computer station. After understanding how this feature could increase the shop’s productivity, D&S pieced together the necessary parts to build the rail. Bucek says operators now have a sense of ownership in the products they are
making. The workstations are set up in a way that operators are confident with and that are also conducive to productivity. As new suggestions come along, Bucek says the shop will make modifications accordingly. He adds: “Everyone’s pretty amped up.”
At D&S Manufac- turing, one side of the Toyoda FH- 1250SX became the fourth wall to a gated applica- tion area and tool closet, which acts as an office for programmers.
And they have a good reason for that excitement: D&S is looking to make the
FH1250SX area a 100% digital workcenter. Using in-house software, the company hopes to eventually be able to have online setup sheets using the sliding computer on the machine’s workstation. With success, D&S will implement it throughout the shop. In the meantime, D&S is taking what it has learned from other operations and
incorporating those modifications into the FH1250SX area. Bucek adds, “Productivity has surpassed expectation.” ME For more information from Toyoda Machinery, go to www.toyoda.com, or telephone
847-253-0340. Dutch Firm Programs for Success
W
ith globalization, Mom and Pop shops are becoming nostalgic memories of the past. Keeping production local is a challenge to small European companies that
want to keep the work at home. These are companies that embrace change to ride the wave of technological evolution that prevents them from being pulled under. Such is the case with Netherlands-based Doeko, a company that produces complex parts for industries that require high-precision manufacturing. Unlike so many of its counterparts, Doeko hasn’t gone the way of overseas production. Instead, it has maintained its competitive edge by matching the right CAM software and machine tools.
Doeko began producing molds and dies in 1964, but its repertoire quickly expanded beyond the conception and production of complete injection molds and precision mechanical parts. As the team and its equipment grew, it evolved into another entity entirely. Today it counts more than ten CNC machine tools, including those made by Mori Seiki, Toyoda, Okuma, Fanuc, Nakamura, and Sodick, among the machining muscle that makes the precision job shop tick.