Product category:
Flexible machining cells and systems (FMS)
News Release from: Cincinnati Machine | Subject: Specht machining centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 March 2005
Single-spindle 'Pecker' ousts
multi-drilling
High-speed, single-spindle, 'pecker' three-axis unit is designed to replace the multi-spindle drill head in transfer lines and increase system reliability.
During the difficult transition to flexible production, the collapse of the CIM and the disapointing results of flexible transfer lines, Cross Huller developed a high-speed three-axis unit to replace the multi-spindle drill head in transfer lines * Single spindle CNC machining allows flexible machining - the idea of designing a machine that 'pecks' a workpiece like a woodpecker came from the management of Huller Hille: Hans-Ulrich Jaissle (Engineering Manager), Horst Seitz (Proposal Manager) and Dieter Geiger
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 Mar 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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Back in 1987-1988 'high-speed' machines were built from thin-walled sheet metal with a honeycomb-like structure for support instead of using the usual casting and weldment design.
These light-weight systems (structured metal) with their three-axis unit (bicycle-stand concept) were the first generation 'Specht' in 1989.
During the 'period of disillusionment' Cross Huller decision-makers did not want to venture into production with the Specht, but that did not hold us back from further developing the idea.
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It was realized that a woodpecker (bird) does not use its body to peck but rather its beak.
That led to a 'box-in-box' design, with a Z-axis spindle instead of a top column.
With this the second generation of the Specht was born.
Only a few visionaries, like Larry Streng (GM Production Planning), focused on flexible production at the beginning of the 90s and developed in 1991, together with the Iacocca Institute in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA, the idea of 'agile' production.
While traditional high class machining centers were equipped for 25m/min axis travel and acceleration of 3m/s2, the Specht machine offered 60m/min and 10m/s2.
Instead of using the Specht unit in transfer lines, the machine is now integrated into agile production systems.
GM St.
Catharines (a system with 84 machines) and Renault Cleon were the pilot users.
The breakthrough for the success of agile production systems is in parallel processing for each sequential operation - i.e, a group of machines works on one part while all machines in the group support each other.
Cross Huller in the last year delivered more than 50 agile production systems to customer.
* The demand of agile systems increases - at the end of 2003 we sold the machine with serial no.
1000 from the Specht family with five machine types and four installation sizes.
which is already installed on a customer site.
The machine was installed at Ford Bridgend, Wales, UK, to machine engines for Jaguar, LandRover, Aston Martin and Volvo (V6, V8 and R6 - cylinder bearings) with the assignment to delivery 325,000 high quality parts per year, working together with an additional 49 'colleagues'.
Besides the anniversary machine this system uses adapter plates for cylinder crankcases machining for the first time.
Cross Huller, Knowsley, is part of the ThyssenKrupp MetalCutting machine tool group with facilities across Europe, the Americas and Asia with names like Giddings and Lewis, Hessapp, Fadal, Diedesheim and Witzig and Frank.
The group is a leading supplier of high quality precision machining facilities to the automotive, aerospace, material handling, power generation and oil field industries as well as job shops throughout the world.
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