Courtney Ortner VIEWPOINTS INDUSTRY LEADER OPINION & ANALYSIS Big Parts Need Swiss-Type Machines on Steroids v T
here was an editorial cartoon circling around social media recently by Steve Bernett in which a husband says to his wife, “Good and bad news. Gassed up the truck for $1.30 per gallon…but our stocks fell so far we can’t afford to go anywhere.”
That sentiment sums up what’s happening in the oil in- dustry for consumers and manufacturers alike. It’s the reality of certain economic circumstances. What is a boon from one perspective is a bust for another. Part makers serving this industry are painfully aware that orders are down; there’s very little production occurring in the US currently. Demand from oil and gas OEMs is virtually nonexistent. On a positive note, however, the downturn in the oil and gas industry is encouraging innovation, as down cycles often do, in the way oil is being developed and pro- duced. Innovation affects part design and, subsequently, the ways in which those parts are made. Presently, that means “in the most effi cient way possible.” In fact, that will likely be the dictate from here on out because it simply makes sense. To that end, there are brand new machine designs
that streamline the manufacturing process so that even the heaviest and bulkiest of parts can often be completely machined in one setup. While the “one and done” capabil- ity in machines is rather old news across the spectrum of manufacturing, in all industry sectors making precision parts, the multitasking machine design concept keeps improving as it is becoming more practical, affordable and successful on shop fl oors. Further, it’s particularly interesting for oil and gas applications because these machines are like Swiss-type machines on steroids.
One of the newest machine confi gurations comes from
You Ji in Taiwan specifi cally aimed at aerospace engine and oil and gas parts, such as large valve bodies. These mul- tiaxis, multitasking machines combine a fi ve-axis machin- ing center with a vertical turning center. They have a large travel range in X and Y axes up to 1100 mm and a rugged 50-taper indexing B-axis vertical/horizontal milling head for
104
AdvancedManufacturing.org | April 2016
true one setup machining. They complete all milling and turning operations on fi ve sides of a workpiece—eliminating the need to transfer the workpiece to another machine for secondary operations. With a single machine tool, manufacturers can, for example, turn the top of the valve body, bore the hole and then machine all the features along the sides with the milling capability. Hence, it’s like a giant Swiss machine—just vertical and massive—offering 50 hp (37.3 kW) for turning and 20 hp (14.9 kW) for milling, along with the necessary rigid construc- tion characteristics to produce parts that will be pounding through the earth’s toughest layers. This machine is available now and will be offi cially launched in North America at IMTS 2016 this coming September in Chicago.
With a single machine tool, manufacturers can turn the top of the valve body, bore the hole and then machine all the features along the sides with the milling capability.
In addition to the general need to make parts more effi -
ciently, this machine design trend also aims to address the lack of skilled workers in the US. It takes special expertise to move parts from machine to machine without creating tolerance errors and scrap. Positioning has to be essen- tially perfect.
Like every industry, the oil and gas sector is cyclical. During the down times, the smart companies encourage creativity, engineering, invention, innovation and that’s what’s happening now. In whatever part we play in the industry, we can affect an outcome that makes us stron- ger, leaner, and even more resilient during the next cycles. Streamlining operations, making the business of making parts more effi cient with new manufacturing technology is one way to do just that.
Chief Marketing Offi cer Absolute Machine Tools Inc.
www.absolutemachine.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140 |
Page 141 |
Page 142 |
Page 143 |
Page 144 |
Page 145 |
Page 146 |
Page 147 |
Page 148 |
Page 149 |
Page 150 |
Page 151 |
Page 152 |
Page 153 |
Page 154 |
Page 155 |
Page 156 |
Page 157 |
Page 158 |
Page 159 |
Page 160 |
Page 161 |
Page 162 |
Page 163 |
Page 164 |
Page 165 |
Page 166 |
Page 167 |
Page 168 |
Page 169 |
Page 170 |
Page 171 |
Page 172 |
Page 173 |
Page 174 |
Page 175 |
Page 176 |
Page 177 |
Page 178 |
Page 179 |
Page 180 |
Page 181 |
Page 182 |
Page 183 |
Page 184 |
Page 185 |
Page 186