Product category:
Machining centres - all types
News Release from: Mills Manufacturing Technology | Subject: Daewoo, Korea, and an OKK machining centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 March 2003
Keeping ahead of assembly demands
reliability
When production is just 4 days ahead of assembly at an indirectly supplied automotive customer, uptime is paramount, and machine tool reliability and good quality back-up service are essential.
Of the 25 CNC machine tools on the shop floor at electrical component manufacturer, Polamco, Bath, 12 have been purchased through Mills Manufacturing Technology - six Japanese-built Nakamura Tome mill-turn centres, two lathes and three machining centres from Daewoo, Korea, and an OKK twin-pallet machining centre from Japan Comments Polamco's Production Director, John Stephenson, "We have had a good relationship with Mills since the early 1980s and subsequently took a policy decision to source a large proportion of our machine tools from this supplier
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 23 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Machining times cut by three-quarters
It used to take Watford-based Parker Hannifin 30 minutes to machine both ends of complex cylinder rods. The same job is now done in seven minutes in a Nakamura Tome TW-20, twin-turret lathe.
Two opposing twin-turret lathes are in one
One of the most capable mill-turning machines ever built, has four turrets, two spindles and offers a total of 13 computer controlled axes.
The choice was based on the quality of its machines and the high level of service back-up, which is particularly important to us in view of our round-the-clock, six-and-a-half day operation.
"This approach has the additional benefits of giving us more negotiating power when buying new equipment; and of limiting the number of different machines and control systems on the shop floor, thereby simplifying operator training and giving us greater production flexibility by allowing portability of programs between similar machines." Polamco specialises in the manufacture and global supply of shielded and unshielded backshells for both circular and rectangular connectors.
The company also manufactures high temperature connectors, shielded conduit systems, protective covers and heat shrink kits, and supplies high performance lacing tape and cable protection sleeving.
Further reading
Small horizontal as rugged as the big models
Although the new Daewoo ACE HM500 horizontal machining centre is nominally a half-metre-cube machine, it is constructed using box section guideways normally found on larger machines
VMC machines vaporiser bodies from extruded stock
Anaesthesia equipment manufacturer, Penlon, is using a Daewoo vertical machining centre to produce vaporiser bodies from aluminium extrusions in-house.
HMCs minimise non-cutting time and are accurate
Exceptional value is claimed for the Daewoo ACE HP Series of horizontal machining centres from Mills Manufacturing Technology.
There is a subcontract side to its business, whereby parts are made for other interconnector manufacturers and for the automotive industry.
It was for this latter purpose that the OKK horizontal machining centre with automatic pallet changer was purchased in 1998 to replace an ageing HMC.
Until recently, the new machine produced a continuous supply of power steering assembly housings for Tier 1 suppliers to Land Rover, Rover, Ford and others.
However, an increase in volumes necessitated transferring the work to two recently-acquired Daewoo ACE HP500 HMCs.
Referring back to the importance of reliable machine operation and service, Mr Stephenson points out that production at Polamco is just four days ahead of assembly at one of the car manufacturers it indirectly supplies, so uptime is paramount, especially as this work accounts for 20 per cent of the company's business.
"It is interesting that the mixture of machining for both the subcontract market and our own production has allowed cross fertilisation of ideas," he continues.
"Having to pare costs down for our automotive contracts has taught us how to make economies in backshell manufacture, while the latter has helped us identify the best machining processes for volume production of steering housings." As with nearly all manufacture today, minimisation of set-up times and spindle idle times is crucial for profitability.
This is reflected in the choice of twin-pallet HMCs to allow new parts to be fixtured while machining is in progress; and also in the installation of six highly capable, twin-opposed-spindle mill-turning centres from Nakamura Tome.
The vast majority of parts come off these lathes completely machined; only the occasional extra operation is necessary such as deburring.
A good example of one-hit production by Polamco is a Rolls-Royce Trent engine part requiring two turning and three milling operations.
A difference between Polamco and its competitors is that it machines all parts from the solid, rather than from castings.
John Stephenson says that this gives them more flexibility of production, particularly when offering backshells and connectors designed especially to suit customers' size and performance needs.
Production is mainly from plastic, aluminium, stainless steel and marine-grade aluminium-bronze, although at some time or other most materials have been cut at the Bath factory.
Automotive work apart, batch size ranges from ones and twos to hundreds, and exceptionally into thousands.
Aerospace customers account for a further 30 per cent of the family-owned company's GBP 4.5 million turnover, which is generated by 90 employees.
Ten per cent of production is directly exported, with a considerable amount more finding its way overseas in aircraft and vehicles, both civil and military.
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