Product category:
Flexible machining cells and systems (FMS)
News Release from: Fastems Divisions, Helvar | Subject: FMS machine pallet system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 October 2007
Pallet system allows unmanned machining
A valve manufacturer's aim of having at least every third shift unmanned was achieved by automating the loading/unloading work pieces using a pallet handling/storage system.
The project team responsible for valve body production at the Hohenwestedt plant of German valve manufacturer Leser has successfully automating machining of safety valve housings The company said that automating machining systems raised CNC machine tool utilisation utilization and ensured reliable production with consistently high quality
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 23 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Fastems, Finland, supplied Leser with a work piece pallet loading/unloading, handling and storage system for two horizontal machining centres, forming a flexible manufacturing system (FMS).
"The Leser Company is one of the world's leading manufacturers of quality safety valves," said CEO Joachim Klaus.
"Our product range comprises a total of seven product groups with 38 types of safety valves.
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System serves any make of M-C with pallets
One of the main benefits of the Fastems FPM compact pallet storage and retrieval systems design is that the pallet crane can deliver pallets to a variety of machining centres.
With a wide variety of materials and valve sizes in nominal widths from DN 10 to DN 400, 1/2 in to 16 in, the company provides safe solutions for all industrial applications.
Annual production is currently around 75,000 safety valves and is increasing constantly, and we expect considerable growth in demand for our larger safety valves in particular." Production planning manager at Leser, Kai-Uwe Weiss, said: "In light of this forecast it was decided two years ago that a replacement investment was necessary for two of our older machining centres.
We solved the challenges facing us by means of an automation project, which we called 'Innopac'".
* Automation requirements - "As with all automation projects," said Klaus, "We too wondered how we might solve one of the key problems, namely how to integrate, for our business, batch size one manufacturing orders into the automated manufacturing process." Weiss said: "Based on our team's experience, we added an additional requirement in our specifications in the call for tenders: the two machining centres had to be capable of machining the clamped pieces in one or at maximum two clampings with a horizontal spindle".
"Today we know that it was precisely by meeting this requirement," stressed Klaus, "That were able to achieve such good results for rationalisation.
Whereas before six or seven clampings on various machines were necessary, we now manufacture our safety valve housings using one, or at the most, two clampings".
* Rationalising manufacturing - Matthias Hoffmann had learned the job of a machine setter in the company and became involved in the automation project right from the start.
He said that, "All machine pallets in the FMS are loaded and unloaded in the two loading stations.
These carry either clamping systems for small parts or hydraulic chain clamping systems for machining valve housings.
This type of clamping ensures the tension is distributed evenly across the entire work piece and also enhances the quality of the processing.
It's also a lot faster, taking 30s at the most".
Weiss said: "The machining centres we chose are DBF 630s, which are made by Doerries Scharmann Technologie." He pointed out that with these machining centres, the clampings previously required for machining on the lathe were no longer necessary.
He said: "This was one of the key reasons it was worth using a Fastems Flexible Manufacturing System for automation.
Additionally though, automated production processes ensure a high processing quality - the machining quality of the valve seat sealing surfaces is one of the defining criteria for the quality of a safety valve.
Secondly, we needed to integrate an automatic joining operation in the machining process.
This involves automatic assembly and subsequent machining of the valve seat socket in the safety valve housing, which is monitored by the control system." He added: "The standard versions of the DBF 630 machining centres also contribute greatly to reducing the clamping work.
Bearing all these things in mind, we made Doerries Scharmann Technologie the general contractor for implementing our automation plan.
Doerries Scharmann then got the Finnish company Fastems involved in the project, whose FMS provided the basis for fully automated operation of the two DBF 630 machining centres".
* Automated work piece handling - Weiss said that the goal was to have at least every third shift unmanned and it could only be achieved by automating the loading/unloading of work pieces.
He said: "The Fastems FMS offers, as other companies have told us, the best options for automatic operation of machining centres.
Users of Fastems FMS really do get closer to the aim of using the 8760h theoretically available each year more productively." He continued: "Besides the recommendation by Doerries Scharmann, we were also convinced of the value of the Fastems Flexible Manufacturing System by the fact that nearly all the best known tool machine manufacturers have installed Fastems systems and all speak highly of them".
Talking about the use of castings, Weiss said: "Cast parts are not always homogenous.
This means you have to reckon on a tool break even during unmanned night shifts".
When this happens, the machine detects the tool break and reports this to Fastems system control and the pallet is removed and marked.
Before continuing with a new pallet, the FMS control system checks whether all tools are still available, replacing broken tools if necessary.
* Fast implementation - "Even looking back today," said Klaus, "The decision we made shortly before Christmas 2005 with regards to the complex rationalisation project was the correct one.
The Fastems system was installed back in September 2006 and the team that did it was great - they assembled it within ten days.
By November the machining centres were connected up to the Fastems FMS.
And they were wired up to the Fastems control system in no time at all too - less than three days.
It was at this point we realised we were dealing with professionals.
And we were able to witness how well it performed straight away.
Even while the automatic manufacturing system was being commissioned, we received a large order, which we were able to turn out rapidly".
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