high-performance diesel engines are renowned for their power, fl exibility, and low maintenance. Since 1947, the engines have been produced in Cento, Italy. Today, VM Motori belongs to the Fiat Chrysler Group (FCA/VM) and is one of the most advanced manufacturers in the diesel engine segment and also one of the few companies that specializes exclusively in manufacturing diesel engines. Its current product mix includes its most well-known engine, the 3.0 liter, six cylinder diesel engine with 275 hp and 600 N•m for the Maserati Ghibili III, which was introduced to the market in August 2013. With a workforce of 1350 employees, VM Motori produces 130,000 engines a year, primarily for the US market. Though the company focuses on passenger car engines, it also produces diesel engines for industrial and marine applications. The production facility at the Cento location is organized according to lean man- agement principles. There, crankshafts and engine blocks are produced primarily using large, heavy crankshaft cutters and reamers for high-precision components as well as milling cutters developed especially for FCA/VM. These special tools require very particular qualifi ed measurement technology and, accordingly, place high demands on the mechanics and the software of the measuring devices. More than 10
years ago, the com- pany began relying on Zoller products to effi ciently set and measure its machine tools. The FCA/VM machine toolroom is equipped with two Zoller “venturion 600” machines as
Zoller’s “gemini” automatic presetter and measuring machine is designed to handle and machine heavy crankshafts at FCA/VM for diesel engines.
well as one “gemini” unit. The “venturion 600” vertical presetter features autofocus for automatic user-independent focussing of tool cutting edges and fully automatic measuring of multi-insert cutting tools. The Zoller “ace” spindle toolpost for steep ta- pers, hollow shaft tapers, CAPTO and Kennametal KM holders can be changed via one ball bushing with guaranteed changeover precision of 0.001 mm. The “gemini” is presetter and measuring machine for automatically presetting, measuring, and checking crankshafts.
“The experience with our fi rst Zoller presetter has been very positive. So far it has been running smoothly, 24 hours a day,” said Alberto Verri, head of the tool- room used for the engine block and crankshaft production line at FCA/VM. Strong growth required the company to expand its presetting and measurement technol- ogy. The fact that Zoller had branch offi ces worldwide, including one located near the company in Italy, was an important consideration. “To measure the cranfkshaft cutter, we were looking for an easy-to-use machine specifi cally for this type of machine tool,” said Verri. “An important requirement was
October 2015 |
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