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SHOP SOLUTIONS


meters. Fill-Rite “The Little Red Pump” is TTS’ largest divi- sion with its fuel transfer pumps used in agriculture and industries worldwide. TTS tries to use local suppliers when- ever possible, and on a visit to Toolcraft’s facility, discovered a well-organized, quality-conscious shop. They then asked Steve and John if they were interested in producing parts for the Fill-Rite pumps. “We had never done this kind of production work before, and I was reluctant at fi rst, but then I realized that this was an opportunity to do something Bruce, John, and I had been talking about for many years: adding CNC production capabilities,” said Steve Meyer. “I had to assure the employ- ees that we aren’t abandoning our tool and die business but adding a new CNC business. We actually own another building that will house our CNC division, so it won’t impact the tool and die operations.” As Steve and John considered the challenge of producing


hundreds, rather than one or two parts per order, it became clear that there was more to this than simply buying a new


CNC machine. While considering various options, Toolcraft received a phone call from Dave Werblo with the Indiana offi ce of Gosiger Inc. Although they already had a proposal from another source, Steve and John invited Dave to come in the next day to discuss their situation.


“Dave told us all he wanted us to do was to visit the Gos- iger headquarters in Dayton to see what they were capable of. So we made the trip. Not only were we impressed with the people and facilities, but Dave had previously given the Gosiger staff one of the parts and they had already come up with a detailed proposal that gave us everything we asked for, and more,” said Steve.


With two mechanical, three-jaw grippers the robot can handle two parts at a time for more effi cient machine unloading and reloading.


The part that Tuthill asked Toolcraft to make is a fl anged bung that attaches the pump to a tank mounted on a farmer’s pickup truck or located elsewhere on the farm property. The part has a fl at surface, is secured by four bolts, and has ID and OD threads. Toolcraft would receive a raw casting and perform facing, drilling, and thread ma- chining on each workpiece. “One thing that bothered us was how the machine opera- tor would be able to load and unload so many parts during a shift. It would be tiring and repetitious work that we wouldn’t


100 AdvancedManufacturing.org | January 2016


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