Aztalan Engineering: Memperkenalkan Otomasi dalam Operasi Alat Mesin

Machine tool automation bukan ide baru di Aztalan Engineering di Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Sebaliknya, untuk contract manufacturer ini, menggunakan automation untuk load dan unload parts adalah established practice. Pada tahun 1990-an, perusahaan mengambil alih production dari set components dari shop lain, buying dan installing dua robot-loaded CNC lathes yang digunakan shop sebelumnya. The cell delivers high productivity sampai hari ini.

Dan namun, experience dengan robots ini tidak berarti third lathe yang ditambahkan ke cell ini akan mendapat robot sendiri. Ketika increasing demand untuk components ini justify new process melibatkan additional lathe, Aztalan watched closely untuk melihat apakah manual loading dari additional lathe ini sufficient untuk keep pace. Itu untuk sementara. Namun, saat demand diperkirakan akan meningkat lebih jauh, menjadi jelas bahwa new robot dibutuhkan untuk latest machine. Oleh karena itu, FANUC M10iA robot sekarang ditambahkan ke Okuma LB 2000 lathe. Jadi, cell di Aztalan sekarang mencakup robots dan lathes yang separated by nearly 20 years.   Cell ini adalah contoh dari berbagai machine tool automation di perusahaan ini. Sejauh mana Aztalan menggunakan automation instructive untuk berbagai alasan. Pertama, itu illustrates variety of automation options yang mungkin masuk akal di contract-machining environment. Namun kedua, dan mungkin lebih signifikan, Aztalan’s experience provides illustration untuk why not to be swayed by challenge of embracing automation. Aztalan faces challenge ini sendiri. Perusahaan advancing rapidly, dan increasing capacity melalui automation seringkali best way untuk meet production demands. Namun bahkan begitu, katanya Kirk Kussman, company sales dan marketing director, automation technologies cenderung face extra hurdles when it comes to winning justification. Seperti yang diungkapkannya, “It’s always hard to purchase machine that does not directly make chip.”   Compounding challenge ini adalah range of automation possibilities. Succeeding dengan one automation type doesn’t reveal value of other approaches. Sebagai contoh, success dengan robot-loaded lathes wasn’t enough untuk show company best way untuk automate certain manifold-machining process. Di sini, best solution bukan robot, tetapi Fastems flexible pallet system bersama dengan horizontal machining center. Daripada coming ke solution ini sendiri, Mr. Kussman mengatakan Aztalan embraced it setelah machine tool supplier-nya, Morris Midwest, membuat kasus bahwa ada cost-effective way untuk automate production dari part number ini, too.   Building Awareness Sebagian dari alasan mengapa Aztalan advancing rapidly today adalah company’s deliberate decision untuk melakukannya. About 4 years ago, company launched sales dan marketing effort aimed at increasing business volume. Company had little brand awareness back then, tapi sekarang more widely recognized, khususnya oleh makers of medical technology—sektor accounting untuk largest share of shop’s business. Within field today, katanya Mr. Kussman, Aztalan routinely gets to bid on major RFQs. Company has also succeeded in winning trust of design engineering firms, benefit yang enables company untuk terlibat dalam development of new products by consulting on manufacturability.   All of this has led to increased activity. Company has responded in part by expanding, dengan company CEO Jim Brey himself designing expansion facility yang more than doubled production space saat opened two years ago. Company has also increased staff, together with applying automation untuk increase value staff members can deliver.   Okuma gantry-loaded LFS twin-spindle lathe adalah contoh lain automation yang works well dalam company’s environment. Sementara Aztalan adalah contract shop (artinya much of its work comes from long-term agreements), ia still has to be as responsive as job shop dalam meeting customers’ often fluid part quantity dan delivery requirements. LFS machine, yang features two turning spindles yang both face forward, has been valuable untuk high-volume machining of automotive part. Overhead gantry not only loads dan unloads part, tapi juga passes it between spindles untuk side A dan side B machining, keeping multiple pieces in work at any moment. More recently, shop has assigned second part number to this machine, dan preparing chuck jaws dan grippers untuk family of four parts untuk assigned to it as well. Sementara gantry-loaded twin-spindle lathe is efficient high-productivity resource, ia still is CNC machine dengan flexibility ini implies—allowing for rapid transitions between different part numbers as needed.   