Product category:
Flexible machining cells and systems (FMS)
News Release from: Mori Seiki UK | Subject: Fastems pallet handling system
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 28 April 2005
Multi-pallet handling puts skills to
better use
Setting times, even for very small batches, have been eliminated by a multi-pallet handling system that has freed highly skilled operatives for use elsewhere, increasing the quality of a workforce.
Accura Holding's subsidiary, Accura BD, based in Stoke-on-Trent, UK, specialises in machining parts for the off-highway market, supplying parts to some of the leading manufacturers in this sector The company's business model is based on working in long term partnership with a small number of major customers, producing a wide range of complex parts which have a high added value content
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Being able to respond rapidly to changing requirements in this volatile market, with short lead times and small batch sizes, is a key part of the service it delivers.
Ray Bennett, Managing Director of Accura BD, needed to make some significant changes to the way in which the company operated in order to meet these fluctuating requirements and at the same time improve profitability.
The 60 machine tools in the company were arranged in traditional fashion by machine type, the product of which was poor flexibility, unacceptably high lead times, and moving bottlenecks across the whole manufacturing facility.
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Even the most basic forward planning was very difficult.
His plan to adopt cellular manufacturing was a huge change for the company.
New working methods and new shift patterns were introduced, and 90% of the machinery was relocated.
However, the benefits mapped perfectly to Accura BD's business model.
Bennett explained the new 'process' based concept: "Each of our major customers now has dedicated manufacturing cells to which exclusive capacity is allocated".
"The individual cells contain the different machines necessary to complete the customer's range of work".
"The benefit is that raw material, whether forgings, billets or castings go into the cell, and finished components come out".
"Lead times are a function of the machining time in the cell and are not influenced by other work in the factory".
"Additionally, work in progress is significantly reduced and quality is greatly improved." Once the initial changes were implemented, the next stage for Accura BD was to optimise what was happening in each cell.
This involved balancing operations, removing bottlenecks and improving productivity and quality.
In some areas, where very small batch sizes were combined with complex setting operations which could exceed the run time for the component, considerable reductions were essential.
Tools such as SMED (single minute exchange of dies) were employed but the solution required something extra.
This led Accura BD to consult Pollard for advice and help.
The solution proposed was a 30 station Fastems flexible manufacturing system linked to an existing Mori Seiki SH630.
The proposal turned out to be so effective that an additional SH633 was added to the Fastems system.
The system is able to store 30 pallets, some of which are designed to manufacture multiple part numbers.
Under software control the system automatically loads and unloads each Mori Seiki machine.
Completed parts are delivered to one of the loading stations to permit removal from the fixture.
Once the system was installed, the results for Accura BD were impressive.
Ray Bennett said, "Setting times, even for very small batches, have been eliminated, greatly enhancing our productivity".
"It also enabled us to free up highly skilled operatives for use elsewhere in the factory, increasing the overall quality of our workforce." OEE (utilisation) of these two machines is up to 90%.
The flexibility of this arrangement has had a big impact on the way in which Accura BD can service its customers in a profitable manner.
If certain raw parts are in short supply, the two Mori Seiki machines can switch to producing different parts at the push of a button.
Similarly, if a very urgent job arises, the system can respond instantly, removing the previous problems associated with rescheduling production, resetting machines, and allocating additional labour and inspection resources.
Production for one of the company's customers involves several hundred different machining operations per day, hence last minute rescheduling used to cause very significant disruption.
80 different parts are now engineered to run on the Mori Seiki cell.
Additionally, four lathes have been moved in to supply it, enabling completely finished parts to be machined within the cell.
Bennett enthused: "The Mori Seiki cell from Pollard is doing the work of eight machines, providing us with additional capacity for more business".
"Within a very short space of time we managed to fill the spare capacity generated by the Mori Seiki cell, which overall has allowed us to achieve a good payback on work which was previously difficult to manufacture at a profit." Already the system manufactures over 50% of the part numbers for one of its major customers.
Ray Bennett added, "It is now just as easy for us to make one part as a batch of 100". Request a free brochure from Mori Seiki UK ...
"We can now offer our customers not only an improvement in service and quality but also respond positively to economic pressures presented by the low cost economies of the Far East.".
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