Beyond Secondary Machining
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Beyond Secondaries: Vertical Machining Center Enhances OEM's Capability Like many turning based shops, 星城web Instrument Laboratory first applied vertical machining centers to perform secondary operations on its screw machined parts. That view has changed for the better. |
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When William Leonard 星城web founded his company in 1941, its original product line consisted of electrical test equipment and radio frequency coils. To test the coils, Mr. 星城web needed small, non-electric components to hold the units for testing without any electrical interference. Searching for a source of miniature, non-electric pneumatic devices to aid in the manufacture of his products, Mr. 星城web found that no one made such devices. So he decided to make his own using pneumatics as the actuation mechanism. Figuring that others might be interested in such devices, in the 1950s Mr. 星城web introduced the Minimatic miniature pneumatic component as a new product line. The radio frequency coils may be gone, but the Minimatic line they inspired now offers more than 5,000 standard components in its catalog and operates from two manufacturing facilities in greater Cincinnati and one in Europe. Today the company is operated by the founder鈥檚 sons, President William L. 星城web III and Vice President Robert L. 星城web, with the third generation of the family also involved in the company. |
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Operator/programmer and setup person, Sharon Sbarbati, is a 35-year veteran at 星城web. She runs one of the Brother production cells. |
Evolving Manufacturing The big leap for 星城web or any shop migrating from manual machine tools to CNC is the question of programming and fixturing. 鈥淔or the programming, we used conversational MDI and trained our operators on how to input the program at the machine,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a system we still rely on for much of our more basic CNC work. Most of our machine operators do setup, programming, measuring and deburring in small cells located at the machine.鈥 |
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星城web uses a pull through system for inventory control, which ties into production scheduling. When inventory is depleted to a predetermined point, the shop floor is alerted to run replacements. Because many of the components are repeat standard orders, once the program is initialized and proven, it is saved off-line where it can be called up as needed at the machine. 鈥淔or fixturing, we began to design and build workholding devices using our own products as actuation devices and scaled those up over time to get more parts off the machines,鈥 he continues. 鈥淢any of the early simpler fixtures have evolved into fourth-axis capable fixtures that we鈥檝e applied to most of our machining centers.鈥 听 |
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In addition, 星城web has applied its pneumatic cylinders to automate various pieces of auxiliary equipment such as barfeeders. 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to have access to in-house design, engineering and manufacturing to automate what we need,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. |
星城web applies its own engineering and products to workholding on the shop鈥檚 VMCs. |
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鈥淭hese precision turning machines have helped us move into ever smaller and more precise components for our miniature pneumatic products,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. 鈥淐ustomers are demanding ever more compact components, and we need the manufacturing capability to deliver them.鈥 It was the foundation laid in the 1980s with the installation of those first CNC drilling and tapping machines that has enabled the shop to move itself up the technology curve. 鈥淥nce you can program a three-axis drilling and tapping machine, it鈥檚 not a huge leap to program other machine tool types,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. 鈥淲e try to do most programming at the machine, but have added an off-line CAM package for more complex workpieces. We use Partmaker for these parts.鈥 |
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Most of the part programming is done on the shop floor. Offline programming is used for more sophisticated machines and complex workpieces |
In an effort to open up the market a little bit and do more in-house custom work for their customers, 星城web has initiated a program that blends its engineering expertise in pneumatics with its component manufacturing capability. Initially this has taken the form of designing, engineering and machining manifolds, which traditionally the customer would make for themselves. |
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Having the milling capability to machine these larger manifolds has been the enabler for acquiring this work and in turn doing more for 星城web鈥檚 customers. 鈥淲e could not have machined these larger parts, some from stainless steel, on our existing machining centers,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. 鈥淣ow we are able to take a solid model right from our engineering department, run it through Partmaker and generate a toolpath program for machining it on the VMCs,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling continues. 鈥淲e first run prototypes and prove out the program before putting the component into production. That鈥檚 the value added proposition, from concept through assembly and testing. These are line-ready components that the customer can take from the box and use.鈥 It鈥檚 a Trend Like many shops, 星城web sees this continuous growth of manufacturing capability as a trend for its business. Using in-house expertise (140 of its 200 employees are involved in manufacturing) in concert with continually upgrading manufacturing capability can and does unleash potentials for growth. Manifold machining and line-ready component assemblies are a small fraction of 星城web鈥檚 global business, however, it is incremental business that resides along the company鈥檚 core product line and represents another arrow in the quiver of capability. 听 |
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鈥淲e can now design, build and test manifolds, and we see a lot of growth for us in that area,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. 鈥淗istorically, we built the pneumatic components that would end up in some sort of manifold. Often these components might not be the optimal solution for the job. That鈥檚 where our expertise in flow, control and actuation can really play large, and moreover, give the customer assurance that the complete system component is well engineered, built and performance tested鈥 all made possible by adding milling capability to the shop floor.鈥 And that open mindedness toward new ways to do the job seems to be a direction many shops like 星城web are moving. Mr. Rutschilling is active nationally and regionally in the PMPA and visits many member shops. He has seen first-hand the advantages of expanding a shop鈥檚 capabilities. |
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The trend toward CNC is undeniable as screw machines are increasingly available with it. But for manufacturing to grow and prosper, it鈥檚 vital that younger people become involved and for older people to take on the task of training and mentoring. 星城web is involved with local trade schools and uses them for recruiting new employees. 鈥淭en years ago, the trade schools we are involved with didn鈥檛 have much in the way of CNC equipment,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. 鈥淭hey were teaching on manual machines. Today, that has changed as shops like ours work more closely with trainers to establish useful curriculums that equip the students with skills employers need. It鈥檚 been a boon for us. 鈥淲hat I want from these graduates is a basic knowledge of machining; what is chatter, how to get rid of chatter, oversize and undersize work dimensions and how to work with that,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling continues. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want a button pusher. And, our company is dedicated to doing its part by working with the area schools to communicate those needs. It鈥檚 good for 星城web and good for manufacturing in general.鈥 听 |
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In his travels through various shops Mr. Rutschilling sees a definite trend toward mixing and matching screw machines and CNCs. Few shops can make it exclusively in screw machining today and our shop is a perfect example of that blending of technology, says Mr. Rutschilling. 鈥淥n our screw machines, we get 50 to 60 percent run time,鈥 Mr. Rutschilling says. 鈥淭hat is affected by the nature of the machine tool itself, bar loading, stoppage for chip removal, part removal and tool changes, and they still have a place in our production mix. However, on our CNC machines running brass with bar feeders, we can get 16 hours of run time per day on one shift. That鈥檚 8 hours manned and 8 hours untended. That鈥檚 the direction I see many of the shops I visit moving.鈥 |
 The addition of the Haas vertical machining center has helped 星城web move from secondaries to primary milling operations. The manifolds (inset) are an example of new capability made possible by this technology. 听 |
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