Product category:
EDM wire cutting
News Release from: Charmilles Technologies Corporation | Subject: Robofil 6030 wire EDM machine
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 22 November 2002
Load up the machine then take a two-week
break
Imagine this scene; a key operator in a busy toolmaker loads a machine with a fortnight's worth of work - sets it running and confidently goes off on holiday knowing the jobs will get done....
Imagine this scene; a key operator in a busy toolmaker is due to take two weeks holiday, he loads the machine with a fortnights worth of work - sets it running and confidently goes on holiday knowing the work will get done A trusted, but semi-skilled co-worker, then minds the process while taking care of his existing duties
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 22 Mar 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Charmilles EDM cell offers continuing expansion
Glasgow Precision is finding increasing benefits from the introduction of Wire Electro Discharge Machining (WEDM) into their production routines.
Two-wire EDM improves productivity
In launching its revolutionary 'twin wire' Robofil 2030SI-TW, Charmilles has designed a system that allows machining with two different wires in automatic mode and cuts production times by 30%.
Unlike the fabled 'Sorcerer and his Apprentice' the management team is fully aware of this labour saving arrangement and approves.
This is no fantasy; Portway Tool and Gauge, Stourbridge, has installed a wire EDM (Electro-Discharge Machining) system based on Charmilles UKs technology, capable of two weeks continuous operation with minimum human intervention.
Consisting of two Charmilles Robofil 6030 wire EDM machines with SI (Surface Integrity) power units; a 160Kg capacity Kuka Robot; a pallet system from Meccatool, a Mistral CMM from Brown and Sharpe and a 2-tonne crane from Granada, the project led by Charmilles UK with integration by UHK - brings together a range of existing technologies to create a whole greater than the sum of the parts.
Further reading
EDM generator achieves cutting speed of 400mm2/m
Achieving a cutting speed of 400mm2/min, believed to be for the first time in the world, the generators fitted to the latest wire EDMs use a new current pulse shape.
Award for toolmaker thanks to CNC investment
Toolmaker Avenue Mould now has two Charmilles Roboform 20 CNC spark eroders, fitted with Erowa tooling, and an automated Roboform 35 fitted with Erowa's PX robot
Subcontract engineer expands wire erosion facility
Subcontract engineering company Bedestone is continually expanding its operations and has increased its wire erosion capacity, investing in the latest technology from Charmilles Technologies
With this system, the operator at Portway is able to preset the work on the pallets, using the CMM to create the cutting offsets.
Once the work has been located into the system and identified on a pallet it can be loaded onto a conveyor, which recognises the pallet and includes it in the work queue.
When the pallet is required, the robot loads the work on to the first available Robofil 6030.
After cutting, the robot removes the work and pallet, washes it in an anti corrosion tank and places it on the outgoing conveyor.
This was not an off-the-shelf solution but the end product of a concept first envisioned by Mike Dunn, Managing Director of Portway.
Explaining the reasoning behind the investment, he says; "Portway has moved towards supporting the automotive industry, which is constantly searching for more competitive suppliers.
It is the car buying public who demand constantly lower prices.
OEMs are forced, in the end; to meet the demands of the final customer - therefore if you are competitive they need you."' Portway's solution was to invest in technology that would counter the low wage rate advantage overseas rivals are able to benefit from.
In addition to all that, the European Working-time Directive is making for an even more difficult regulatory environment and skilled labour is getting ever more difficult to recruit.
Portway has 26 people and a 2001 turnover of GBP 1.6million - "for a company of this size it is the only way forward," says Dunn.
It would be a mistake to think that the benefit to the business is seen as a straightforward exercise in manning reduction - with a consequent increasing productivity.
"Wire EDM has already reduced the manual input into a press tool by 90%," Dunn says.
OThe challenge is not so much to reduce the manual input even further - but rather how to increase the productivity of the remaining 10% that still needs human intervention.' The downtime on the machine is now 3-5mins at change over - a massive improvement from 1Z2 to 1 hour previously required.
The use of pallets means that work can be prioritised to rush an urgent job through, or in exceptional circumstances work can be pulled off a machine to make way for another job without massive disruption and the need to completely re-set.
In a competitive environment this increase in flexibility is an important factor.
When looking for an EDM supplier Dunn found that Charmilles was the most approachable about addressing his business needs and finding a solution.
"I am pleased with Charmilles' support to help us achieve these goals.
Charmilles was the only company I knew that was interested in developing a system to feed machines of the size we wanted," he says.
Portway has added its own touches to the system; Dunn has made a policy decision not to allow the system to telephone operators in the event of a stoppage.
Instead the whole facility is monitored by 'Web-cams' and it is the responsibility of the operator to log on and check to see if the machines are cutting.
"I do not believe in work intruding into my employees personal lives, this way it encourages employees to fix any problems so they don't occur again," says Dunn.
"Plus we get the additional benefit of being able to allow our customers access to the web site so they can see for themselves the work in progress.
It is all part of Portway's customer focused approach." The system was also built with expansion in mind: the use of two machines serviced with one robot introduced a large degree of extra flexibility and will mean better responsiveness to the customers.
Plus explains Dunn: "The current facility could accept a third Charmilles machine with minimum re-engineering - we would get 50% increase in productivity with no increase in labour cost." The expected pay back for the entire system is calculated at three years, but a lot of potential customers are already asking to come and see the installation and this bodes well for the future.
"Ultimately customers like to see industry responding to their needs," says Dunn.
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