Machining Centers & Cells
in families ranging from general purpose to moldmaking, with variations in design that are capable of heavy-duty metal re- moval without sacrificing fine surface finishes or the ability to handle a wide range of materials. Here are examples from the end-user point of view and that of the designers, builders, and distributors of advanced machine technology to meet these challenges shops face on a daily basis.
There Must be a More Efficient Way
When OVM Design and Manufacturing LLC (Westminster, MD) was awarded a contract for a job consisting of 49 dif- ferent components that would run over 18 months, Bob and Rob Baird, father and son and OVM co-owners, respectively, looked to their machine tool dealer for help. “We were running the part on a nonpalletized vertical machining center and thought there must be a more efficient solution,” said Bob Baird. “Our customers were driving us to produce parts faster and with extreme accuracy.” Their machine tool dealer, MTA Co. Inc. (Ellicott City, MD), recommended the Fanuc RoboDrill PC2, from importer Methods Machine Tools Inc. (Sudbury, MA) as a way to significantly improve productivity.
a variety of metal and plastic components for recurring or one- off jobs, ranging from small lots to quantities of several thou- sand, took the recommendation and purchased the RoboDrill. “The RoboDrill is great for making fast, light cuts includ- ing drilling, tapping and light milling,” said Rob Baird. “The palletized machine allows us to load parts or change fixtures on one pallet while machining is done on the second pallet. And the toolchanger is very fast.” For example, one of the components they produced was an aluminum side plate for an assembly. This operation included 10–12 tools, which took eight seconds each to change prior to the RoboDrill. With the RoboDrill, tool changes were drastically reduced to only 1.5 seconds each. “We reduced machining time on this job by 30% and met our delivery with a high-quality part,” Rob said. OVM again turned to its dealer on a recurring job for a hous- ing chassis made of 2024 aluminum that OVM needs to run to produce a quantity of 35 parts daily to fill orders of 250 about twice a year. MTA recommended the Feeler VMP-580 APC from Methods Machine Tools with an automatic pallet changer (APC) and a 24-tool ATC. “We use two vises on each pallet. On the first vise, we mill the pockets and part profile; then we move the part to a second vise to position the 2.0" [51 mm] of height, as well as drill and countersink a few holes. Every time we change pallets we have a completed part. With the Feeler VMC, we estimate we are saving about 25% of time on this job alone because the pallets allow one operator to load and unload parts while the VMC is running,” said Rob Baird.
The experience of the Bairds is typical of many shops that don’t have the luxury of long lead times to produce the parts their customers require. Shops are always looking for a better way of meeting their customers’ requirements. They make their choices based on the performance, reliability and reputa- tion of their machine tool suppliers.
Rob Baird (L) and Bob Baird (R), father and son co-owners of OVM Design and Manufacturing LLC (Westminster, MD) needed an economical VMC palletized solution to provide the horsepower and machine rigidity to produce a housing chassis, as well as other parts. The Bairds found the solution in a high-performance Feeler VMP-580 APC from Methods Machine Tools Inc.
The RoboDrill is a vertical machining center with a
heavy-duty, high-speed 30-taper, 24,000-rpm spindle and an integrated pallet-changing system for pallet changes in seven seconds. OVM, which is a general job shop that manufactures
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ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | April 2013
Control Technology Drives Machine Development A distinguishing characteristic of machining centers and CNC lathes manufactured by Hurco Companies Inc. (India- napolis, IN) is differentiation of its products through develop- ment of its own advanced CNC control technology. “Machining centers from Hurco can be found in any shop that values a machine that’s easy to program for getting jobs done quickly in virtually any product category,” said Greg Volovic, execu- tive vice president-technology and operations. “Our engineers can add new features to our controls, almost on a daily basis, to meet specific customer requirements and we drive future
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