Production Machining - Your access to the precision machining industrial buyer.
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A Swiss lathe is basically ready to perform lights-out machining as soon as it is installed, which is one of the best traits of any Swiss lathe. Pursuing Production Efficiencies Founded in 1962, and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Slim Haney Machining produces precision automatic screw machine products from brass, carbon steel, stainless, aluminum and plastics. Markets served include aerospace, medical, automotive, electrical, HVAC and fluid power systems. Because of an increasingly competitive market and rising employee healthcare costs, the company decided to identify and pursue processes and technologies that would lead to increased production efficiencies. As part of this process, it purchased a KSI Swiss-type CNC lathe in 2008 with the intention of introducing unmanned machining into its manufacturing operations. A Swiss lathe is basically ready to perform lights-out machining as soon as it is installed, which is one of the best traits of any Swiss lathe. Most will come with a conveyor at the back end for transporting finished parts from the machine tool to a storage bin or parts washing operation, so the primary expense involves selecting a bar feeder that fits a particular application. In fact, any new user should invest in a quality magazine-style bar feeder from the start, according to Dennis Brock, vice president and general manager. It's central to the process, he explains, and works better than a bar puller, which occupies a tooling position and has jaws that tend to wear and affect manipulation of the barstock. e investment will be returned in a matter of months, he adds. While this is good news for those who already have a Swiss lathe on the shop floor, the cost will be higher should the purchase of the machine tool be required as well, as was the case with Slim Haney. Once the necessary equipment is in place to make conducting the process possible, Mr. Brock—who once worked as a commodity manager for a large manufacturer and traveled the world observing lights-out processes of all configurations—advises those who are learning about the procedure and thinking about incorporating it into their machining lineup to take the following into consideration: Materials. Although Slim Haney is capable of working with a number of materials, it works primarily with brass, which is an ideal material for lights-out machining since it is softer and more forgiving than stainless steel, say, or other brittle metals that are more challenging to work with. Tools can become ineffective because of wear and can fail in the middle of the night. Should the tool wear, the targeted and achieved tolerances during setup can be lost, forcing an operator to re-examine the last parts that came off of the machine without knowing how far back to go in terms of identifying good parts and scrapping the rest. Not only is this a waste of materials, but it defeats the whole purpose of retrieving machine hours lost because of the lack of a third shift. Mr. Brock suggests having a detailed :: Colin Jones, sales/5S/safety manager (left), and Dennis Brock, vice president and general manager, stand beside the KSI Swiss-type CNC lathe purchased in 2008 to begin lights-out machining operations. Lights-Out productionmachining.com :: 33