Product category:
Horizontal machining centres (HMC)
News Release from: Mori Seiki UK | Subject: Mori Seiki SH-630 HMC
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 April 2001
HSM Reduces Factory Lead-Times for Pumps
The introduction of high speed machining technology and pallet handling systems are making significant reductions in factory lead times and costs at Plenty.
When demand from competitive world markets moves towards shorter lead times and smaller batches, it's time to look at production strategy Plenty of Newbury is not the first company to discover this, and found the answer to its problems in a twin strategy combining greater flexibility with the latest cutting technology
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Located in Newbury, the company produces custom designed and standard fluid handling equipment, for the oil exploration and production, petro-chemical, marine and process plant industries.
The raw materials specified by these markets include cast iron, non-ferrous alloys, and carbon and stainless steels.
These are supplied to Plenty in a variety of castings and forgings, and historically, machining cycles were often long and complex.
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A substantial three-way guideway system, which supports the longitudinal travel of a moving column, provides theSVL5020 long-bed VMC with plenty rigidity for the high speed milling.
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Capable of machining workpieces up to 2000kg the Pollard Mori Seiki SH8000 horizontal machining centre offers faster traverses and tool-changing times and shorter pallet changeover cycles.
Current trends towards batches of 1 to 10 off placed a strain on methods and resources.
The infrastructure for the new strategy is provided by a Fastems multi-level pallet racking system, supplied and installed by Fredk Pollard.
Advances in metalcutting technology are based on high speed machining, following the acquisition of a first Mori Seiki SH-630 HMC, also from Pollard, three years ago.
This completely changed Plenty's attitude to machining, and the company has since built up considerable experience in this technique.
'Before, we used to take massive cuts at low feedrates,' says team leader Peter Hutchins.
'Now, we take small cuts at high feedrates.
We also used to use large boring bars; set-up times were lengthy.
Now, on the Mori Seiki's, we use interpolation milling.
The rigidity of the HMC is important and we can guarantee interpolation milling bore accuracy, parallelism and roundness within 0.02mm.' His comments now embrace a newer SH-630, delivered in June last year, and which is hooked up to the Fastems system.
Machine capability and materials content determines whether the materials are cut dry or wet, and a typical workload for the SH-630 will include dry rough milling a casting in 316 stainless steel (SS).
Cutting speed here is around 200m/min, using a 100mm diameter facemill and depth of cut of 3mm.
Other jobs processed include cast iron components requiring bores up to 100mm to be held within 0.03mm - and on pitch, bore-to-bore, within 0.025mm.
'Quite high accuracy, we think,' says operator Craig Smith.
'In general, we find HSM reduces non-cutting time,' says Hutchins.
'As far as actual metal-cutting time is concerned, there is some gain in roughing cycles, while finishing is about the same.
We try to cut 'dry' as much as possible, so saving on coolant and effluent disposal costs.
The automatic tool change cycle on the Pollard Mori Seiki's is faster than similar capacity CNC HMCs we have in the shop.
In general, job-for-job, cycle times are 25-30% faster on the Pollard Mori Seiki's.' To return the critical infrastructure, Hutchins comments: 'We prefer Fastems because we can add on different types of machine, use different pallet sizes and expand the system step-by-step.' Plenty's procurement projects manager Rick Winser, adds that a second Pollard Mori Seiki HMC is being considered to be added to the Fastems, and later a third machine if possible.
Equipped with a BT 50 spindle nose and a 180-tool magazine, the SH-630 has a common tool kit of 50-60 tools.
Plenty also tackles subcontract work, and these tools cover the most requested Plenty and subcontract jobs; the remaining pockets are filled according to demand.
Also spindle probing, based on Renishaw systems, is fitted as standard to all CNC machine tools at Plenty.
'Our toolkit approach means that most jobs received, say on a Monday morning, can be fixtured, programmed and machined by the end of the week,' says Winser (assuming that existing fixtures can be used).
Programming and tooling up takes a matter of a few days.
This successful toolkit operation of Mori SH-600 series machines at Plenty provides a basis for a wider introduction of 'lean' manufacturing practices, and the company is now using a Pollard Mori Seiki SH-630 HMC twin pallet as part of a new project introducing lean machining concepts to product manufacture. Request a free brochure from Mori Seiki UK ...
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