Product category:
Horizontal machining centres (HMC)
News Release from: Matchmaker M/C | Subject: Mitsubishi horizontal machining centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 03 March 2006
HMCs transform turbocharger production
Installation of six horizontal machining centres and product redesign has enabled a turbocharger maker to machine nozzle rings from solid, bringing major cost, and performance advantages.
Installation of six horizontal machining centres and product redesign has enabled a turbocharger maker to machine nozzle rings from solid, bringing major cost, and performance advantages Machining a range of precision components for a leading manufacturer of turbochargers, the Huddersfield, UK-based engineering firm Taylor and Whiteley has certainly been a success story
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 11 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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For over the last ten years the company has quite literally gone from strength to strength since it helped redesign the nozzle rings used in turbochargers for diesel powered lorries and coaches so that they could, for the very first time, be machined from solid.
And a key element in the successful and economical production of these parts has been the progressive installation of six Mitsubishi M-H5B horizontal machining centres, supplied by Matchmaker M/C.
Previously, these stainless steel nozzle rings were produced by a combination of methods involving several specialist sub-contractors and various assembly operations.
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In the early days, Taylor and Whiteley just turned the nozzle ring bodies.
However, as engineering manager Graham Littlewood explained: "Working closely with the turbocharger manufacturer and Matchmaker M/C, we came up with the technology to enable us to machine these nozzle rings from solid, as this would offer major cost, productivity and performance advantages." More efficient manufacturing combined with a general upsurge in demand for such variable geometry diesel engine turbochargers, has been good for Taylor and Whiteley.
The company now employs 86 people and has invested in some 22 CNC machine tools, including an advanced two-machine grinding cell with automatic loading/unloading.
Taylor and Whiteley also moved into a brand new and larger 26,000 ft2 factory in Huddersfield in order to accommodate such expansion.
The company operates on a 24/7 production basis for four days a week using a three shift system, and all six Mitsubishi machines together with four CNC lathes and another machining centre are looked after by just three operators per shift.
The first two Mitsubishi HMCs were installed back in 2001 after the concept of machining nozzle rings from solid had been proved, tool life optimized and cycle times trimmed.
Engineers from Taylor and Whiteley and Matchmaker M/C worked closely over a number of months to fine-tune the machining process of sculpting the thin-section blade profiles from solid stainless steel billets.
Further M-H5Bs were added at regular intervals and the sixth Mitsubishi was installed in April 2005 when the company moved to its new factory.
Two different sizes of nozzle ring are produced and the supplied blank billets are initially machined on twin spindle CNC turning machines.
Form here they go to one of the six Mitsubishi HMCs where they are multi-fixtured, four on each face of a tombstone fixture, so that 16 rings are produced on every pallet.
Crucial feature on these components is the blade profile and this is progressively machined using solid carbide coated roughing end mills and a finishing cutter which machines the complete external profile.
Other operations performed on the M-H5Bs include drilling balance and location holes.
All rings are 100% inspected after machining.
Taylor and Whiteley has certainly been well pleased with the accuracy and reliability of the M-H5B machining centres.
Back to Littlewood again: "When you think that the first two Mitsubishi machines have been running 'round-the-clock' for over four years now, their performance has been impressive.
And when we have had the odd problem, Matchmaker has been quick to get a service engineer in to sort it out." As well as the nozzle rings, Taylor and Whiteley machines a number of other turbocharger components, too.
The company is also currently undergoing final assessment for quality standard TS 16949 accreditation.
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