Replacing a Japanese lathe, a CNC slant bed lathe's rigidity, acceleration, rapid traverse and quick turret indexing has halved cycle times involving a lot of in-cycle threading.
Maintaining a 25% year on year growth since setting up in 1988, privately owned Northern Hydraulics based in Coalisland, Co Tyrone, Ireland, under managing director Seamus Morris has continually reinvested profits back into the business - which not only helped fund a new 45,000 ft2 modern machine shop but also recently added the latest large capacity Tornado T10 slant bed lathe to the company's plant list of 'blue chip' named machine tools. Since the installation, by Ireland's Colchester distributor Gillen Machine Tools of Balleymena to replace an existing Japanese lathe, influencing factors to halving precision cycle times are put down to the Colchester machine's rigidity, acceleration, rapid traverse and quick turret indexing. Used to complete a lot of in-cycle threading, the machine has reduced the average cutting cycle from four minutes to two on the production of rod ends up to 2000mm long with a bonus of high reliability running 60 uninterrupted hours a week.
The installation has also enabled capacity overflow involving subcontract machining to be brought back in-house, the machine is described as being much quicker and easier to set up and changeover even with batch sizes that vary between 30 and 300 parts.
But what is also important is that the Tornado supports Morris' lean manufacturing methods and has regularly contributed savings equal to two days on batches.
Morris originally had 30 possible machines to choose from in the first listing of contending lathes.
This was whittled down quickly to a short list that was headed by the newly launched Tornado T10 because of its 80mm through the spindle bore, the greater flexibility the Tornado gave for the type of work he needed to produce and what he regards as very competitive pricing for the machine specification available.
The 60 deg slant bed machine has a 26kW drive with a bar capacity of 82.5mm.
Swing over the bed is 600mm and chuck sizes can be either 305mm or 265mm.
However before making the final decision, Morris wanted Philip Gillen, managing director of Gillen Machine Tools, to take him to the Colchester build facility in Heckmondwike, a visit he previously made 15 years ago when buying his first centre lathe.
In fact, when he toured the Tornado assembly line he was extremely impressed with the changes to the factory and the new look Tornado, he maintained, has a 'presence'.
As a result of the visit, he ordered the T10 on a three-week delivery having it shipped to his works on a Friday afternoon.
The machine was installed and commissioned on the Saturday morning by the Gillen team and was in full production by Saturday afternoon! The Tornado was never the cheapest on the comparison spread sheet, he maintains, but the specification and support of the local distributor swung the decision and he insists this has been totally upheld with the performance and immediate acceptance by the multi-skilled workforce.
Northern Hydraulics produces hydraulic rams for the fork lift, excavator, personal height platforms, quarry, crane and recycling industry - all described by Morris as growing sectors.
Produced in imperial and metric sizes to accommodate pressures up to 340 bar, its cylinder bores range from 40mm to 200mm with rod sizes between 20mm and 70mm and cylinder strokes up to 4000mm.
Starting in business as self-employed in 1988, Morris was previously an apprentice at a subcontract company that also repaired hydraulic cylinders, which provided an ideal background.
In his early one-man days he would order material, cut the steel, machine the parts on a Harrison V50 lathe, weld, assemble, test and deliver the cylinder himself to local companies.
'I used to start invoicing late at night,' he reflected but his keenness and skill soon built a loyal customer base that preferred a local supplier to imported products.
His reputation and sharp pricing made it very difficult for competitors, especially in the recessionary market of the time when 19% interest rates hurt and quick delivery was always required because no one wanted to hold any stock.
He quickly grew from a lonely one-man operation to employ four people.
He now employs 45 people with a massive advantage of multiple skills.
Where the business used to be one man, one machine, the company has progressed where one operator now runs several machines giving greater flexibility, better job interest and awareness to everyone of what's happening around the company.
With the Tornado T10 fitted with Fanuc 21i control and Colchester's Manual Guide i conversational programming technology, the on-machine programming by the setters is made very simple with full graphics simulation and verification of the cutting cycle.
As well as machining, Northern Hydraulics assembles and tests cylinders for direct-to-line delivery working a double shift policy over a 4.1/2 day week with a further 1.1/2 days available when required.
Turnover is currently GBP 3.5 million and rising as a result of some GBP 1.5 million spent on the new premises and GBP 500,000 on new equipment in the last two years.
Facing threats of lower pricing from the likes of China, India, Italy and Eastern Europe, Morris changed the core operating criteria of the company bringing it ever closer to customers.
He said: 'Business is not so much about making things anymore, it has become a black art based on service and support.
We have to constantly look for ways to make a customer feel totally comfortable with what we are doing so he is not tempted to seemingly greener pastures.' A prime example is how the company initially provided a design for manufacture input and this progressively led to prototype production.
'We found that customers were delighted to work with us accepting our knowledge of hydraulics, pistons and production, and have readily accepted our input to provide 'cost-down' recommendations they could never even dream of getting from the Far East.' This scenario has expanded further making Northern Hydraulics an integral part of some customers own business operations.
He said: 'We have been integrated into certain customers' supply chain networks and have even linked directly to their sales/order programmes.' Morris warned: 'This requires trust on both sides.' He outlines how certain customers have given passwords enabling them to go direct into the sales and delivery schedules eliminating any contact with purchase management or buyers.
'We pick up the serial number of any cylinder order as it comes in and break it into the relevant component parts for production and assembly.
This enables us to machine the parts to our most cost-effective method, assemble and test.
All that matters to the customer is that we meet the quality, delivery and pricing structure which is already agreed.' Parts produced on the Tornado T10 are mainly tubes and rod ends - a reason for the 80mm spindle bore requirement.
However, piston ends, gland bushes, forgings and castings are also produced.
Such is the capability of the Tornado that tolerances down to 0.02mm are maintained regularly and grinding has been eliminated by using ground bar.
As part of the process development, changeovers have been reduced by working in families of parts, helped by the working relationship with customers and to save resetting chuck jaws for different rod sizes, the setters have developed a range of split brass bushes with a common outside diameter and bored out to suit the different rod sizes.
The bush slides over the rod to protect the ground surface and is held in the chuck while diameters, undercuts, threads etc are machined.
Rods machined on the Tornado can be up to 80mm diameter and 2000mm long.
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