Product category:
CNC turning centres, mill/turning, multi-tasking centres, horizontal and VTLs.
News Release from: Yamazaki Mazak UK | Subject: Mazak Super Quick Turn CNC lathe at Stuart Turner
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 24 November 2004
Cutting cycle times with two-in-one
machines
In the early '90s Stuart Turner pioneered the unmanned running of machine tools as the privately owned pump manufacturer sought to keep pace with the growing demand for its products.
In the early '90s Stuart Turner pioneered the unmanned running of machine tools as the privately owned pump manufacturer sought to keep pace with the growing demand for its products The result has been a continuing sequence of changes to the way in which the company manufactures components for its market leading ranges
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 22 Apr 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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"We needed to machine more and more components, it was as straightforward as that," says Phil Horsley, General Factory Foreman, commenting on the initial decision to invest in a barfeed-equipped Mazak Super Quick Turn CNC lathe.
"With this new machine we were able to machine castings during the week, when we could monitor casting quality and cope with any distortion problems, and then run bar work unmanned at the weekends." It was, he adds, the first step towards 24 hour running, seven days a week, and an annual output in excess of one million castings and turned parts.
Specialising in the manufacture of pumps up to 3 kW capacity, Stuart Turner enjoys a global reputation for its innovative approach to design and the quality of its finished products.
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Optimise machining in a mill-turning centre
Having recently introduced one of the world's most innovative ranges of new generation machine tools Yamazaki Mazak will be featuring two of its 'e' models at the MACH 2002 exhibition.
It employs more than 100 people at its recently re-modelled site in the centre of Henley-on-Thames where the company has grown year-on-year by the simple expedient of responding to the changing markets and lifestyles of its many customers.
Faced with an ever-increasing demand for shower systems, Stuart Turner's response has been to introduce new designs, such as the latest additions to its Monsoon shower pump range.
However, every new pump design brings with it fresh challenges, and while, as Mr Horsley admits, the mechanics of a pump have not changed a great deal, the way in which components are processed through the manufacturing cycle is subject to continuous change.
The focus is on flexibility, the ideal machine being one that is equally at home with castings and bar work.
This, he adds, is why today there are three Mazak Multiplex 6200 multi-tasking machines on site, all three equipped with barfeed and two equipped with gantry load/unload.
These complement a more recent version of the Super Quick Turn CNC lathe and a VTC 20 vertical machining centre dedicated to jig and fixture work.
"Most of our work is in brass, with some stainless, and to get the most from our machines we have switched to using 1.5 m lengths of bar stock because it is easier to handle," says Phil Horsley.
"This has meant extending the capacity of the barfeeds on the Multiplex machines to allow for unmanned running at night.
Similarly, we have opted for a double-handed gantry robot on two of the Multiplex machines to allow for long periods of unattended running when machining castings.
These are presented to the gantry load/unload system on dedicated fixturing - which is manufactured in-house - located on a pitch-fed pallet." Each Multiplex machine features two opposed 22 kW spindles, each capable of 5000 rev/min, and two turrets, each holding 12 tools, any one of which can be driven, if required.
By virtue of the simultaneous processing of first and second operation work, thereby providing a finished workpiece with every cycle, significant reductions have been made to cycle times at Stuart Turner .
Typically, a pump body requiring five distinct machining operations can now be completed in one hit in around one minute.
As part of this one hit machining strategy, two of the three Multiplex's have the added facility of a 100 mm travel y axis to cope with additional machining requirements, such as off-centre drilling and various milling operations such as OD point machining.
And to reduce non-cutting time to a minimum, irregularly shaped material such as hexagon stock can be transferred from one chuck to the other while the spindles are turning.
Although the combination of CNC lathe and machining centre within a single machine tool implies that programming is inherently more complicated, the reality, as Craig Geeson, Machine Shop Supervisor, confirms, is that it is actually much simpler.
Programming of the Mazatrol Fusion 640T controls fitted to the three Multiplex machines is carried out in conversational mode, with the programming times and program lengths for complex components being much shorter than the equivalent EIA/ISO code. Request a free brochure from Yamazaki Mazak UK ...
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