Product category:
Abrasive machining - manual and CNC machines
News Release from: Emag UK | Subject: Naxos-Union crankshaft grinders
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 04 November 2003
Grinding and automation expertise
extended
With the integration of Ingersoll Naxos crankshaft grinding machine company into the Emag Group, systems can be developed in conjunction with Karstens, Reinecker, Kopp and Heilig Automation.
With the integration of the former Ingersoll Naxos in Langen, near Frankfurt, the leading manufacturer of crankshaft grinders, the Emag Group extended its technological competence in the machining of round components Naxos-Union crankshaft grinders are well-known and well-established among leading international car manufacturers and their sub-contractors
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 Nov 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Are UK suppliers - particularly automotive sub-contractors - lagging behind Germany and the US in the take-up of pick-up spindle machining and turning centres? The question is put by EMAG UK.
EMAG is a market leader in vertical machining
EMAG has literally turned machining on its head.
The pick-up-principle simplifies automatic loading and unloading of workpieces at almost no extra cost.
They use the latest cutting-edge technology and are found in a great variety of production lines for the batch machining of these demanding workpieces.
After the integration of the company into the Emag Group the long-standing desire of its workforce, to return to the former Frankfurt location, was also fulfilled.
May 2003: The new Naxos-Union - back at the former location - since the beginning of the year the Naxos machines are once again manufactured at the company's former location in Frankfurt/Main.
Further reading
EMAG UK - a company profile
Since its foundation in 1984, EMAG UK has established a strong position in the UK automotive market supplying CNC multi-functional production centres.
Turrets feed vertical shaft turning centre
Following on from its earlier horizontal shaft turning machine, Emag has developed a vertical shaft turning machine using two turrets to exchange workpieces as well as perform machining.
Compact centre combines hard turn and grind
For the vertical high-speed machining of medium size and also very small workpieces a compact produ ction centre combines hard turning and finish grinding or various grinding processes.
Not only has the fa?ade, which is under a preservation order, been restored with great attention to detail, the building now houses an ultra-modern technology centre, where customers, business partners and staff can feel relaxed amongst the exotic flora of the "market place" at the centre of the plant.
This technological centre provides the preconditions for the development of crankshaft grinders of even greater efficiency and of other types of machines for the manufacture of crankshafts - products that will enjoy a high degree of market acceptance, as their design will be based on the accumulated experience of the whole of the Emag Group, but especially that of its grinding specialists Reinecker (precision internal cylindrical grinding), Karstens (external cylindrical production grinding) and Kopp (grinding of cams and camshafts).
A look into the past shows the broad base on which a company that concentrated on grinding technology has developed from simple beginnings to a specialist in a challenging manufacturing process that is in great demand.
A look back: In the beginning, there was the emery - in the beginning, in 1871, trade was in traditional emery (corundum, Al2O3).
Julius Pfungst, till then a dealer in furs and hides, founded the "Gesellschaft des ?chten Naxos-Schmirgels (Society for Genuine Naxos Emery)", which imported and resold the raw material from the emery quarries on the Greek island of Naxos.
This is where the company name originated.
The business expanded quickly.
First through the industrial processing of the imported material, then through the manufacture of grinding wheels and, eventually, through the manufacture of its first grinding machines, which formed part of the company's sales programme from 1878 onward.
In about 1900 the company introduced man-made corundum and silicon carbide as grinding wheel abrasives to replace the natural material - but not the company name.
Over the following years, Naxos-Union manufactured tools and machines to suit nearly all grinding applications.
At the beginning the machines were of the simplest design, but soon a decisive step was taken with the manufacture of precision cylindrical and flat grinding machines.
One of the company's specialities, roll grinding, was in particular demand, as it generated the best surface finish that could be achieved with solid grinding tools.
The two business sectors, grinding wheel manufacture and grinding machine manufacture, stimulated each other and generated a worldwide customer base.
The steadily increasing competitive pressure led to further specialisation, especially in the machine sector.
The manufacture of universal machines ceased, as the company concentrated on engine manufacturers and the automotive industry.
NAXOS-UNION - precursor in the development of flexible machine designs for CBN grinding - 1995 also saw the first-time use of CBN in crankshaft grinding.
These much more efficient cutting materials allowed Naxos-Union to actualise machine designs of incomparably greater flexibility and efficiency than before.
With the introduction of the new technology of path-controlled machining of crankshafts for the pin journals, being of the most critical geometry on this multiform workpiece - Naxos-Union maintained and still maintains - the leading position in this not yet completed development.
Naxos-Union was also the first company in the world to introduce linear drive technology on crankshaft grinders.
