New - CNC Machine Classifieds
Best CNC Resources:
American/Swiss combo
Swiss watch quality is being underpinned by American machine tool technology, while in the UK, 5-axis one-hit technology boosts productivity for a torque wrench maker. Machinery reportsImage:
For every high-end Swiss watch brand, there's a mass-market product that relies on suppliers, such as family-owned precision engineering firm, and Haas customer, Pierre Bercher SA. These relatively low-cost watches may not be as coveted as the Piquets or the Pateks of this world, but they trade on their Swiss-ness just as much as their pur sang cousins.
Bercher SA makes plastic parts for some of Switzerland's best-known watch brands. "Seventy per cent of our work is for Swiss watch companies,' says Pierre Bercher. "Typically, these companies want fast turnaround and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their suppliers know what they are doing. The other reason they continue to use local companies is that generally, people don't want a 'Swiss' watch that's made in China, even a low or mid-price brand. It's about provenance."
The company's workshop, in Cernier, is divided in two by a wall of windows. On one side of the glass, there are 17 Arburg plastics injection-moulding machines. The other side contains a menagerie of manual and semi-automatic machine tools, as well as three Haas CNC machines (Haas Automation, 01603 760539). By the window, lit by the sunlight reflected from the deep fresh snow outside, are two 15,000 rpm Haas VF-2 vertical machining centres, both flanked by Agie Spirit die-sink EDM machines (GF AgieCharmilles, 024 7653 8666). Each pairing is a self-contained cell; the Haas units machine copper electrodes used by the Spirits to make the steel moulds that are used on the Arburg injection-moulding machines. Bercher SA is able to produce runs of up to one million plastic parts from a single steel mould.
"The moulds we make on the Agie EDMs are complex," says Mr Bercher, "so we often need multiple electrodes to make the desired form. The shape of the electrode is, in part, that of the object to be moulded. Each electrode is machined in copper, which is why we chose the Haas VF-2s with 15,000 rpm: because the material is relatively soft, but we need to achieve and maintain high precision and excellent surface finish." Electrode walls are often machined to thicknesses of less than 0.5 mm and heights of 5-6 mm, which means they can easily burn or break up.
"Over the course of a typical year, we may make as many as 40 moulds and produce up to 14 million finished parts. Runs of a million or less are small numbers for one or two of our customers, which is why they prefer to source them from outside."
Forty moulds a year doesn't sound like much machining, but some moulds need more than a dozen copper electrodes to deliver the part complexity and some electrodes take hours to design, let alone to machine.
"With die-sink EDM, there's an electrical impact on the electrode, but no contact with the workpiece,' says Mr Bercher, "so an electrode lasts quite a long time. Even so, it's rare that we'll reuse one. Our customers change designs frequently. Their products tend to be fashion accessories, rather than investments."
OFFICE MILL, THE LATEST
The other Haas machine in the Bercher workshop is an Office Mill OM-2, with 30,000 rpm, presided over and operated by Bercher senior's son, Dan.
"This is our latest machine tool investment," says Bercher senior. "It's a great, small machine, with excellent accuracy and capabilities. We are using it to make even smaller electrodes having wall thicknesses of as little as 0.3 mm.
"With its 30,000 rpm spindle, the Haas machines perfect surfaces. Why spend more? A Haas costs an awful lot less than some alternative machines, but it does the job just as well."
Back in the UK and a product of a more practical nature, Hi-Force, a manufacturer of high pressure hydraulic bolting and lifting products, is using Mori Seiki technology (0844 800 7650). It has invested £850,000 with Mori Seiki at its Daventry factory - a turnkey solution for the company consisting of two NL3000 lathes with Y-axis, a Duraturn lathe and a NMV5000 DCG 5-axis machining centre.
The NMV5000 DCG was purchased to manufacture Hi-Force's range of 10 torque wrenches, which vary in size and capacity from 1,700 Nm up to 48,000 Nm of torque output. The 5-axis capability of the machine enables the component parts to be completed in one hit. Mori Seiki has been providing an ongoing program of training and optimisation to enable the company to produce the complete range of wrenches and to swap between them rapidly as requirements change.
The majority of Hi-Force's products are delivered within seven days, as it holds a significant amount of stock. However, the new Mori Seiki machines have cut typical turnaround times from eight to four weeks. "The shorter manufacturing times give us considerably more flexibility," underlines managing director Kevin Brown. "A condition of a recent major order was for delivery within two weeks. We were able to reschedule our production, thanks to the new machines, so that we could be sure of meeting the customer's demands." Shorter production cycles have also resulted in lower costs. "We are achieving savings of around 25 per cent on our manufacturing, cementing our commitment to Mori Seiki.
