tooling
Latest developments in
reaming technology could
mean longer tool life, simpler
tool preparation and use of
the latest cutting materials
and coatings to deliver
improvements in productivity.
Reaming with
insert
technology
THE use of inserts could bring new
levels of precision and functionality
for the reaming process. As for
boring, each insert has two effective
cutting edges; but unlike boring
tools, inserts for reaming are ground
as a complete set, directly on the
basic element in their specific insert
pocket. The positions of the
individual cutting edges on an insert
are precisely defined during
manufacturing and application;
cutting edges ground in a single
operation ensure the degree of
precision required for high precision
bore machining. Numerous cutting
materials and coatings are available
for machining an extremely wide
variety of materials.
The concept can be used for an
extremely wide variety of Dihart tools,
provides low cost changes to tool and
geometry, and means tooling can be
adjusted for extremely small bore
tolerances. Changing inserts is
simple: all inserts and insert pockets
are marked with letters to ensure
correct allocation; and number
marking ensures all inserts have the
same location.
www.kometgroup.com
Extensive investment in machine tools and
growth in the hydraulic valve sector has
doubled turnover at Lowley Engineering in
two years, to £1million-plus. Efficient cutting
tool control and replenishment is critical.
Vending
solution
suits subcontractor
LAUNCESTON based subcontractor Lowley
Engineering’s shop floor has some high
specification machine tools including six Mazaks;
keeping them replenished with cutting tools is an
economic necessity. Production Director Andrew
Cameron explains how it’s done: ‘I honestly don’t
think we could have grown at the rate we have
without the ToolVend system’ he says; ‘the
machine is perfect for a company like ours; it has
put the responsibility for tooling back to the
supplier, allowing us to get on with the job.’
Like many small subcontractors, the company
has no storeman to monitor tooling consumption.
Prior to the ToolVend system operators would
write out a fax order form when tools were used –
but often forgot to send them to the tooling
supplier (TruCut Tools of Poole). Tooling
inventory problems wouldn’t become apparent
until an operator asked if a particular cutter was
available - and looked in the tooling draw to find
that it wasn’t. The consequences were machine
downtime and lost production; and in any case
the whole ordering process was labour intensive,
requiring tools to be booked in as well as out.
Lowley therefore installed the ToolVend vending
machine, on a 3 year lease hire period from TruCut.
Cameron continues: ‘Since installing the machine
in March 2007, the administration side of things
has been wonderful, with no ordering, booking or
chasing. We now have our stock levels right and we
haven’t had a period where we haven’t had the tools
we needed.’ He believes that stock levels would not
have been so easy to correct without the exceptional
company growth. ‘We had thousands of pounds of
stock and luckily we installed machines like the
Mazak Integrex with a 40 tool carousel. This
enabled us to naturally deplete stock levels by filling
carousels and starting from scratch with the
ToolVend system.’
The company makes hydraulic valves, connectors,
pipes and valve bodies for customers such as
Caterpillar; it previously had a £3k/month tooling
48 MWP january 2008
spend. Despite rapid growth since the ToolVend and
Integrex machine installations, this has increased by
only £200 per month. Holding £10k of tooling stock
on the shop floor, this small increase is part of the
culture change the vending machine has prompted.
‘The shop floor used to take drill after drill, using
them briefly and then leaving them to one side and
discarding them. Now, machinists know they are
accountable and traceable through the computerised
system. All of a sudden drills weren’t wasted and our
drill consumption fell immediately. This also
happened with our inserts; we now have our inserts
in boxes of one or two at a time as opposed to boxes
of ten. Suddenly operators took two inserts and used
all the cutting edges as opposed to taking a box.
When machinists recognised insert costs and
realised that they were individually accountable, our
insert and drill waste and costs fell remarkably. We
have definitely increased our efficiency with the
ToolVend machine.’
At present, the subcontractor has upwards of 70
different tools in the vending machine with further
tools planned for entry onto the system to fill its
capacity. Plans for the future include fully stocking
the vending machine and then installing a second
ToolVend system to accommodate cutters to
compliment the inserts. ‘The vending machine
produces a monthly report that tells us how much
tooling we use and spend and this allows us to
control and budget our spend accordingly. As our
company grows so does our range of tooling and
the ToolVend system enables TruCut Tools to
monitor the system every two weeks and supply us
with exactly what we need, when we need’ says
Andrew Cameron. ‘The cost, production, labour,
stock and administration benefits have been
countless and we still haven’t got around to
realising the benefits of production analysis the
system offers as yet. We definitely intend to install a
second machine very soon as the benefits have been
exceptional to our small business.’
www.control@toolvend.co.uk
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