In recent years bank loans and other conventional credit resources have been harder for many businesses to access. As a result, use of business credit cards has risen dramatically, especially for small businesses. Although they can be a handy way to help manage cash flow, there are a number of pitfalls to using company credit cards that you should be aware of.
Morbark, Inc. is the industry leader in heavy-duty wood harvesting equipment known for performance and reliability. So Central Machine Shop Director, Joe Faber wasn’t about to settle for anything less in his CNC machines.
“When we were ready to add some new CNC machines we looked at all of the options and were most impressed with the Gosiger organization’s thorough knowledge of manufacturing and the capabilities of the Okuma products. We checked with other manufacturers who had switched to Okuma CNC machines from Gosiger. Everyone we spoke with beat the drum for the quality of the Okuma products and the technical support and service from Gosiger.” As a result, Morbark now has two Okuma horizontal machining centers and an Okuma vertical mill.
Bill Goodman, President of Inland Tool & Manufacturing, Inc., saw little opportunity to benefit from factory automation. “Along with our production stamping and light assembly businesses, we produce individual prototypes and tooling, or small batches of parts in our machining operations,” he explains, “So automation really hasn’t been much of an issue.”
Things changed, however, when Inland began making production runs of a family of parts for heavy-duty cable clamps used on slings attached to derricks for loading and unloading freight, and in the lumber industry. That’s when they decided to investigate how applying factory automation to this repetitive process might save them time and reduce labor costs. They chose an Okuma Captain L-370MWBB CNC lathe as the centerpiece and worked with Gosiger Factory Automation to create a cell that integrated an LNS Quick Load Servo 80 bar feeder, inbound and outbound parts conveyors, and a Fanuc M-6iB/6S robot to handle parts.
In this brief video Gosiger Factory Automation shows how it used 3-D solids modeling to create a plan view that enabled its engineers to precisely determine the positioning and required movement of a FANUC robot used to load and unload multiple Okuma CNC machines. On-site video then shows the finished production line so the viewer sees how the FANUC robot moves along an overhead rail to flawlessly access each of the machine tool chucks.
When it comes to machining multi-sided parts, a Horizontal Machining Center can save you considerable time and money versus a Vertical Machining Center. Here’s how:
Okuma developed the GENOS series of CNC lathes to be multitasking machines that are affordable and easy to use and maintain. Although they are considered entry-level machines, these CNC lathes provide stability, rigidity and accuracy for a multitude of applications. The GENOS series includes a number of standard timesaving features, and a wide range of specification variations so users can handle everything from simple jobs to highly complex parts.
Now that manufacturing is rebounding from the economic difficulties of the past few years, manufacturing managers should take a hard look at your best employees. Presumably you eliminated any marginal people during the downturn, and your remaining people may have endured pay cuts, furloughs or reduced benefits.
The traditional approach to die/mold machining typically involves a number of steps that require multiple CNC machines and 5 to 7 part handlings. This labor-intensive process builds substantial cost into each job. The good news is that you can reduce these costs by using a high speed CNC machining center that can often handle the entire operation in one place.
It’s a constant challenge to make high-quality parts while reducing cycle time, material waste and operator involvement. That’s why Okuma engineers design machines that use the latest technologies to help manufacturers reduce the time an operator spends adjusting for temperature-related issues, avoiding costly collisions and determining optimum cutting conditions.
These built-in functions on many Okuma CNC lathes, turning centers, multitasking machines and machining centers are part of the company’s Intelligent Technology initiative to make machining faster, easier and more profitable.
There are now three models in the Okuma MB-H Series of Horizontal Machining Centers, and all three provide manufacturers the opportunity to reduce non-cutting time, maintain tight tolerances and maximize floor space. All of which adds up to enhanced productivity.