This brought about the replacement of the old design of purely mechanical machines, which necessarily had to be much larger, as the workpiece, clamped off-centre, had to rotate around the centreline of the pin bearing.
The re-setting of a different workpiece type, in particular, was not only very time-consuming but also required a great deal of skill and dexterity from the setter.
The linear drive technology and the greater precision of the continuous path control allow for higher speeds, i.e higher workpiece rotation frequencies, than conventional drive technology.
They also offer shorter cycle times, greater control and increased process capability.
Besides its application on crankshafts for passenger cars, where the bearing diameter is ground, Naxos-Union has also mastered the plunge-cut grinding, including shoulders and radii.
This was developed in-house.
It is required, in particular, for the machining of larger crankshafts (Fig.
7037) for diesel engines.
The cycle times achieved are approx.
50% lower than conventional values.
Rotation around the workpiece centreline when machining main and pin bearings - in mechanical terms, the machine designs developed in accordance with the new technologies are much simpler.
Firstly, we now have a uniform rotation around the workpiece centreline when grinding both pin and main bearings.
Secondly, the greater part of the geometrical and technological complexity of the machining process is defined in the control software.
It is also easier to re-set the machines, as this requires just a few parameter changes.
The double-wheelhead concept is also gaining market acceptance.
It practically doubles the output, as it uses two independent grinding heads.
This allows for the combination of processes that could not be combined before, such as thrust face grinding and end working.
For some processes, for instance the plunge-cut grinding of shoulders, oil is used as coolant, to increase tool life and overall efficiency.
The complete housing of grinding machines with longitudinally traversing slides, as developed by Emag, is also used on Naxos-Union machines, with the energy supply lines laid outside the machining area.
This prevents contamination and downtimes and eases service work.
The machine envelope is separated from the machine base.
This prevents machining results from being affected by negative environmental influences.
Everything required for crankshaft grinding - from a single source - a multi-wheel grinding machine that grinds all main bearings or two concentric pin bearings on a crankshaft simultaneously, using a set of conventional grinding wheels, completes Naxos-Union's product range and ensures that everything required for crankshaft grinding can be supplied from a single source.
Further technological developments, presently in hand, concern applications that are not covered by the other specialists in the Emag grinding group of Reinecker Karstens Kopp and which have previously been Naxos-Union strong points.
Today's manufacturing systems for crankshafts, supplemented by further developments outside the grinding sector, are giving us a glimpse of the shape of a future Naxos-Union that will, as a part of the Emag Group, be able to fulfil the future requirements of a greatly changed market and an ever more demanding clientele.
The EMAG Group offers many advantages - not only to the customer - the formula followed by Norbert Heábruggen, managing director of the EMAG Group and a visionary in the classical sense, with a great flair for human relations and the transformation of visions into reality, is built on three fundamental principles.
They are: "The integration of clearly defined, achievable annual targets into the framework of long-term objectives, of which every member of staff is aware; to create an environment of trust for the employees, and to allow them space for development." He encourages his staff at every workplace to be "the entrepreneur on the spot"; and he is quite sure that all of them, in every department, would proudly state: "This is my enterprise." The Emag Group offers many advantages - to its customers, as well as to the various companies within the Group.
Clients demand ever shorter delivery times, even when customer-specific solutions are involved.
Short delivery times are frequently decisive where the order placement is concerned.
To ensure that short delivery times can be achieved, the staff of Naxos-Union concentrates its efforts - like the staff of all the other technology centres of the Emag Group - on the engineering and technology aspect, whilst the "hardware", i.e the basic machines, are built at Wema, Zerbst, the Group's central manufacturing facility.
Over the last few years WEMA has developed into one of the most modern machine tool manufacturing facilities in Europe.
The process-orientated organisation of the Emag Group offers the customers genuine advantages, in particular the permanent optimisation and development of new manufacturing processes (every working day the Group creates 5 new processes and thus new production tools), high quality and short delivery times.
This equally applies to automation equipment, as Heilig Automation, a specialist manufacturer in this field, is also part of the Emag Group.
And: advice, marketing and after-sales service are all customer-orientated, as the Emag Group - and thus every single company within the Group - access to a worldwide network of efficient subsidiaries and marketing companies.
A total of approximately 1,500 staff are working in the interests of Emag customers.
NAXOS-UNION, as the Emag Group's centre of excellence for crankshaft machining, is a forward-looking company orientated to the needs of many demanding customers.
The excellent order intake since Naxos-Union joined the Emag Group has ensured that the company is working at full capacity in 2003.
The order book provides for work right into 2004, a welcome development, also because it has led to the creation of new workplaces. Request a free brochure from Emag UK ...
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