"We are moving into a new purpose-built 50,000 ft2 facility in 2010 to meet our plans for growth and to continue our policy of 'Made in the UK'. We are anticipating that, as part of this expansion, we will be investing a further £400,000 in Mori Seiki equipment and services."
http://www.machinery.co.uk/article/19270/AmericanSwiss-combo.aspx
For every high-end Swiss watch brand, there's a mass-market product that relies on suppliers, such as family-owned precision engineering firm, and Haas customer, Pierre Bercher SA. These relatively low-cost watches may not be as coveted as the Piquets or the Pateks of this world, but they trade on their Swiss-ness just as much as their pur sang cousins.
Bercher SA makes plastic parts for some of Switzerland's best-known watch brands. "Seventy per cent of our work is for Swiss watch companies,' says Pierre Bercher. "Typically, these companies want fast turnaround and the peace of mind that comes from knowing that their suppliers know what they are doing. The other reason they continue to use local companies is that generally, people don't want a 'Swiss' watch that's made in China, even a low or mid-price brand. It's about provenance."
The company's workshop, in Cernier, is divided in two by a wall of windows. On one side of the glass, there are 17 Arburg plastics injection-moulding machines. The other side contains a menagerie of manual and semi-automatic machine tools, as well as three Haas CNC machines (Haas Automation, 01603 760539). By the window, lit by the sunlight reflected from the deep fresh snow outside, are two 15,000 rpm Haas VF-2 vertical machining centres, both flanked by Agie Spirit die-sink EDM machines (GF AgieCharmilles, 024 7653 8666). Each pairing is a self-contained cell; the Haas units machine copper electrodes used by the Spirits to make the steel moulds that are used on the Arburg injection-moulding machines. Bercher SA is able to produce runs of up to one million plastic parts from a single steel mould.
"The moulds we make on the Agie EDMs are complex," says Mr Bercher, "so we often need multiple electrodes to make the desired form. The shape of the electrode is, in part, that of the object to be moulded. Each electrode is machined in copper, which is why we chose the Haas VF-2s with 15,000 rpm: because the material is relatively soft, but we need to achieve and maintain high precision and excellent surface finish." Electrode walls are often machined to thicknesses of less than 0.5 mm and heights of 5-6 mm, which means they can easily burn or break up.
"Over the course of a typical year, we may make as many as 40 moulds and produce up to 14 million finished parts. Runs of a million or less are small numbers for one or two of our customers, which is why they prefer to source them from outside."
Forty moulds a year doesn't sound like much machining, but some moulds need more than a dozen copper electrodes to deliver the part complexity and some electrodes take hours to design, let alone to machine.
"With die-sink EDM, there's an electrical impact on the electrode, but no contact with the workpiece,' says Mr Bercher, "so an electrode lasts quite a long time. Even so, it's rare that we'll reuse one. Our customers change designs frequently. Their products tend to be fashion accessories, rather than investments."
OFFICE MILL, THE LATEST
The other Haas machine in the Bercher workshop is an Office Mill OM-2, with 30,000 rpm, presided over and operated by Bercher senior's son, Dan.
"This is our latest machine tool investment," says Bercher senior. "It's a great, small machine, with excellent accuracy and capabilities. We are using it to make even smaller electrodes having wall thicknesses of as little as 0.3 mm.
"With its 30,000 rpm spindle, the Haas machines perfect surfaces. Why spend more? A Haas costs an awful lot less than some alternative machines, but it does the job just as well."
Back in the UK and a product of a more practical nature, Hi-Force, a manufacturer of high pressure hydraulic bolting and lifting products, is using Mori Seiki technology (0844 800 7650). It has invested £850,000 with Mori Seiki at its Daventry factory - a turnkey solution for the company consisting of two NL3000 lathes with Y-axis, a Duraturn lathe and a NMV5000 DCG 5-axis machining centre.
The NMV5000 DCG was purchased to manufacture Hi-Force's range of 10 torque wrenches, which vary in size and capacity from 1,700 Nm up to 48,000 Nm of torque output. The 5-axis capability of the machine enables the component parts to be completed in one hit. Mori Seiki has been providing an ongoing program of training and optimisation to enable the company to produce the complete range of wrenches and to swap between them rapidly as requirements change.
The majority of Hi-Force's products are delivered within seven days, as it holds a significant amount of stock. However, the new Mori Seiki machines have cut typical turnaround times from eight to four weeks. "The shorter manufacturing times give us considerably more flexibility," underlines managing director Kevin Brown. "A condition of a recent major order was for delivery within two weeks. We were able to reschedule our production, thanks to the new machines, so that we could be sure of meeting the customer's demands." Shorter production cycles have also resulted in lower costs. "We are achieving savings of around 25 per cent on our manufacturing, cementing our commitment to Mori Seiki.
"We are moving into a new purpose-built 50,000 ft2 facility in 2010 to meet our plans for growth and to continue our policy of 'Made in the UK'. We are anticipating that, as part of this expansion, we will be investing a further £400,000 in Mori Seiki equipment and services."
http://www.machinery.co.uk/article/19270/AmericanSwiss-combo.aspx
For more information visit CNC Swiss category