can really become.

So for the robotic EDM system being prepared for IMTS, RHS and EDM Zap are working on another approach.

Putting a System 3R-Compatible Chuck on the Robot

At the end of the industrial robot, Rapid Holding Systems installed a programmable pneumatic System 3R-compatible chuck.

Why put a chuck directly on the robot?

Because the chuck gives the robot a standardized interface for interacting with compatible EDM tooling.

Think about the system this way:

The robot is the arm.

The RHS pneumatic chuck is the hand.

The tooling rack is the tool library.

The robot provides the movement, but the workholding interface is what allows it to clamp and release compatible tooling.

• The robot moves to the appropriate tooling station.
• The pneumatic RHS chuck aligns with the tooling.
• The chuck clamps the tool.
• The robot removes it from the rack.
• The robot moves the tooling into the required position.
• When that operation is complete, the robot returns the tool.
• The chuck releases it.
• The robot can move to the next tooling position.

RHS also manufactured the tool-change fingers used in the tooling rack, creating the locations where the individual tools can be stored for pickup and return.

EDM Zap's broader automation capability includes robotic loading, automated fixturing, automated electrode changing and integrated production cells, so this IMTS project fits directly into the type of production automation the company develops.

See Both EDM Systems at IMTS 2026

Rapid Holding Systems + EDM Zap

September 14-19, 2026
 McCormick Place, Chicago
 South Building, Level 3
 EDM Zap Booth #338270

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