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Turning centre cuts costs at subcontract plant

By Miyano on

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Miyano has supplied a BNE-51SY5 turning centre to Wealdpark to allow the subcontractor to meet the full diameter range of the 50mm CAM autos it was replacing.

The 51mm diameter Miyano turning centre purchase, purchased by Wealdpark in 2008, immediately freed up work from many of the CAM autos working outside the 32mm diameter remit of sliding heads.

The eight-axis turning centre with two opposing main spindles, plus lower and upper turrets with Y-axis slides, enabled Wealdpark to produce parts in one-hit.

In a short time, the highly productive and flexible Miyano had replaced four CAM autos by eliminating second ops and improving cycle times while creating space on the shop floor.

Producing anything from inserts, connectors, plugs and plungers in batches of 10 to 10,000 for the electrical and fluid-power sectors meant the flexible Miyano was capable of meeting the needs of Wealdpark.

The simultaneous back-working improved cycle times from the CAM autos as well as some sliding head jobs.

This was demonstrated when a regular batches of 1500 parts produced in two minutes was moved to the Miyano, where its back-working capability shaved 30 seconds off this time.

When Wealdpark acquired its Miyano BNE51-SY5, it delivered all the benefits the Miyano representative said it would achieve.

However, Miyano or Wealdpark had little understanding of just how much the machine would benefit the business.

The machine initially replaced four CAM autos – this is now close to 10 machines.

Phil Smith, company director at Wealdpark, said: ‘Before we set about replacing the 50 CAM autos with sliding heads and the Miyano, we had a tanker deliver 1000 gallons of oil every quarter for the 50 machines.

‘Now the CAM autos are all but gone, the company orders four 45 gallon drums per quarter, a reduction of 820 gallons per quarter.

‘Taking into consideration oil was costing Wealdpark GBP1.05 per litre; the company now saves almost GBP4000 per quarter.’ As the Miyano has replaced 10 machines, it has contributed largely to the GBP16000 annual oil saving with its enclosed set-up that prevents splashes, spillages and oil mist created by burning oil.

An additional benefit is a cleaner and more environmentally friendly workshop.

Smith added: ‘One Miyano machine is more energy efficient than its 10 predecessors.

‘We have not calculated the exact electricity cost reduction but have no doubt that it is a major saving.

‘Not only is the Miyano more cost-effective but it is also quieter.

‘The Health and Safety Executive has reduced the limit on workplace noise levels by 5dBA this year and one machine is quieter than 10.

‘So, we are now aiming to have a workshop where ear defenders are not compulsory.’ The Miyano has also cut tooling costs for Wealdpark with the company now using carbide tooling as opposed to form tools.

Smith said: ‘Form tools continually created downtime as they needed re-grinding.

‘The programming capability of the Miyano enables us to use standard carbide tooling and machine the forms rather than work with form tools.

‘By simply programming forms into the Miyano, we have reduced tooling costs and cut machine downtime.

‘Our capability has been further extended by employing a 4-5in chuck.

‘This allows us to offer our customers a competitive service on large work previously beyond our remit.

‘This extends the diameter range of the Miyano to 100mm, so we can provide the same capability and productivity on larger components.’

Miyano

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