Filling the Time Something similar could be said of horizontal machining center, juga dari Okuma, yang serviced oleh pallet system dari Fastems. Of ten pallets dengan system ini, five are set up to run one particular part—manifold machined from solid aluminum. On each of these five pallets, tombstone holds eight aluminum workpieces, four blocks untuk side A machining dan four partially machined pieces untuk side B machining. Remaining pallets tersedia untuk production runs of other parts selama pauses dalam producing these manifolds, yang delivered at rate about 15,000 per year.   Aztalan could produce part efficiently menggunakan independent HMC. Even with eight pieces per tombstone, loading one set of parts by hand on one pallet at HMC sementara current set runs on other pallet could essentially eliminate setup time. Namun, next step beyond HMC production is something like Fastems system. What this automation adds to already-efficient HMC is otherwise lost time when no employees are present.   Seemingly, that’s not much time. Dengan two 10-hour shifts, Aztalan captures 20 hours of every work day. Dan namun, lights-out machining dengan pallet system increases capacity of this HMC dramatically. Pada weekday, pallet system keeps machine running through remaining 4 hours. During weekend, it permits additional 6 hours of production. Extra 26 hours of machining increases output of HMC by more than 20 percent.   Even when staff is present, in fact, pallet-system-equipped machine is essentially running unattended. Typically, operator has as long as 6 hours untuk walk away dan tend to other machines sebelum returning untuk unload finished parts dan load new ones.   Keeping Pace Those robot-loaded lathes—machines dengan which Aztalan’s use of automation began—make components untuk drug delivery system. Automation in this cell, which now includes robot added to newest lathe, frees cell operator untuk perform vital task of inspecting finished parts. Dimensional tolerances of mating components machined in this cell are exacting, dengan features that even include overall convexity atau concavity (tergantung pada part) of 5 microns.   Aztalan has invested in measurement technology sehingga inspection required for these parts dapat keep pace dengan automated machining. Sebuah Tropel form measuring system dari Corning menggunakan laser metrology untuk map finished parts. Device represents level of inspection technology jarang ditemukan di contract machining environment.   Dan ini suggests next level of challenge automation typically brings. Automated production systems are often so productive sehingga keeping work flowing requires responsive systems both before dan after machining. Efficient measurement meets speed demand after machining. Sementara itu, Mr. Kussman says investing in Exact JobBoss software—not just purchasing it, tapi juga taking time untuk bring full capabilities into play—has been essential untuk getting work organized before machining dan set up for production more efficiently.   Making process still more responsive prior to machining is shop’s main challenge now, katanya. Company searching for ways untuk expand CNC programming capacity untuk keep pace dengan still-accelerating workflow. Shopfloor programming akan be part of solution, katanya. Ada talent di shop floor, dan not every job needs to be programmed in Engineering.   Additionally, company akan learn untuk rely more on automation within CAM software untuk generate routine tool paths automatically—tapi ini not easy, katanya. Understandably, programmers want untuk ensure that every critical feature of high-value part is programmed correctly. Sebagai hasil, mereka prefer untuk oversee each programming step directly. Thus, it’s one thing untuk turn out lights pada machining process, karena possible untuk watch robot dan machine tool in action sebelum lights go out. Tapi turning out lights within programming adalah different matter, karena software offers no similar way untuk peer inside. Oleh karena itu, adopting CAM automation akan entail even greater trust daripada automated workpiece loading. Machine tool, it turns out, is one of easier parts of process untuk automate.