Product category:
5-axis (3+2 axes and continuous path) machining centres
News Release from: Matsuura Machinery | Subject: 5-axis, vertical machining centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 15 June 2007
Vertical machining centres raise part
conformance
Seven 5-axis, vertical machining centres, six equipped with individual 32-pallet storage systems, form the core of a Formula One racing team's high performance prismatic metalcutting capability.
Honda Racing F1 team reports a decrease in non-conformance reports, signifying a reduction in out-of-tolerance machined components, despite greatly extended use of unmanned production It follows a GBP 4.5 million upgrade to its machine shop at the company's Brackley, headquarters in Northamptonshire, UK, between Spring and Autumn 2006
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 21 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Seven new Matsuura 5-axis, vertical machining centres, six of which are equipped with their own individual 32-pallet storage systems, form the core of the prismatic metalcutting capability on the shop floor.
They are supported by two CNC wire eroders and a die-sinker, which are also new.
There are also four new 5-axis mill-turn centres.
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VMC adapts to long or short components
Adaptable production capability is offered by a VMC in single- and twin-spindle variants - a long X-axis table allows long parts to be machined, or parts can be machined in 'pendelum' fashion.
Correct M-C choice produces growth, stability
Always believing that investing in new state of the art technology offers reliability, speed and accuracy, accurate machine tools are seen as the key to a subcontractor's growth and stability.
Indeed, of the 20 machine tools now in place, only two were pre-existing.
Richard Smith, Honda Racing F1's machine shop and fabrication manager, said, "Previously, during the build period from November to March, many of our higher cost components were produced by outside contract machinists.
Our aim was not only to reduce this, but also to have the capability to produce all of our components in-house and at the same time reduce set-up times and our dependency on using multiple machines to produce any given component.
He said: "In the first year we have put less work out to subcontract and are aiming to reduce it further.
As we have brought more production of the higher cost items in-house, in terms of value the saving to the team is greater.
We are a 24/5 operation with weekend cover when workload demands it during the F1 season.
Now that we have the unmanned running capability of the multi-pallet Matsuuras, we have been able to reduce the number of machine operators required to a skeleton team at the weekends and also during the night shift." He added: "This has reduced the need for staff to work continuously over the weekends throughout the build period and during the season to ensure that our concept-to-car lead time of between one and two weeks is met." Back in early 2004, Honda Racing F1's board of directors was convinced of the benefits of moving from 3-axis and 4-axis to 5-axis machining so that parts could be machined in fewer operations, reducing or eliminating tolerance build-up and speeding throughput.
They also saw that multi-pallet machines would improve production output still further by minimising spindle idle time and maximising unmanned operation.
Several of the original machining centres did have twin pallet changers, but the facility was rarely used.
The real problem, though, was that the shop was dated and operators were constantly fighting the offsets on the machines to bring parts off to the required accuracy.
The problem was made worse by F1 car components becoming ever more complex and tightly toleranced.
At that point, Honda Racing F1 had the correct skill levels in the department but the equipment was struggling to keep up.
Two teams from Honda Racing F1 researched the market, one comprising management staff headed by Mr Smith and another made up of shop floor personnel.
Both teams independently agreed that Matsuura was the way to go, based partly on the Japanese manufacturer's position in the top bracket of 5-axis machining centres.
More specifically, however, both teams arrived at the same conclusion owing to the small footprint of the 32-position, multi-level storage system for 350 mm diameter pallets, which can accommodate over 85% of machined parts used in Honda Racing F1's cars.
Other machine tool companies could have supplied similar pallet storage configurations, but all would have needed a third-party storage system and consumed much more space.
To make sure that the decision was correct, a Matsuura MAM72-25V vertical machining centre was installed in 2005 as a test bed.
One of the trials successfully completed, which demonstrated a good saving in subcontract costs, was the machining of a batch of 15 hydraulic manifolds from solid aluminium.
The following year, the machine shop upgrade was carried out in four phases while production continued, albeit at a reduced level.
Six MAM72-35Vs with pallet storage systems were installed, plus a larger MAM72-63V 2xAPC dedicated to machining the gearbox main cases.
All of the other Matsuura machines are definitely not dedicated - quite the reverse.
A problem with the old production methodology was that certain types of component had to queue for particular machines, as they were set up for them in terms of fixtures, tooling and programs.
Such inflexibility, combined with the need for more second operations on 3- and 4-axis machine tools, created all of the classic problems of work-in-progress (production inventory) on a shop floor.
The most serious of these in such a frenetic F1 environment was slow progress of components through their production routes.
Now, most of the Matsuura machining centres are able to produce any component within its working envelope, thanks to all of the MAM72-35Vs having the same Fanuc-based control and an identical tooling library in the generous 240-station magazines that are fitted to each machine.
In addition, the 35Vs use a common fixturing method so each machine can accept any component fixtured on a 350 mm diameter pallet.
Honda Racing F1 has therefore been able to almost eradicate the bottlenecks caused by the different capabilities of the previous machines.
The high level of compatibility has resulted in much less queuing of components and their faster progression through the shop floor.
This is assisted by the machines themselves being fast, with 15,000 rev/min spindles (Matsuura's own), 0.5s tool change, 40m/min feed rate in all orthogonal axes, and quick pallet indexing in the rotary B- and C-axis of 0.68s/90 deg and 0.69s/180 deg respectively.
Having up to 32 fixtured components waiting in each machining centre means that flexibility is high.
According to changing requirements at Brackley, either a production batch can be run or a rush job of a few parts can be completed equally efficiently.
Smith regarded the ability to combine batch production with cost-effective one-off machining of complex parts as a key benefit of the MAM multi-pallet concept.
He also pointed out that it is a big benefit not having to swap tooling between the magazines.
With 240 tools more or less dedicated to each machine and the security of in-cycle tip checking, the use of sister tools permits an approach to machining exotic materials like titanium and metal matrix compounds that is similar to the way in which aluminium components are produced.
The result is smooth, efficient workflow through the shop.
Workshop practice at Honda Racing F1 is for one operator to look after two machines and to be responsible for owning a job from program creation to component completion.
Multiple machine manning has been made easier by the reduced need for operator attendance, as confirmed by Smith's concluding remark that a batch of aluminium pump housings recently ran unmanned on one of the MAM72-35Vs for 153h.
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